I don’t think I ever had an Advent calendar as a kid so the only one that I remember having was one my Sis gave me a few years ago. It was from the ‘local’ coffee chain that has taken over every street corner in the world (this is not a negative IMO since it means I have even more places to get my caffeine fix). It was a cute cardboard tree with drawers and she had filled it with assorted candy but I think we only used it for that one year.
Well this year I decided to make 2 Advent calendars. The first was sent to the Sis down in LA and made it there just in time.
I made stockings out of cream wool felt, trimmed them with 6 different holiday fabrics and hung them from a wide ribbon. I even included sticky velcro tabs so she could hang it up without destroying her walls. While many of the stockings were filled with candy I also included some homemade shortbread, some cake decorating gadgets (the Sis who used to hate cooking has been on a cupcake baking kick) and what I think might get her through the holiday season since she works retail; baby bottles of booze.
The Advent calendar I made for myself is far less crafty and far less ‘fun’. It’s an exercise ‘Advent’. Each day leading up to Christmas I will open my little calendar and whatever exercise is written down I have to do it. It’s my hope that if I can make it through 24 days of little fitness goals then maybe just maybe it can become a habit. I reached out to a couple fitness savvy friends for suggestions and with some basic parameters I had a good variety of goals ranging from easy to slightly challenging. The only stipulation was that none of my days say “Run 10 miles” because the idea of being able to do that right now is laughable.
Here is hoping both my Sis and I enjoy our new calendars.
The stockings are adorable! The exercise challange is a great idea. I am still just alternating between walking and the Nordic Trac, but pulling random activities out of a bowl sounds like a good way to mix things up.