Getting ready for Christmas...

My favorite part of Christmas is the ANTICIPATION! 

I knew I wanted to do a Family Advent Calendar to count down the days until Christmas,

but I didn't want it to be about candy or toys. 

I wanted it to be about time and memories. 

I found the idea for this advent calendar from my newest favorite blogspot,

Maple & Magnolia... http://www.mapleandmagnolia.com/ 

She's totally freaking FABULOUS!  Go check it out!

This calendar is from Pottery Barn (available last year.)
How cute, right?  It had a price tag of about $100.

Using that Pottery Barn calendar as inspiration, this calendar was made by Susan over at http://www.mapleandmagnolia.com.  It's so fabulous!  Mine is not NEARLY as fantabulous, but in my (very teensy-weensy) defense, I could not find that SUPER striped ticking

in my small-town fabric "department." 

I think that striped ticking makes Susan's calendar go from Advent to AdventASTIC!

I entertained the idea of doing an Advent Calendar with reds and patterns

like this one below from Kimberly Peterson's blog: http://kimberlypetersen.typepad.com/photos/things_i_made/advent.html

But I really think the cream and black just suits my decor better

and will be something I can customize throughout the years!

So here is what I came up with.  I used a little over 2 yards of canvas. 

I took Susan's advice over at Maple & Magnolia and traded in my needle and thread

for my weapon of choice--glue gun baby!

I cut my squares 6 1/2 inches square and I folded the tops down and glued to avoid fraying.  I used stamps and acrylic paint to stamp on the numbers. 
After that was done, I attached the pockets to the larger piece of canvas...and voila
errr...more like 4 or 5 hours of sitting on the hardwood floor with my aching joints later...
I was finished. 
I folded the top over to make a rod pocket and inserted a dowel rod.  
My plan was to use twine and hang on the wall, but I think I will leave it right where it is in between my tab top curtain panels in the (informal) dining area.

My FINISHED Advent Calendar stuffed with "goodies." :) 
I'm HAPPY with the end result!

My husband was awesome enough to have found these bad boys at Wallyworld today...
  
They are simply money holders and we got them in packs of 8 for 97 cents.  Not bad, huh?

I printed out 25 activities that we we would do as a family and I glued them inside of these cards like so...

And my personal favorite (can't wait til we get to put this one in action!)

While searching for Advent Calendar inspiration over at M & M, I found this totally awesome idea for a HOT BEVERAGE STATION!  Ingenious, right?  Check it out...

Yeah, so after seeing that, I knew I must do one of two things...

either move into Maple & Magnolia's fab farmhouse...

or make myself a hot beverage station...

So I showed up on the doorstep at M&M....

KIDDING! 

(Although the way my sweet children seem to have been posessed by somebody that rhymes with the Bevil tonight....that is starting to look like a viable alternative

Exhibit A

Yeah, I didn't like it either.

So I kept playing around until I decided on this one...

Ahhh....

Now THIS is the Griffith Family Way of Life :)

 

After I had a delish cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles,

it was time to make some ornaments.

So cute.  And So.Darn.Easy.

Found these little shells at the Dollar Store

and simply used my glue gun to attach jute twine to them for hanging. 

Easy.  Peasy.

These will make a LOVELY coastal addition to my tree this year :)

I have a few Thanksgiving tricks up my sleeve, so stay tuned :)