Christmas Advent Calender

Today is December 1st, which means it's time to start the countdown 'til Christmas. What better way to count down than with an Advent Calender?

Thanks to Pinterest, there are about a million ideas on how to make an Advent Calendar. The main Pinterest Pin that inspired me was this pin. More detail here.

I loved this advent calendar because each day they have a Christmas family activity, rather than just having a chocolate or candy cane for each day.

For my advent calendar I used my foam board that I used for my Pinterest Halloween Costume for the background.

I also purchased some Christmas stock paper for $9.99, and cut out 3.5" x 5" pieces of paper. I decorated each of the pieces with some more paper and a number.

The stock paper I bought actually had a page with numbers, so I cut out all 25 numbers. This took me forever.

Next I used a glue stick and glued all 25 pieces equalish distance apart. I only glued the right and left sides and the bottom, so that it was like an envelope.

I also cut out 25 pieces of the stock paper into 2" x 3" pieces , punched a hole in the top and then tied some ribbon in each hole. This was for each day's activity, which I printed out and glued on the smaller pieces of paper. These are to go into each day's "envelopes".

Here is our list of 25 family Christmas activities (The first and last one are the first and last activity, but I mixed the rest up, so each day would be a surprise):
1. Adopt and Name Our Elf on a Shelf.
2. Make Paper Snow Flakes.
3. Make hot chocolate.
4. Make the house smell like Christmas.
5. Read a Christmas Story.
6. Go out for a Christmas Treat.
7. Make a treat and share with a friend.
8. Make wrapping paper.
9. Visit Santa Claus.
10. Decorate cookies.
11. Color a Christmas Picture.
12. Do something nice for someone.
13. Make a new Christmas Ornament.
14. Play a game with the family.
15. Call a friend or relative we haven't talked to in a while.
16. Sing Christmas songs.
17. Send a letter to Santa.
18. Donate a Toy.
19. Tell a Christmas Tale.
20. Drive (or walk) around and look at Christmas Lights.
21. Watch a Christmas Move and eat Popcorn.
22. Enjoy Candy Canes.
23. Share favorite past Christmas Memories.
24. Have a Picnic by the Christmas tree.
25. Put out milk and Cookies for Santa (don't forget about the reindeer).

Here is the final look of our Advent Calender:

I think it came out great, and I'm excited to do all the activities with my family! I just love this time of year. Another Pinterest Success!