Advent

hello and happy December!  There is frost on the ground this morning and it will be chilly on our way to the shoppe today.  I like a good chill now and then..... I make exceptions for December. But, after the New Year, I want warmer temps pronto!!

Have you ever seen something raw... like in its original state and completely see something else... what it could be?  Well, I did this summer.  Mr. Hughes brought home a big buffet for me to paint and I saw this velvet board set aside.  Now, I have painted a few buffets and I have seen a few of these boards that go in the silverware drawer.  But there was something about this board's faded color and its perfect velvet-y-ness (fact: the Mr. doesn't like velvet.) I immediately brought it into the house and told him that whatever he was planning on doing with it would not work.  That it would be our Advent calender.

Immediately the wheels started tuning and I starting thinking... brass window/ screen door tacks... I have some of those... but I don't have a whole set... off to etsy/ ebay I go!!  But they were a bit pricier than I remembered. I eventually found some goldy brass, not the white brass.  I looked and saw #1, #2, and #25... okay they are all there... add to my basket.

When I got them, they weren't #1- 25.  Oh well, I will use what I have.  And I did... I pulled together some random numbered tacks and now have a complete, perfectly mismatched set.

The idea behind the calender was to add one item each day of December to our little tree.  After we add the item to the tree, then we write our favorite memory of the day and place it in the envelope to save.  So, we will have an empty board, full tree and hopefully at least 25 perfect Christmas memories.  

 

I thought this would be an easy way for baby hughes, who doesn't really grasp time in weeks and days... it is "now" and "in a minute" to him.  And, I have seen so many fun interviewing things done with kids and just thought it would be great to hear what he thought the most important part of our day was.

I quickly put this together last night so we will have it ready for tonight.  I truly wanted fun little ornaments that he would like, but I couldn't find any small ornaments, so I used what we had.  These are small, and either durable or un- precious.

I really can't wait until tonight to see what his favorite part of the day was.  I may ask Mr. Hughes and write mine down as well.  This is really the important part of the season for me.  Besides, the Reason, of course.  It is making these little memories.  This year will be busier than I expected when I quit my job in June.  The shoppe wasn't in the plan, or in ours anyhow, back then.  I still think that we can make great memories, even if we are working a little more than expected. It will be special memories that only we have created.  Maybe I won't be crafting each and every day or baking cookies til we all explode.  But, I bet we can manage to fill all 25 of those envelopes with happy little memories to share for years to come.

What is something YOU do to celebrate this season?  Any fun traditions?  Okay, time to wake up the boys and get this day started!

bye for now!