I remember when we first moved to the States ten years ago from the UK, we had to get chocolate Advent calendars sent over from home as they didn’t have them here.  They are still not very prolific, but now we usually grab one from Trader Joes and use our home made edition for little chocs and gifts.  That way both boys get a little something every day of December leading up to Christmas.

This year I have left it all a little late, the end of November is nigh and I have just put up our ‘fill it yourself’ calendar, but I still don’t have a regular calendar (with chocolate of course). We have a chalk board wall which we draw a Christmassy thing on (snowman this year) and I pin the ‘calendar’ across it.

Do you buy an Advent Calendar?  Or do you have one you use every year?  I think I will make a new one next year as this one is looking a little shabby.  All of the boxes are still intact, so for this year, I just need to get some sweeties and treats to fill it with.

This is the calendar I saw which inspired me to make ours.  I usually fill it with chocs, sweets, mini cars, Lego figures, squinkies to name a few.  Most days it is chocolates or sweets, and maybe once a week each kid will get a bigger treat.  I have also put notes in the boxes like ‘let’s go and get hot chocolate’, ‘trip to the zoo’.

Can you believe it is almost December!  Yikes, are you ready for Christmas yet?  I have a few presents, so I am feeling a little organised.