Little Advent Boxes

At the risk of sounding cliché, how can it almost be December already? Or for that matter, how can we be in the 11th month of 2015 at this very moment? One theory of time moving at warp speed is because my house is now filled with teens and tweens. Days beginning with alarm clocks — and clothing freak-outs, school lunches, driving and more driving, logistics involving sports games, friends, and parties, and the endless grocery-store-runs and making of food and more and more food – tend to go more quickly than those looong baby and toddler days. I am literally trying to fit so much in a day, that it disappears in the blink of an eye. The truth is, it makes me sad. I sometimes miss those baby days. I do!

Even when they were babies, I’ve always loved making new and creative advent calendars for my children. They are older now, (15, 13 and 9), but never too old for a good, old-fashioned count-down. I have been saving jewelry boxes for a while, but I also asked a local store if I could buy some from them to round out my collection.

Read on for the simple instructions, and some links to the cute little tree and homemade felt garland ♡

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SUPPLIES:

~ Little jewelry boxes (collect them, ask a local jewelry store, or buy them here)

~ Washi tape

~ Rubber stamps and black ink

~ Tiny artificial tree with lights

~ Felt garland DIY (or you can just use some small ornaments or tie ribbons)

PROCESS:

~ It’s pretty much self explanatory, I think. I will give you a tip which is to fold the tape to the inside of the lid instead of all the way around the box. This way the lid can just be lifted right off, and the boxes can be re-used each year if you want.

~ I also put a white napkin around the base of the tree.

IDEAS FOR LITTLE GIFTS:

~ Candy

~ Money

~ Chinese erasers

~ Jewelry

~ China animal

~ Matchbox car

~ Love note

~ I.O.U. for fun outings

~ Friendship bracelet

~ Finger puppet

~ Homemade badge

~ Balloon

~ Washi tape

~ Puzzle pieces (that create a message)

I added a few items that could’t fit into a box and just wrapped those separately. If you have any other good ideas for teeny gifts, add them to the comments 🙂

Happy count-down!

xo, Bar