Fast and Fancy Last-Minute Advent Calendars!

How about sprinkling sweetness to the Christmas countdown as December is getting into gear? Bring it on with the Advent calendar! This is one Christian tradition that is bound to fill the little ones with anticipation while putting them through their paces all the way to the height of the festive season.

Advent calendar season conjures up fond memories for later in life. This time of year always brings me back to the memory of those charming colourful little calendars that my mum would get my brother and I. The design was invariably that of a cardboard mountain chalet frontage with 24 shuttered windows. Each morning as I got ready, I would religiously and delicately open the shutters of the window of the day, to a nested piece of moulded chocolate. The shuttered window for Christmas Eve outsized all the others, revealing its double-whammy of a chocolate duo!

It looks like Advent calendars have widened their scope for creative licence these days. Although you can still buy them ready-made and get on with your life, DIY Advent calendars seem to be the thing; you don't need to be a master craftsperson either. With 1st December only a breath away, shall we get cracking like... now?

Sources from top right: Photo montage by Mirabelle, assisted by PicMonkey. Everyday in December is going to be Christmas! (1) The Advent calendar made up of numbered clothespins by Marie Claire Idées, holds up sachets containing little treasures to hold and behold. Use fancy paper clips if no clothespins handy, and small envelopes instead of sachets. (2) Make a statement and deck the halls! Advent calendar by Most Lovely Things, via ibid. (3) A Postcard Advent calendar by ibid. will make good use of unused postcards and celebration cards that are lying around the house. Gift appreciative words to the word lovers and wordsmiths of the family. Write a heartfelt note in each card, an uplifting proverb, a thoughtful quote, an observation, a charade or a light-hearted joke. Maybe compose a verse from a favourite poem, or a hiaku of your own. Never underestimate the power of words! Or drop one hint a day about the Christmas present(s) intended to your recipient, writing in code which they will have to crack. Turn those words into an Advent-ure! (4) The Advent calendar mobile by Avec Ses 10 Ptits Doigts, via Marie Claire Idées will solve any space dilemma within the tiny housing community. Amp up the Christmas vibe by adding necklace pearls, silver/ gold ribbons, twinkling stars and fresh ivy!

P.S: (1-3) Thou shall not worry about the French wording: the tutorials' how-to pictures are self-explanatory.