I had a Christmas Idea!

Checked with the Moms and proceeded on a fun project for my little grands!!

Most of you know I’m creative and like to challenge myself with new things. Redoing old things doesn’t interest me as much!

I enjoy giving homemade gifts you can’t buy: made with love, time and effort… love in action!

Plans were to see our grands around Thanksgiving this year.

I thought it was the perfect year to make them….

An Advent Calendar!

It had to be durable and withstand a mailing if plans changed. They did. I ended up mailing one, and the other had to wander over the River and through the woods to make it home. I set out to find a vehicle to hold these daily gifts, counting down (up) to Christmas.

After many ideas and some searching, I settled on this to hold the twenty-four items…

A child’s shoe organizer!

It had twenty-four pockets… Perfect! The pockets were smaller than adult shoe organizer, so it was smaller as a whole! It can hang over any door parents choose!

I linked it here, if anyone is interested …. CLICK HERE!

I used my Cricut to make numbers for the pockets. But, you can use felt numbers and glue on, or use sticker numbers (like the mailbox numbers). I think Dollar Tree sells them in the poster section.

I had small brown bags that fit the project. But, you can measure the pockets and find bags a little smaller on Amazon or a paper company. I used Christmas stickers purchased at Hobby Lobby to decorate the bags. Hole punched the top of the bags and tied each with red baker’s twine.

This was a boatload of fun! I hope my littles have as much fun as I did!

What did I put inside?

Let your imagination soar! You can choose a theme, or just find things they’ll use or enjoy.

I did not fill it with candy. I included one or two days of fruit snacks and included some candy cane sticks and lollipops in a few pockets.

I included action figures they are in to. Lots of Spidey things because they all love little Spidey and friends. For those who don’t know… Spidey is young Spider-Man. He and his friends go around the neighborhood doing good deeds.

Little flashlights, bouncy balls, punching balloons, a few ornament crafts (found at Hobby Lobby), tiny puzzle for my older grand, matchbox cars, chap stick, tattoos, bath bombs, character bandaids (they love these), barrettes, scrunchies, Jewelry, Kinder eggs, socks, stickers, bath confetti, expanding washcloths (Dollar Tree), mini games, toothbrush, fun flavored toothpaste, etc., etc, …. The possibilities are endless!! FYI … this is a good stocking list if you’re stuffing kid stockings this year.

Visit Dollar Tree and Target Dollar Spot for inspiration! I purchased some things at Hobby Lobby and Amazon too.

BIG HINT: Put the day number on the back of each bag in case things fall out during transport!

For my two little guys, I put both bags in one pocket with their initial on the bag. This was a bit more challenging because of space. Three days I had to just put one bag in the box labeled with name and day number. Two just wouldn’t fit. For one child, I had no problem with space.

My sister-in-law joined the fun after I explained it to her. She has three grands in one household. She chose the adult size shoe organizer, so all three items would fit in each pocket. That’s an option too!

Another HINT: Add an “ Open Now” gift in the top of the box, so that when they open the advent calendar they don’t have to wait to open something. Especially for young children … wait is so difficult! And opening a gift you can’t really open right away can be a disappointment. I did wrap the calendar up as present when we exchanged at Thanksgiving.

Is it too late?

Well, for a 24 day calendar it is, since it starts tomorrow. But, you could always do 12 days of Christmas too, which would be doable this year! Starting December 12th.

I decided not to do stockings this year due to the advent calendar.

I can’t imagine a child not liking to open a daily little gift leading up to Christmas. You could give an advent book to coincide with the calendar or include a Christmas message in each gift to add a personal/spiritual aspect to it. I didn’t have time this year to include that, but in future years, if I redo it, I’d like to add that emphasis. Also, if your grands are older, they would understand your sentiments and thoughts better than the young ones. You could also include some of your Christmas memories with maybe a little gift that relates somehow.

If this isn’t your thing or the thought of it stresses you, no worries!!

Honestly, this was F.U.N. for me!!

Here is how it turned out …

The one on the left is for two children with two bags in each pocket. The right one is for one child thus has one in each pocket!

Put some FUN somewhere in this Christmas season. Mix things up, try something new. Move your decor to different places. Decide to visit one Christmas event. Do something that warms your heart as you do it! I think you’ll be glad you did!!

Have you found any fun preparing for Christmas … share it with us!

MERRY CHRISTMAS SEASON!

Zee Zee’s having Christmas Fun,