Our kids just love making those familiar Christmas chains, you know the kind they pull off a chain link every day leading up to Christmas? Yep and this year, we decided to make ours out of all of our old magazines! It was really quite fun upcycling these and the finished products is something the SGKids are quite pleased with 
and here is another cutsie idea I just LOVE! The 25 Days of Giving Advent Calendar – made with the purpose of teaching your children to give, to love, to cherish time rather than gifts, to encourage family time and togetherness…while leading up to Christmas Day!
“This is the concept. 25 envelopes. 25 little note-cards tucked inside. Each day, your child opens the envelope that coordinates with that day. They open an envelope every day until Christmas and they count down along the way. Each note card will be a coupon for something that you will give to them. This is not just physical things that you will be giving. It can be activities and time also” (MayaRoad).
We are going to be using recycled scrap-booking paper and magazine photos, old Christmas cards and even family photos on the outsides of our homemade envelopes! I can’t wait 
I will then add note-cards that say something like…
- 20 minutes of any board game you want
- spend the afternoon baking cookies together
- a Bible verse about the birth of Jesus
- and maybe even a little holiday treat of candy or chocolate.
You can use your imagination and add whatever you love to your envelopes too for both the decorations and the special something inside! You don’t have to have little one’s to do this either – try creating one for you and your spouse, pampering yourself, or 25 days of random acts of kindness!
These are just a few of the great ideas on how you can create your own recycled Christmas decorations and Advent Calendars – for more great tips, check out tipjunkie.com!
What are some of the ways you and your family “count down” to Christmas? Do you have a favorite tradition that makes it all even more *magical*?
Image Credits:
http://mayaroad.typepad.com/dt/2009/12/the-25-days-of-givingenvelope-christmas-countdown-advent-calendar-banner.html
http://www.tipjunkie.com/christmas-advent-calendar/
What a fun idea – I love it!
Thanks!!! We have had a blast making these too! They really look pretty cool when they are all done!