Advent Calendar

I have been on the hunt for the perfect advent calendar since Aidan's first Christmas. I didn't worry too much about it that first year considering he was only 11 months old and it wouldn't mean much at the time, but I kept my eyes peeled. Over the years, I've seen super cute ones in stores, but for way more money than I'm willing to spend. A couple years ago, after Christmas, I bought a fabric panel that had little pockets to sew on to make an advent calendar. I sewed those pockets on, and then realized how absolutely teeny tiny they were and knew that I'd never fit items for more than one child in them. This panel is also rather large, so I didn't want to make one for all my kids and try to find a place within the house to hang them, therefore I never finished it beyond sewing those tiny pockets on.
Growing up, my mom managed to find a small, cost effective, and practical advent calendar, so surely, I should be able to find the same. We each had our own calendar. They weren't fancy by any means. They were simple little boxes in rows and columns numbered 1-24. All three of them were lined up on Mom's dresser, and each morning of December we would open up those boxes and find a small surprise. So, why can't I find something similar?

I knew the day would come when I would need an advent calendar for my children. Well, my friends, the time has come. Aidan is already asking when Christmas is going to be here. Currently, the answer is "after Thanksgiving". Once Thanksgiving has come and gone though, I'm in for the daily questions. I am in desperate need of an advent calendar if for no other reason, to have a count down to Christmas morning.

I was about to resort to making a matchbox advent calendar.

Or shelling out some big bucks and buying Aidan the Lego Star Wars advent calenar, and then having this same dilemma again next year.

Then I found it.

I have spent the last several days cutting and sewing felt together in order to have this complete by December 1st. It's the absolute perfect advent calendar. It's a countdown to Christmas, there's no worrying about what small item to place in the pockets, and it focuses the entire Christmas season on the birth of Christ. Each day, he takes a piece of the nativity from a pocket and puts it in place. By Christmas Eve, he has watched and heard the entire Christmas story take place, as I plan to read the Bible story with him each day.

 And the best part...Aidan adores it!