Alright, brace yourselves. Here’s a confession for you. Ready?
…I don’t really like chocolate.
Maaan, it feels so much better to just SAY it.
I don’t really like chocolate, but I do like tradition. I like family. And my childlike excitement in December is still ever-present, even if my sweet tooth is long gone.
After moving out, I tried to continue with the advent calendar thing. It didn’t really work. Every year, I would buy a chocolate advent calendar at the grocery store. And every year, I would neglect this calendar. My roommates would end up taking it over after the first few days. Why? Because I don’t really like chocolate, guys. It sucks.
This year, I decided to do something different. I decided to make an advent calendar. The specifications were simple:
1) What went inside the advent calendar would have to reflect what was important to me about even having one: family, tradition, and just having something to smile about in the morning.
2) No spending money, especially not on 24 cutesy boxes. If the project was going to cost anything, it couldn’t cost more than the cheesy inexpensive chocolate calendars from the grocery store.
3) It would have to be awesome.
I looked around the apartment for inspiration. Do I have 24 of any sort of container? How can I make this work? The answer, it seems was right outside my bedroom door:
And for my second confession of the day…yes, I own the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.
Oh right! Music! There’s something that I’m…well, marginally obsessed with, actually. This means that I have a ton of CDs–we’re talking boxes in the back room full, along with this sample. I have a ton of CD cases, too. CD cases can hold notes. Notes can be awesome. Wheels are turning now.
I called my parents and the siblings who still live at home, Mike and Adam, to ask if they were up for the creative task. I told them the notes could be anything, as long as they could fit in a CD case and were folded/enveloped. My friend Caitlin jumped in and put together the first few, just in case my family contributions didn’t show up in the mail by December 1st. And, of course, I sent out a request to my two favourite little artists.
The notes could be anything, really:
- Recipes
- Doodles, drawings
- Comics
- Photographs
- Articles cut out of magazines/newspapers
- Warm fuzzies
- Quotes
- Project ideas/inspiration
- Challenges or reminders (random act of kindness, call me, etc)
- Memories
- Little haikus or poems
That took care of the inside of the advent calendar. Now, I just had to get my CD cases in seasonal shape to make for a cute display.
Using seasonal paper to ready the CD cases!
You can use old cards, wrapping paper, or decorative seasonal paper for the covers.
All about the music!
The CD cases, ready to be stuffed with notes!
Searching for the right number every day is part of the fun, so I mixed them up a bit.
There you have it! I will definitely keep you updated on how the notes turn out. Knowing how my crazy brothers greet these challenges, I’m sure they will be anything but boring.
Let’s do this thing, December.
