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<\/a>These pictures will all be from my phone as I have been Instagramming each day’s activity. \u00a0The quality is not the best, but the convenience makes up for it :) \u00a0So, I made this advent calendar myself, using all things we had at home already. \u00a0The frame I found at a yard sale years ago for fifty cents! \u00a0I’m sure that since it doesn’t have a back, the old owners had deemed it useless, but let me tell you– I’ve already gotten\u00a0so much\u00a0<\/em>use out of it! \u00a0I’ve used it as a prop for multiple photo sessions, decoration for various parties, and it decorates my house when it’s not doing anything for special occasions. \u00a0Fifty cents well spent, I’d say. \u00a0For the calendar, I placed a piece of cardboard poster-board behind it to stick the daily cards to. \u00a0I had sparkly Christmas card stock from previous Christmases, which I cut into small squares. \u00a0 (No measuring or aiming for straight lines for this girl. \u00a0Sometimes imperfections are charming!) \u00a0I numbered the cards 1-25 on the front and wrote down Christmas activities on the back. \u00a0For some days, such as weekends where we already had plans, I put down what we would already be doing so that our activities wouldn’t conflict with our schedules. \u00a0For example, we are spending a weekend in Leavenworth, so I made sure to write down activities that we would want to do there. \u00a0For the other days, \u00a0I simply picked activities we want to do anyway this Christmas and put them on random dates. \u00a0So, we have no idea what’s coming for most of them :) \u00a0Every day we turn one of the cards over, do the activity, and see we are one day closer to Christmas. \u00a0This is a great way to incorporate Christmas bucket list activities into your daily schedule, rather than forgetting and trying to do it all at the end of the season.<\/p>\nNow I want to share how our first week of our advent calendar went!<\/p>\n
December 1 || Trim the tree<\/strong> December 2 || Meet under the mistletoe<\/strong> December 3 || Watch Elf and make paper snowflakes<\/strong> December 4 || Read the Christmas story in the Bible<\/strong> December 5 || Watch the Grinch and eat Grinch grapes<\/strong> December 6 || Christmas Vacation drinking game<\/strong> \n And now it’s Saturday! \u00a0What’s on the calendar for today’s Christmas activity? \u00a0We haven’t flipped it over yet, but I know it’s going to be fun :)<\/p>\n Are you doing an advent calendar this Christmas?<\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/a>This was Sunday, so after a busy day of Church, grocery shopping, and Christmas shopping, we had a cozy night of drinking pink champagne and decorating our Christmas tree! \u00a0(Trimming the tree is reason for celebration, hence the champagne!) \u00a0We ended up watching Home Alone after this too. \u00a0Love that movie!<\/p>\n<\/a>I feel lame for even admitting this, but we had our mistletoe up for a couple weeks already and had yet to steal a kiss under it. \u00a0I’m glad I included it in our activities because after a busy Monday, it reminded us that we should always leave a little time for romance.<\/p>\n<\/a>There are so many good Christmas movies! \u00a0Needless to say, a lot of our activities include watching one. \u00a0I tried to add something to go along with the movie. \u00a0For Elf, making paper snowflakes was the perfect easy addition. \u00a0I have displayed our snowflake creations proudly in our dining room :)<\/p>\n<\/a>We took turns reading the Christmas story in the bible out loud. \u00a0It was the perfect after-dinner activity. \u00a0We had caramel hot chocolate as well, which was so delicious!<\/p>\n<\/a>To clarify, we watched the cartoon version because it’s the one we have at home. \u00a0It is so adorable and reminds me of my childhood. \u00a0Plus I love that it was made so long ago. \u00a0Our “Grinch Grapes” are really sour patch grapes<\/a>. \u00a0They are delicious. \u00a0Simply green grapes + lime jello powder.<\/p>\n<\/a>Christmas Vacation is another favorite. \u00a0It’s hilarious every single time you watch it! \u00a0Since this was Friday night (last night) we had friends over to play the game. \u00a0It was so much fun! \u00a0We had all the perfect Friday night elements: pizza, drinks, friends, and lots of laughter. \u00a0Check out the awesome drinking game here!<\/a><\/p>\n