Condo Blues: 6 Reusable Christmas Countdown Advent Calendars

Friday, November 25, 2011

6 Reusable Christmas Countdown Advent Calendars

As I eagerly endured the days before Christmas as a kid, I wanted mark off the days on a Christmas countdown Advent calendar.

My mother never went for it.

Now I understand why. Most advent calendars reveal candy or a trinket each day the child crosses a date off the calendar. In a household with more than one kid, one Advent calendar can lead to squabbling.



One solution is to buy one countdown calendar for each kid. However, that doubles the amount of work filling it and the kids get more trinkets and candy during one of already gift and treat laden times of the year. I'm not anti- extra candy treats. I'm anti - kids on a month long sugar high and driving everyone else  crazy extra extra candy treats. 80/20 Rule, remember?

My solution is use an Advent calendar that focuses on the countdown instead of prizes each day.  I like these countdown calendars better because you can reuse them year after year with little effort.

6 Reusable Christmas Countdown Advent Calendars Your Kids Won’t Fight Over

Melissa & Doug Countdown to Christmas Wooden Advent Calender Most of us think of Melissa & Doug toys for wee kids but this cheerful calender works for all ages, including adults. The set includes 24 magnetic ornaments plus a shining star for Christmas day and fit neatly in the attached box at the base of the tree.  
Cheery!

German Advent Taper Candle  Countdown candles are very popular in Denmark too. You burn one marked day at a time until Christmas day. The year I bought one,  Husband and I burned the candle each night during dinner. Pretty!



Frohe Weihnachten! (Merry Christmas in German)

Lego Build Your Own Holiday Countdown Candle If you have little ones (or a spouse), you can’t quite trust around a burning candle each night, building a Lego Countdown Candle might work better for you. Just remove each marked day from the candle instead of burning it – easy and safe!

 

Fontanini 25 Piece Advent Calendar Set is perfect for families who want to focus on religious aspects of the holiday season. You place the wood participants in the order they appear in the Christmas Story.




Oh Christmas Tree Fabric Advent Calendar Unlike the magnet calendar, this calendar encourages children to countdown the days to Christmas by adding items to the calendar by removing a Velcro backed ornament from each day’s pocket and sticking it to the calendar’s Christmas tree.



Bucilla Must Be Santa Advent Calendar Felt Applique Kit If you are feeling ambitious about making a keepsake Christmas countdown Advent calendar, consider this advent calender kit that includes everything you need: stamped felt, embroidery floss, sequins, beads, needles and most import the instructions! This kit is beginner friendly but it will take a long time to complete because of the darling details. This might be a project to complete and give to your family to use for the following year.

Involved, but so cute it is bound to be an heirloom!


Do you use a countdown Advent calendar to keep track of the days before Christmas?



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3 comments :

ronda said...

I bought one similar to the last one, Christmas tree w/pockets, years ago for our family. The kids took turns pulling the item out of the pocket and putting it on the tree. It was great, as they could see how many days 'til Christmas. Brings back lots of memories every year when I unpack it and hang it up. Highly recommend it!

Mary said...

I've always had a fondness for Advent calendars. Of the ones you reviewed I like the last one best, the tree with ornaments for each day, because you work towards a finished project, a decorated tree, while you count down to Christmas. I had a homemade one once: a garland of stars with each day's number and a little pocket. Each pocket had a slip of paper with a Christmas-related activity; "Cocoa with marshmallows", "Watch a Christmas movie", "Wrap a present". Each star turned around so that the garland read "Merry Christmas To All!" It was fun to watch the greeting slowly spelled out.

Katy said...

Gosh, wow, not specifically to this post as I have a similar advent calendar already, but I absolutely adore your blog. I found it entirely by accident just the other day - I can't even remember what I was looking for... oh yes! Making thermal roman blinds - and am so happy to find another lady out there who does her own DIY, fits her own toilets AND tries to minimise her carbon footprint. I also do my own building projects (and have a BRILLIANT drill!) and had been thinking about doing some YouTube tutorials for (mostly) women along the lines of "how not to do much DIY and save hundreds of pounds in the process."

Other than that I make loads of recycled things - glasses from winebottles, magnets from bottlecaps, necklaces from broken crockery, pendants from vintage stamps, driftwood Xmas tree decorations, etc. etc.

I will certainly be returning to read more!

Katy x

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