When my kids were little, I would occasionally craft advent calendars for them, when we could not get our hands on one from Trader Joe's (those things sell out faster than donuts at a stoner festival 😳)
Four years ago, on a whim, I made one for each person in my family (except my oldest son, he lives in Germany and I wasn't going to ship it.)
This meant I origami folded 120 pyramid boxes. I filled them with half price candy from the after Halloween sales lol and 4 tea bags each for Sunday-slow-down-a-bit-time.
It was a total hit. Everyone loved them and asked if I could do it again the next year.
So I guess we sort of started a tradition.
Last year I hand stamped baggies I sewed of recycled paper with hand carved stamps. That took several months to get done.
This year, I opted for simple book page baggies. I glued them, rather than sewing, because my sewing machines are out of order. I got three sets done in one day! Start to finish! That's a new record!
Each baggie got a paper punch star with a handwritten number on it. (Usually I don't number them, so I thought this was a nice change.)
I punched a hole in the top and will close them with fabric ribbons in everybody's favourite colour.
I also made a paper star Garland. Well. At first I thought I make a Garland, but turns out I love the nest shape, so it's now a paper star nest. I intend on getting some of those tiny wire fairy lights and entwine them with the Garland.
I may have to make a few more miles of it.
It's super simple really. I have a 1 inch star paper punch. Punch out as many stars and you can stand and simply glue them to a bit of string. I *think* I got mine at the dollar store in the garden isle, but honestly, I have had it for a while. So no telling where it came from.
I used regular shool glue to stick the shapes on, but I think a drop of hot glue might be better actually.
Since I had still had stars leftover. I decided to punch holes in the middle, because I think they might look cute strung on the ribbon on presents. (I use twine to tie up presents usually, so the small stars and regular hole punch size holes fit, but you can always supersize it.)
Are you already preparing for the holidays?
Do you make your own decorations?
When do you start decorating?
Traditionally in my family (where I grew up) we didn't set the tree up until the 24th and kept it until January 7th. My husband used to set his up on Thanksgiving. For both of us, we sort of opted for some time in December.
I love the decor, but I hate having the tree around for too long. I usually take it down the week between Solstice and New Year's.
Last year we bought a Norfolk Pine in a bucket as our Solstice tree. It was just about 15 inches. This year it is already a bit taller lol. Right now we are trying to decide if we add a big tree, or if we stick with just the 20 inch Norfolk Pine... I will keep you posted.
xo ❤
B.🐝