Christmas Countdown

I have not fallen off the face of the earth, I’ve just been buried and am still trying to dig my way out!  The holidays certainly aren’t helping my desire to continue unpacking/organizing/decorating.  While I love decorating a new house, there is something to be said for knowing where all of your Christmas stuff is supposed to go, as you prepare for holiday events!
Anyway, my daughter has been asking almost daily, “How many days until Christmas?”, so I had been thinking about doing something visual, to help her “see” how many are left.  I wasn’t jazzed about the calendars I had seen, but was getting so desperate, that I was about ready to go old-school and do one of those construction paper chains.
UNTIL I read my daily dose of  Just A Girl  and came upon her wonderful Christmas Advent Jar idea.  I was so inspired, I literally got right to work to create my own version.  Since I didn’t have any matchboxes and it was too late for me to run out to the store (which I would have done, I was so jazzed), I decided to use Christmas colored scrapbook paper, fold it in a fun way, and then seal it closed with numbers for the days remaining until Christmas. 
Then, I put them in a pretty apothecary jar:

Let me tell you, the kids LOVE it!  Even my 12 year-old son said, “Mom, this is a really good idea!”  They were arguing over who got to pull the first card, and when my 12 year-old won the draw, he did the math and figured out that between him and his younger brother and sister, his younger brother would get to open the Christmas Eve card.  So, he bartered to trade days so that he could pull that one.  See, he even made a schedule:
Hilarious.  Did you notice the behavior caveat on the schedule? 
So, thank you Just a Girl, for sharing such a wonderfully fun, family focused idea.  For our first Christmas Countdown day, we are going to be cozying up to watch “The Santa Clause” on tv tonight with plenty of popcorn to go around.  We are all looking forward to it. 🙂
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5 Comments

  • Reply
    Chris
    December 3, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    Oh my word, Jen! This is SO brilliant! I love how you made the acommodations. Perfect. The fact that your kids love it (and even made that adorable schedule) is the best part. Thanks for being inspired!

  • Reply
    Chris
    December 3, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    P.S. I love your blog design! So clean and fresh!

  • Reply
    Ellie
    January 8, 2011 at 3:56 am

    So cute! I'm a new follower and can't wait to see how you make your beautiful new house into a home.

  • Reply
    Courtney {a thoughtful place}
    December 1, 2011 at 12:07 am

    So adorable. I am just putting finishing touches on mine so we can start tomorrow!!! Yippee!

  • Reply
    Cassie {Hi Sugarplum!}
    December 2, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    So fun — I love advents! Thanks for linking up!

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