Advent calendar fun! The sequel!

So it's that time of the year again. 6 days ago we were on the ball (yay) and pulled out the old wooden advent calendar to fill up. Ha! I make it sound like we've been doing this for years with my "old wooden calendar" comment but it did feel like we tried (and failed) for ever. Last year we decided to change that. We pulled it out early, bought all the items in one shot which I admit was a lot of fun (after our first failed attempt). You can read all about it here and see the kind of treats we got. When the season was over, I put it away on the top shelf of the pantry right next to the Easter eggs, snowflakes garland and Valentine heart decorations. It was a dead space turned Holiday decoration storage. No more looking around. It instantly made it easier for the future years.

Now here is a peek of what I added last night! I think I was more excited than the girls!





I will admit, this year I was a bit slow. I was busy with other pressing matters like renewing expired passports and recovering from a cold that slammed me. I succeeded with one but I'm still sick. It's a struggle. I decided to take it easy, cover a few days and deal with the rest later. On an errand to the pharmacy I noticed a sale for small Lindt chocolate balls. I decided to start with that and grabbed 2 bags (milk chocolate and white). Perfect! I also found forgotten sheets of stickers in the depths of my dresser. The girls never saw them, the stickers were bought on sale during the summer and were cheaper than the dollar store! I was going to surprise them with little love notes for their lunch boxes when September came. Sadly, I forgot. Making up for it now! :) They're loaded with cute critters. I also had some leftover stickers from last year's advent calendar and a few mini rainbow candy canes. All set! :) I will definitely make a run to the dollar store to get some cool washi tape, some candy rings, barrettes and stuff for crafts. Anything fun but cheap.





Most of all, I wanted to make a few handmade items to hang in the tree this year. For the hearts, the girls often commented on the pattern on my PJs. It's a simple pattern made of hearts shaped out of candy canes. I never really thought about it. They're just cozy flannels but the girls love the idea and I was reminded once more last night when we said goodnight. It inspired me to use our leftover candy canes for a cute idea I saw online. Easy! Heat the oven to 250˚F, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set your canes in a heart shape (I overlapped mine) put in oven for 10 minutes, take out, press together a bit to secure and voilà! A pretty thread attached to it turn it into an edible tree decoration! :) I can't wait to see their faces tomorrow when they find them.







The best part? They both fit in the little space of the calendar box! Woot! Meant to be!



I was pretty satisfied and ready go to bed but I felt like I was on a roll. So I tackled the second idea I had. Earlier that week, I was trying to clear up my dresser that collects everybody's clutter. I found a handful of acorns (souvenirs from a day at the park with their father) among rocks, feathers and twigs. 2 of them still had their little hat on so the idea just popped in my head. What if I drew a cute little face on each and tied a coloured thread to hang them in the tree? I got excited (always a good sign) and made a quick sketch on a list that was already made so I wouldn't forget. It sat there for a while waiting.



Last night my plan went into action. I was a bit nervous to ruin their acorns at first but honestly I know they forgot about them. They get lost. All. The. Time. This was a good idea and THEY TURNED OUT SUPER CUTE! All I needed was: 2 acorns, pretty thread (dollar store), a fine Sharpie (the same I used to fill those passport forms) and some paint to make rosy cheeks. A steady hand helped too.

Here the little acorns with the coloured threads. Blue for Évangéline and green for Geneviève. Their favourite colours. I tied a knot around each stem and used a drop of crazy glue to secure the threads on the stem of each acorn.



Then I made a happy face. The kind they like. A fine Sharpie made this easy. I might have to reapply and secure with varnish... Time will tell. A bit of white and red paint was mixed together and applied with a Q-tip for the cheeks. Pretty simple!





The photos were taken pretty late at night but I think the little acorns turned out pretty well! I even tested them out in our ficus tree. I think this will be a success and if not, oh well, I had way too much fun to regret it.





I plan on trying a few other things that won't require for me to shop. Most of all, I want to have fun with this. It's the kind of thing that relaxes me. So far so good! I loved the acorns so much I booted the candy hearts into the next slot and placed the cute little nuts there instead. We're decorating the tree today and this will be perfect for the girls to put in.





*UPDATE* the acorns were a huge hit! The girls kept cooing over them and kept thanking me. Tomorrow they will find the hearts. In the meantime, we're off to find a tree. Leaving you with more pics because it always looks better in natural light, the novelty didn't wear off for me and the girls are cute! Happy prepping!

Advent calendar fun

When I look at the girls' advent calendar, I won't lie, I get stressed. All those little open windows remind me that the days are just flying by! In fact time is flying so fast that this new pic below is already dated by 2 days. I started this post 2 weeks ago but pushed it to the side for other activities. Some were good, some were me just having issues. I'm recovering from a long and nasty depression and I'm still feeling fragile. I'm slow by nature but now I'm even slower. I struggle with focus, simple decisions and block things out when I have too much on my plate. Great timing for the Holidays right? It's okay, I take it slow! ;) Maybe too slow but based on the many notes I wrote in the last few years to future me, I'm right on time with things. I feel like this calendar is rushing me and rubbing it in but it's a busy time of the year and keeping track of the dates is important so I'll let it go. I'm ok. Go ahead calendar, keep me up to date.

Of course, focusing on a blog post instead of shopping, or making pie crust sure doesn't help but somehow it makes me feel better. I wanted to talk about this advent calendar. It is a very special present we received 5 years ago from a really close friend of the family. I love getting surprised by the fun note that came with it which we taped in the back. It's a good thing we did because somehow we always forget. I was pregnant with my youngest when we received this and she could only be referred to as "Peanut" but I forgot about that. I like that this note reminds me. Thank you Jo-Ann for what will surely become a heirloom.

The truth is, as much as we loved it, we would often forget to use it or kept struggling with last minute ideas to fill it. We were so used to the cardboard ones with the little chocolates inside that it was hard to get into the habit of this design. We decided that this year would be different. Marc pulled it out of our basement early enough and after the holidays are done, I plan on storing it ceremoniously on the top shelf of our pantry right next to the other treasures I save for the holidays. Before December first, we bought little bags of good chocolates. For a low cost there was enough to fill this calendar with leftovers for the next year! Except, I should have known better. After the girls were sent to bed, Marc opened the bags to sample... Doom. We managed to save the Kinder-eggs and saved the girls a few good Lindt chocolates but the rest went in our bellies. The shame.

Back to the store. This time I saw an opportunity to do it the fun way and headed to the brand new local Dollarama to see my options. I have mixed feelings about that place but the wallet decided to embrace it. I knew I would find variety without spending too much. I admit I had a lot of fun shopping for it and kind of got lost in there for hours. I'm slow! In the end I was quite pleased with my selection, the bill and the fact that I have extras for next year! ;) Some items were chosen specifically for hanging in the tree on the day that we would decorate and some were chosen for crafts on the weekend. I tried to diversify to break the monotony, to cheer up Monday mornings or the middle of the week.

The loot included: Rainbow sugar canes, 2 Hello Kitty mini-figures, a craft kit to make 2 felt snowmen, 2 glass snowmen ornaments containing styrofoam snow, jiggly/rubbery bears that blink and shine when hit, squishy snowmen stickers, candy rings, fun erasers, fancy tapes for crafts or to decorate, 2 Lego mini-figures, gold coins and other chocolates.

I found the mini Lego and Hello Kitty figures at the local pharmacy of all places. They were between $3.00 to 4.00 each and were considered a splurge (especially when bought in pairs). I could have gone without and I don't think I'll do that each year and the girls know it but it was fun! Homemade items would have been just as nice and little love notes too. The girls would have loved it but my nerves, not so much. Did I over do it? Maybe but so far the reactions were worth it. It's amazing how an eraser or one sticker can brighten a morning and start a conversation. I made sure to alternate the trinkets with chocolates. The result, a fun box full of surprises with no more last minute stresses to fill them. 

Most of this will be forgotten but a few will be remembered. Like these little snowmen the girls had to put together while Marc and I slept in. What a sweet deal that was! When we came down that morning, our little Évangéline was proud to show us what they discovered and created. Geneviève her older sister helped her figure what to do with it and as much as I would have loved to be there to see it, I like that this was their little moment. It was worth eating all the chocolates for that! ;)

Just like the merry expression on this little guy's face, I'm wishing you all a good time (with a good side of crazy), at getting ready for the big day. It's time for me to jump on my list of things to do so if I'm not back here soon, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy New Year! :)