For Christians the Advent season began on Sunday November 29, 2020. It is all about preparing for the birth of Jesus. Advent actually means Coming in Latin. The true Christian meaning is probably lost for some, and it has become a countdown to Santa Claus. I am not about to debate this, because your beliefs are a personal thing. Every year since my daughter gave birth to her children, they would have an advent calendar. It was a visual countdown to Christmas. I had them for my kids too, but they were made of cheap cardboard with perforated numbered doors. Behind each door was a piece of low quality chocolate candy nearly not edible. It never occurred to me to be creative with the process. My daughter has taken it to a new extreme. Each year she betters herself. She makes it so much fun, her boys will want her to do it forever.
This year was no exception. She has been collecting the small Altoid tins for a long time. I'm not sure if she had this in mind or if it's just hard to throw away these cute little tins. For anyone who watches our grandson Ewan's Youtube channel, Old Time Skills, you will see he likes them too.
She started out with her Cricuit machine or something similar. She cut out different patterns to cover the top of the tins and numbers 1 to 24.
After the tins are decorated, they are positioned on a board. In this case, she used a distressed barn board. Her husband drilled a hole through the back and secured them to the board.
They chose to position the tins in the shape of a Christmas Tree. With some imagination, the shape could be of anything.
Now the fun begins. Everyday that corresponds to the date, the tin is opened. Inside is a clue with an initial on for each child if there are more than one. She saved clues from previous years, but found out her son remembers every single one so she has to create new clues for him. Of course the clues have to rhyme and done quickly and secretly. That is a challenge with a ten year old who has exceptional hearing, sight and memory.
Oh where could it be. It looks like this one is hidden in or around something blue. There it is, behind the goldfish tank. Today it is a big piece of Lindt chocolate. There are many days I would get up early to find a large piece of chocolate. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.
My daughter's college son still participates in this. Since he can't be home to open the tins everyday, he will do it over the holiday break. Last year, she bought a big Lego kit that contained several bags of pieces. He would find each bag but didn't really know what it would make until the last clue. Really good memories are being made.
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