Gina Mazanec | Advent Calendar

Hi all! I hope you are enjoying this Advent season. I have been loving the Make Room devotional from The Naptime Diaries. It has really helped me let go of busyness and simply enjoy and anticipate the season! In light of those lessons I am keeping this short and simple with a free and easy project; an Advent Calendar. I know, I know, it is already the 18th. Well, there is one week until Christmas and even a few more days left in December so why not try it out?

I used a wall calendar I already had, this is our school calendar, and the free printable that was included in Illustrated Faith’s newsletter. The size came out almost perfectly, I just cut each number, chalked my edges, which you could easily skip, and used a little washi tape along the top of each. Under each day I wrote a small, simple activity for my kids and I to do together. My goal was not to keep busy, there is enough of that. My goal was to make memories with my children; play a game, have popcorn, mold play-doh, read the Christmas story, wear red and green, watch a Christmas movie, color nativity scenes. Your list might look different, maybe you have lots of events and places to look forward to or acts of kindness to give; donate food, clothes, toys, fill a shoebox, or give to a neighbor. Another popular idea is to include verses of scripture behind each day leading to Jesus’ birth. The great thing is, you get to decide for yourself what is best for you and your family.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it seems I need to go sing and dance to Christmas songs with my kiddos. I pray you are able to slow down and make memories in this unusually busy season!

Supplies: existing wall calendar, Advent numbers printable, washi tape, prima chalk edgers