Our 2017 DIY Advent Calendar

For the past several years Michael and I have made a tradition of having our own advent calendar and counting down the days until Christmas. Each evening all the way until Christmas, we carve out some time together and do an activity.  It's a great way to fill the month with intention and keep the season in the forefront of our minds. In fact, it's something I look forward to all year.

Each year the calendar has been designed a bit differently. We've had papers with activities shuffled randomly and placed in envelopes and slightly more planned out cards. This year, with how busy we've been feeling, we took the time to specifically match the activities with different days to find ease, but I still wanted a visual representation of advent.

We used our Cricut machine to cut out the shapes and numbers, though you could do them with an exacto knife. Those numbers were hung from a dowel rod which was then covered by a garland from Afloral.  It was a really fun yet simple process, and I love the way it looks hanging in our living room! (Though, don't look too closely. It appears we either forgot the #16 or a certain puppy may have eaten it. haha) Each day, as we get closer to Christmas, we've been tearing that day's number off. 

Some of our activities this year include:

• Movie nights (Murder on the Orient Express, Coco, The Greatest Showman, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi are all on our list!)
• At home game nights
• Double dates with friends
• Doing a puzzle
• Baking Christmas cookies

Do you do an advent calendar? What is yours like?

xoxo,
Stacia