More Than Just Garland

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday.  My Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch - thanks to my mother-in-law saving the gravy and my husband's willingness to be my taste-testing guinea pig.  The best part, of course, was spending so much time with family.  I have no complaints.

Now that the turkey and leftover cranberry sauce are tucked away in the fridge, it's time to start the Christmas season!  Today is my first holiday project: a paper chain advent calendar.  I'll be using double-sided card stock, as in this shimmery paper garland:

But to make it an advent calendar, before I staple the paper strips together I'll be writing an activity for the day on the plain side of the strip.  Each morning , starting December 1st, I'll let my little boy tear one circle off and we'll flip it over to read what's in store for that day.  Here are a few of the things I'll be including:

• Have a snow sculpture contest
• Pop kettle corn and watch It's a Wonderful Life
• Attend the city tree lighting
• Bake a batch of gingerbread
• Go ice skating at an outdoor rink
• See the lights at Temple Square
  
• String a cranberry garland
• Make a simple evergreen wreath

What do you have in store for your countdown to Christmas?

Comments

[Meredith]

Great idea! I've been doing the Christmas "ring" advent since I was very little, but never thought of adding activities to it. Making a list now...

[Anya SAS]

I really like the idea of mixing garland and advent calendar! Thanks for sharing this!

I linked your post to my Handmade Holidays project (http://sas-does.blogspot.com/2011/11/is-for-advent-calendars.html) Hope it's OK with you.