This year we are incorporating a little sparkle into our advent calendar.

I was first inspired by This pretty that I found on Pinterest.

Dare I say, I think ours turned out even better?

Here is what we did.

My handy husband took 6 boards and connected them for me. 

 

Then came my job, to make it pretty.  I stained it a nice dark walnut color and added 24 small nails. 

Onto those nails I hung 24 pretty ornaments that coordinated.

I decided to add another level to the simple ornament advent.  Behind each ornament there is a circle with a word on it.  That is the word that we discuss for the day.  Here are a few examples:  Love, Peace, Joy, Fulfillment, Spirit, Charity, Gift.  Each day we will discuss the word, different meanings of it, how it is present in our lives and how it is relevant at Christmas time.  This will be a great vocabulary building excercise for Lucas who is now 2 1/2.  For Ezra I am hoping we can help him understand a little more what Christmas is about and how these words are present in our lives everyday. 

 

They we will hang these pretty little guys on a special tree (or two) day by day.

Yay!