Our Advent Countdown!

Just a quick post to show everyone our Advent Countdown project...

To give credit where credit is due, the idea of just simply using paper came from my friend Kirsten.  I mentioned I was late in getting and Advent Calendar and really wanted Emma to have one.  She suggested just cutting construction paper rings for each day and hand them in Emma's room.  Ta Da!  So, that was my plan.  Then, I went to A.C. Moore and saw this great sparkly cardstock and decided I would just glue squares on a ribbon and hang them up.  Then, I was hanging out at with Cassie at Primitive and Proper and looking at her Advent bunting and got some more great ideas!  She had the wonderful idea of assigning each day a "nice" chore instead of getting candy or a treat.  How refreshing is that?  So, that's exactly what I did!  I started out with just some sheets of paper:

All I did was simply cut them into squares.  I started stressing about making all the squares even, but then realized it didn't matter.  In fact, I think it looks better all mismatched and crooked.  Then, I just cut that single sheet of white cardstock into smaller squares, took a red crayon and drew the numbers.  I originally wanted Emma to do this, but she didn't want to.  This was supposed to be fun, not stressful, so I did the numbers while she happily watched.  I glued them to the green, red and silver paper.  Then, we came up with our good deeds for each day.  Some of the things we came up with were:  give daddy a kiss, hug mommy, tell Grandma you love her, call Nanny and say hi, share a toy with your friend, tell your teacher you like her...Simple things she can understand and do.  I then glued the paper on a red ribbon.  Here's a close up:

All I needed was a place to hang 3 rows of numbers.  Our kitchen eat in area is a bit boring, as one big wall just has two big wrought iron circles hanging on them.  That may change this Spring, but that's all whole other post!  So, we hung them there.  See:

And, the bigger picture:

Hopefully, this will be the beginning of teaching Emma more about giving than receiving.  For now, I think she just thinks it's fun, especially because Calliou has and Advent countdown as well!

And, while I was at A.C. Moore, they had bags of pinecones on sale.  I couldn't resist.  So, I made another wreath.  This time, the cones are smaller and not painted.  It also included dried cinnamon sticks, so the smell is wonderful!

And, my favorite little corner all decorated for Christmas: