Can you believe that December is already here? Already time to pull out the Christmas decorations! While I feel a little freaked that Christmas will be here in just a few weeks, I’m excited to share some of my favorite traditions with the little bumblebees. This is the first year that they both really “get it’ and it’s so fun to see them get excited about Christmas. One thing that I remember about Christmas when I was a kid is our advent calendar. Knowing it was so hard for two little girls to wait, my mom wrapped a little gift (pencils, a little piece of jewelry, socks) for either my sister or me on each day of December. She even sent packages of advent gifts to my roommates and I when I was away at college! Best. Mom. Ever. She has continued this tradition with my little girlies, and they RUSH downstairs in the morning to see whose day it is to open a gift!
While I’m so thankful for my mom’s contribution to our advent traditions, i wanted to start one of our own this year. I’m trying to keep our toy collection simple, so I decided to create an advent calendar full of little yummy treats to get us over the afternoon yuckies. My plan is to open one of these each day right after nap.
I was inspired by a pin I saw about cute little sewn brown paper packages. Wanna make one? You’ll need
some brown paper (kraft or a grocery sack)
Number stamps
glitter or other embellishments
scissors
sewing machine and thread
Heavy duty sewing machine needle. I used one made for leather.
non perishable goodies. I used M and M’s, unpopped popcorn (to be popped of course) and craisins. Just a note – if you buy some black licorice specifically for this project, hide it from your husband. Or have your husband hide it from you…

I didn’t have any kraft paper on hand so I used some brown paper lunch sacks. Trace the cookie cutter shape onto the paper, and stamp the number into the middle. Let your kiddies go crazy decorating. The baby bee wanted to use paint, while the little bee preferred glitter.

Be sure to let the glue dry completely, then cut out the shapes. Using the heavy duty needle, stitch around the shape, leaving about a 1 inch space to fill the packet with goodies. don’t fill it too full, or you won’t be able to sew the opening shut!
There are lots of possibilities with these little packets. You could put one on your kiddo’s plate before breakfast, or outside their bedroom before they wake up. I decided to string them up over the mantle in the playroom, so the girlies could enjoy them every day. I do have plans for a little more fancyness around the mantle but,like I said, December sure sneaked up on me!

Do you have any advent traditions? Share them with us!
Happy Advent!