making merry

this year we've been in full blown christmas mode. here we are cutting down our tree at the coker tree family farm third year in a row. i'm a sucker for the ginger kids and the ornaments they give out.

i'm a little late on filling up the advent pockets, but here's what i have so far:
-go see the lights of life. it was amazing, cheap, and matilda loved the crazy christmas train they have with automated puppets inside.
-filled up a few pockets with dark chocolate. win win.
-added fruit leathers to a couple of pockets.
-watch rudolph's shiny new year on abc family december 5th
-placed ornaments to hang in a few pockets
-watch frosty the snowman on december 9th on cbs
-present nativity scene + read the story of christmas(almost done with a homemade nativity)
-make neighbor treats together
-go see santa
-make cookies for santa
-make reindeer food
-christmas eve she'll get a special gift from our house elf ook. (these adorable pjs)
ps if you're doing elf on the shelf (which you totally should) check out this flickr gallery. it's definitely making us step up our game. (thanks tori for the tip!)

help us add to our list! would love to hear how your family is celebrating the advent.

make your own pocket advent calendar here.

create your own advent pocket calendar

for the past five years it has been a goal of mine to make an advent calendar. i wanted to make one with pockets that i could fill will little notes, ornaments, and treats. as you can see right now this calendar is being occupied by our house elf, ook. hopefully you'll have some down time this week to make your own!
you will need:
cut two 24x24 inch pieces of fabric
cut four 6x25 inch pieces in an assortment of festive fabrics
dowel rods
baker's twine
felt
hot glue gun

sew 24" squares, right sides facing leaving a 3" inch hole for turning out. i used a heavy canvas for the front which i would recommend and i used the tree fabric for the backing. trim excess after sewing and snip ends for nice, sharp corners. turn inside out. poke out corners. press. topstitch all the way around catching the opening in the top stitch.

knot ribbon, string, or twill tape to hang calendar with. i used some baker's twine. place the knot under the fold in the middle. place dowel rod at top of calendar and roll the fabric just until it is covering the rod and the string. pin on edges. then sew closed the loop on both sides of the rod and across the calendar. repeat for the bottom of the calendar. (*note: you may want to sew the bottom dowel in last, having it in makes it difficult to sew the bottom row pockets, which i learned the hard way)

cut out four assorted strips of 6x25" pieces of fabric. fold and iron on all sides. sew down fold at top of fabric pocket, repeat for each piece of fabric. then place fabric and pin about an inch apart starting at the bottom and working your way up (make sure to account for bottom dowel). once fabric pockets are all in place, sew down sides and across the bottom so that the pocket is attached to the calendar. then mark pocket divisions with pins leaving equal space for six pockets, or you can vary the sizes to allow for different sized goodies in your calendar. then simply sew down to make each pocket.

for the dates, i hand-cut the numbers out of felt and then hot glued them on. for finishing touches i glued some vintage buttons on various pockets for a little sparkle.

have a lovely time with your favorite people, stuffing yourself with your favorite holiday treats. i for one am very thankful for YOU!