My Advent Calendar

Last year, I briefly described an advent calendar idea in my blog post here. This year, I've improved upon this idea and should be able to reuse this calendar for many years to come. Here is what I did.

1. I got a large wooden advent calendar with doors at Costco, sort of like this one.

2. I bought this 24 piece wooden puzzle from Amazon. It actually came with 3 puzzles, so I took out one and put the other two away for when Jim is older.

3. I painted the puzzle over with red acrylic paints. I had to do 3 coats, then afterward I sponged on polka dots and glitter. Afterward the edges where I took the puzzle apart were rough and made the puzzle difficult to fit together. I used a nail file on the edges to sand down the paint so that the puzzle would fit together flush again.

4. I used a white acrylic pen to write on each piece. I'll explain what I wrote and why below. Finally, I sealed it all with acrylic sealant. 

5. I wrapped 24 gifts and labeled them with either a number (for the date) or an outline of a puzzle piece.

Here's what I did:

Date:                      Piece Says:                               Package Says:                 Package  Contains:

1                            "Get a Christmas Tree"                "One"                             Candy canes

2                            "Write a letter to Santa"               "Two"                           Letter and Envelope w/candy

3                             "?"                                            Piece outline                   500 piece Christmas puzzle
4                             "Get a new book"                      "Four"                            A new book
5                             "Read Santa Mouse."                 "Five"                             Chocolate treats
6                             "Look at lights"                           "Six"                               Treats for the car ride
7                             "Go to Alpenrose Dairy"             "Seven"                          Treats for the car ride
8                              "?"                                           Piece outline                     Gingerbread house kit
9                              "Donate a toy to needy kids"       "Nine"                            Chocolate treats
10                           "Watch a Christmas Carol"          "Ten"                             Treats for the movie
11                           "Pick a story to read"                "Eleven"                         Chocolate treats
12                           "Make Cookies"                        "Twelve"                        New cookie cutters
13                          "Watch the Grinch"                   "Thirteen"                          Treats for the movie
14                          "Take a family photo"                "Fourteen"                       photo ornament
15                          "Happy Anniversary!"                "Fifteen"                   Gift card for Cheesecake Factory
16                         "Have hot cocoa by the fire"       "Sixteen"                Hot cocoa packets and candy canes
17                          "?"                                           Piece outline               Supplies to make ornaments
18                         "Pick a story to read"                  "Eighteen"                          Chocolate Treats
19                           "?"                                          Piece outline               Supplies to make Christmas cards
20                          "?"                                           Piece outline                Apples to Apples (new game)
21                          "Pick a story to read"               "Twenty-one"               Chocolate Treats
22                           "?"                                           Piece outline                 A new story book
23                    "Read the Night Before Christmas" "Twenty-three"                 Chocolate treats
24                           "?"                                            Piece outline             New pajamas for entire family

I looked at the pieces and realized that there were a total of 7 uniquely shaped pieces. Those were the ones that could be used to match up with a gift, and I matched those with the biggest and best packages. Otherwise, the piece simply had instructions and had a small numbered package to open as well. (I think the outlines rather than numbers add a lot of suspense!)

Merry Christmas!

Treats in Plastic

No presents this year. A lot of people I know are staying home, having romantic little Christmastimes alone this year. Sometimes things out of our control (like the economy) can force us to remember what times like these are really about... 

Crafts and treats and surprising friends!!

I vowed no presents, but I didn't say I would give random people random little home made treats, just because (wink).

My dear friend Alison and her sweetheart Brent reportedly had a somewhat bare Christmas tree this year. As it is their first Christmas together, they hadn't yet accumulated many decorations. So I had a fun idea.

At the local dollar store I picked up some candy and some plain Styrofoam ball ornaments. Above are Nerds hot glued to a ball in a random pattern. Nerds were one of Alison's favorite candies as a child.

I had some wire that I bent and used to secure 3 Reese's cups together in a stack. The Reese's were for Brent's sweet tooth.

CJ's favorite candy were the dinner mints his grandpa used to give him. I still had some of this wire mesh left over from school project, ahem, 6 years ago.

If you try this yourself, just be very careful. That wire mesh can slice right through flesh!

My SmoreMan's smile ran a little. My advice: Don't use a sharpie for his smile. Instead, use black bead or pins like I did for his eyes and buttons. He now looks a bit like a blood thirsty SmoreMan.

I had a box of liquid polymer coating left over from another project I did a few years ago. So I dipped all my candy creations into the plastic to help preserve them longer. 

Gummy initials dipped pretty well, but they didn't solidify as much as I would expect. They are however smooth and not sticky.

The plastic was going really far and I ran out of things to dip! So I strung some lifesavers I found at the back of the cupboard onto a string and dipped them.

The Nerd Ball worked out very well. 

What I learned: Don't dip anything waxy or greasy. Laffy Taffy didn't hold the plastic. As it dried, the plastic oozed off and didn't coat the taffy much at all. I'm hoping Alison can spray some lacquer on it, but if it goes in the garbage I'll understand. 

Also, my Smore Men worked about half way. The marshmallow worked although was a lot softer than I thought. The chocolate was too greasy and didn't hold all the plastic either. The reason the Reese's worked was because the sides were paper, and the plastic pooled on top of the chocolate.

I packed them up with some old ornaments that we bought for our first tree when we got married, that have slowly been replaced with homemade or gifted ornaments. I sent them away with a little note. I just got an email from her with the following pictures! (She's quite the photographer, isn't she!)

Merry Christmas!