So, it's December again and the rush is on to get things ready for Christmas. My craft room has been off limits to everyone in the family for the purpose of wrapping gifts, and the anticipation is driving the kids nuts. When the family is away, I take over the kitchen table, and the rest of the household chores gets neglected. Ahhh, I love it!
I have been hard at work filling the kids' advent calender filled with little goodies. The thrill of opening a little present every morning, and seeing their eyes light up takes me back to my childhood. My mom spent all year collecting little things to put in my advent calender, and it was so exciting.
As you can see from this photo, that they have had their advent calender for a while now, and there are still a few days left (I forgot to take a picture of the full unopened calender).
Tips on buying for presents for an Advent Calender:
1. Buy things right after Christmas, when everything is heavily discounted.
2. Buy throughout the year when things are on sale.
3. Buy things that are under $1.00 per item, or buy packages of things and split them up, i.e. a colored pencil set, play dough set, etc.
4. Get things that will excite them!
Here are a few ideas:
One year, my friend bought a bag of little green plastic toy soldiers. Her theme was Toy Story, and the calendar was filled with these figures and pieces of candy.
My husband bought a package of 6 dry erase magnets for under $5 (we split it up between the 3 kids.) He also got a set of 5 decorative metal keys (my eldest is really into old keys).
Additionally, we also found a package of 6 mini decorative tapes for $3, and split it up between the kids. The older they get the more variety I put in the calender.
Last year, our youngest daughter got "Polly Pocket" accessories and clothes. I split them up and wrapped the clothing seprately from each other. You get the idea. I hope this give you a few small shopping ideas for next year.
-Kissa
