Christmas Countdown Calendar

I would call this a Christmas Advent Calendar, but that always brings to mind images of little holy things - angels, cherubs, mangers, etc.

This calendar has none of those things. What it does have is a very real nostalgic pull for me.

When I was a little girl, my sweet grandmother made, by hand, felt stockings for all of the five children in my family. (Well, fine, four of us...but that was only because another grandmother beat her to the punch on the fifth one.)

These stockings are safely tucked away in my mother's Christmas decorations to be pulled out once a year and stuffed to the brim with candy, pens, flashlights and any other small items Santa may thing we need. (When I lived at home, there were about four years when Santa tucked my paid car insurance in there, dependent on my good grades!) Those stockings have always represented the Magic of Christmas to me. I knew that Grandma made them and I knew that we only got to use them once a year.

When I saw this kit in my fabric store, 50% off no less, over a year ago, I knew I had to have it. Obviously, I didn't finish it in time to use for last Christmas, but I am well on my way to having it done on time this year.

For now, I just have the first three ornaments done. I'll keep you updated on my progress as I finish more ornaments.


I promised one of my readers that I would do a bit of research on Halloween countdown calendars. There are paper ones out there, but I refined my search to felt calendars. (Felt is not only cheesy and homey, but it's reusable. Call it earth conscious if you like. I just call it frugal.)

There is a lovely one available from Pottery Barn here. For $59, it's all yours.

However, if you've got more time than money, then you can go this route (courtesy of frugallawstudent.com). The woman in this tutorial patterned her calendar after an older version of the Pottery Barn calendar (her picture is dated 2006), but I think the current edition of the calendar would be even easier to replicate at home!

*Please note the new label on this post. As long as I'm "nesting" and crafting and decorating my home, I thought it ought to have its own label on this blog! I know these things have very little to do with BBJ, but...it's her house, it's my Life as Mama...and I just want to have a history of my streak as a crafty lady!