Personalized Advent Calendars

I like to make advent calendars for my kids ... and by kids I mean young adults who are 20 and 22 years old. Crazy, I know. I can't help myself though. I really love being creative and especially when that creativity means giving little treats to younguns that are off at university and working hard. 

Every year I think of a new advent calendar to send them.  I could make the same one every year, but where would be the fun in that. So I thought long and hard about what to make this year. The few non-negotiables were that the advent calendar must be able to be mailed since both Kate and William are away at university; the treats would be chocolates because in our family treats=chocolates; and it had to be suitable for someone in their 20s.  

After some thought I came up with the idea to make personalized advent calendars so they would suit the individual child. I used toilet paper rolls cut in half for both advent calendars. They were the perfect size to hold the chocolates and were the right price. 

Personalized Advent Calendar #1
Kate was overseas for the first half of this year studying at the University of Bath and doing lots of traveling. I decided to make her advent calendar with little sketches illustrating her year as it unfolded. I started off with our home with the Christmas tree up and then her flight to the UK and then her time in Paris etc. I cut out small rectangles the size of the half toilet paper rolls and sketched and then painted the little scenes to fit.  I either used Kate's photos or searched online for some inspiration as to what to draw because believe me I'm not able to draw without looking at a picture.  I then glued the little scenes on the toilet paper rolls which contained the chocolates. The little chocolate packages were then taped to three rows of ribbons which were attached to a branch.

Personalized Advent Calendar #2
William has been studying hard and learning not one, but two languages - both French and Chinese. I really admire his perseverance. He has taught himself enough that he has read French philosophy and the Tao Te Ching in the original languages. So I thought his advent calendar could help expand his vocabulary to include Christmas-related words, you know words like 'candle', 'joy', 'sheep' - things that might not show up in a philosophy book.

Fortunately I had the help of our eldest son (who is also learning Chinese and French) and our daughter-in-law. It actually took some managing to get the Chinese character drawn with the corresponding French word (done the right way up) on the back. I was the translator and director (and photographer) and Malcolm drew the Chinese characters and Christie wrote the French word in calligraphy. It was definitely a team effort.

I assembled the calendar by putting the chocolate inside the half toilet paper roll, stringing a piece of twine through it, and taping it shut.

And then I packaged them up and sent them off to the hard-working students. The countdown begins!

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Easy Advent Calendar Roll

It's that time again - time to make advent calendars and get them in the mail so they can be enjoyed by the younguns off at university.  Given the age of our children I just go right for chocolate and don't bother with other little treats.  A daily dose of chocolate is just what the doctor ordered at this stressful time of the school year.

I wanted to create an advent calendar that was both simple to make and easy to send in the mail.  I came up with a design that reminds me of little girl's smocked dresses and reminds my husband of intestines - so you take your pick.  Either way it fits the requirements and will be appreciated by the kids.

Each advent calendar required the following:
-- 4 sheets of tissue paper
-- 24 round-shaped candy or chocolates
-- string or ribbon cut into 9 or 10 inch lengths

Step 1:
Lay twelve of the chocolates across the middle lengthwise of the tissue paper.  I used a double thickness of tissue paper so it would withstand the rolling.

Step 2:
Fold in the sides of the tissue paper over the end chocolates.  Then fold the tissue paper roughly in half lengthwise over the chocolates

Step 3:
Roll the chocolates inside the tissue paper toward the open end.

Step 4:
Tie the middle and the ends of the roll.   You can feel the chocolates through the tissue paper which helps you find the middle of the roll.  You can also gently move the chocolates along if they are bunched up.

Step 5:
Tie string between each of the chocolates.

  
You can leave the rolls as they are or you can tie bows around the ends and hang them up. Since there are only twelve chocolates in a roll, each child gets two rolls.  I made them all different colours - purple, turquoise, red, and green.  

You can also check out my Advent Calendar Pinterest page or my advent calendars from previous years for inspiration:

Easy advent calendar

Advent calendar ball

Mailable advent calendar

Are you making an advent calendar this year?  I've seen so many cute ones around blogland this year.  I swear they are getting cuter every year.


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Easiest Advent Calendar Ever

Our kiddos are young adults now, but that doesn't mean they don't enjoy an advent calendar to open in December.  Every year I try to make the advent calendars yummy, easy to transport for anyone who is away at university, and a little bit different.  My theory is that making them a little bit different makes them a little more fun.
Two years ago I made our advent calendars using envelope halves and a covered box (which you can see here) and last year I made advent blobs (which you can see here).  They were big hits.  My daughter told me that her friends in residence thought she has the craftiest Mom.
This year I decided to keep things simple - which was partly because I ran out of time and had to get an advent calendar finished so Kate could take it back to university with her when she visited in October.  Nevertheless, simple is good!
So this is what I did:

I stapled a loop at the end of the ribbon and threaded a thin silver string through so that the advent calendar could be hung up.  I then stapled the chocolates on the ribbon.  As a finishing touch, I added a tiny red bow.

There you go - easy peasy chocolate squeezy!

How to Make an Advent Blob

Every year when the kids were growing up we had an advent calendar and often we had more than one on the go at a time.  The Playmobil advent calendar was popular for many years as were the chocolate ones, of course.  However, when all your children are teenagers or young adults you have to do things a little different than when they were young.  Malcolm is married and living away from home, but they are still poor students, and Kate is away (a looong way away) from home at University, and only William is at home.  Even though they are growing up I still wanted to do give them each an advent calendar.  The time just before Christmas is very stressful and tiring for students so they need all the care they can get.

Last year I used envelopes to wrap their presents in and packaged them all in a gift-wrapped box (which you can read about here), but I wanted to do something a bit different this year.  I decided to make an Advent Blob!  Do you remember when you played Pass-the-Parcel with your kiddos - well the Advent Blob is based on that concept.

Here is how I made it.   I laid out all the presents and numbered them from 1 - 24.  

Then we started wrapping the presents using crepe paper streamers leftover from when the kids were young and we had birthday parties (sniff sniff).  Fortunately, Christie's sister was visiting for the weekend and she helped me with the rolling as this project is much easier with two sets of hands.  Just be sure and start with 24 and work backwards as the last present to be opened is the one at the centre of the blob.

We used a new colour of streamer after every present.  

The blob gradually grew as we added presents and layers of streamers.

Thanks for your help Valerie.

When we had added the last present (or is that the first since it is #1 ???) we completely covered the blob in several wraps of teal streamers to make it look rounder and well - more blob-like.  Then we tied some white wool around it for a fancy touch.  


William went down to visit Kate over Thanksgiving weekend and took hers to her.  All her friends thought she should open it right away, but she (being the good girl that she is) said that she was going to wait so she could enjoy it in December.   She did marvel at how lovely her Advent Blob looks on her bookshelf.  It's  not everyone who has one of these in their dorm room waiting to be opened.

Anyone else make advent calendars?

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Homemade Advent Calendar

It is almost December and that means one thing - it's time to get the advent calendars ready for the kids.  Even though our kids are in their teens and 20s, I think an advent calendar is still a fun way to start the Christmas season.  It is also a nice treat for students busy with essays and exams and kids living far from home at this time of year.  A little TLC is just the thing.

I just went to Waterloo to deliver the advent gifts to Malcolm and Christie, who are both off at university, I will be mailing Kate's to her out in Winnipeg tomorrow, and am ready here at home with William's come December 1st.

Here's what I did -

I bought a variety of treats, including some Hallowe'en candy on sale (don't worry offspring, it's not stale).

I wrapped some of the bigger items in Christmas paper and for the smaller items I used envelopes that I cut in half.

Then I put the item inside the half envelope, folded over the cut side, and punched two holes in it.

I then threaded a ribbon through the holes and tied it at the front.

Then I printed numbers off of the computer and cut them into squares, gluing them on to each package. 

I put them in a box that I wrapped in Christmas paper to make it look all purty, and tied it with jute string to keep it closed.

I have to say I'm in love with jute string - I mean how stinking cute is it with the red wrapping paper.  I see a lot of jute string in my future.

I also want you to rest assured that all the candies were subject to thorough quality control procedures.  You can never be too careful!

Anyone else do advent calendars for their kiddos?

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