Happy Thanksgiving! I’m so excited and thankful that we get to spend today with family and eat a bunch of food! We were going to try and cook the entire meal to have at my grandparents’, but it was turning out to be too much of a hassle. So instead, they are ordering the meal from Boston Market, and we’re bringing desserts! I made fudge, a pumpkin pie, and an apple pie. They weren’t without their frustrations (I have a really difficult time with the pre-made pie crusts), but they smell good, so cross your fingers!

Anyway, Thanksgiving is late this year, which means December is only a couple of days away. I’ve always wanted to put together an advent calendar, and regardless of us having no (human) children, I went ahead and made one this year. I had grander plans for it, but we have no room in our apartment, so I ended up just stringing it. Maybe next year I’ll fulfill my entire plan. But for this year, here’s what I did:

I bought 24 muslin bags (wedding section at Michael’s), and did the same thing to number them as I did with my Christmas banner (traced with a stencil, painted gold, and sprinkled with gold glitter).

In each bag I have a Christmas activity for us to do. On the days I won’t be here (I’m making a trip back to Texas for my sister’s graduation), I put some fun activities for my husband to do by himself and a few other surprises. I filled the bags knowing what days (like the weekend) would work best for certain activities, but my husband doesn’t know, so they will all be a surprise (Whitney if you see this, stop reading now please 🙂 )! Plus, I’m sure as each day comes, I’ll forget what activity I put in the bag.

If you want to do something similar (this is great for both kids and adults alike), here are some activities I chose:

*decorate the Christmas tree

drink hot cocoa and watch a Christmas movie

*build a gingerbread house

*wrap Christmas presents

*get Starbucks and walk around to see the Christmas lights

*go ice skating

*bake cookies together

*fill a stocking for Kipling

*roast marshmallows

I also threw in a few “date” ideas that aren’t necessarily Christmas-y, but they give us an excuse to spend time doing something special together. I’m so excited for this next month, and I really hope we’re able to make time for all of these things this season. After all, it’s my absolute favorite time of year.

Have fun putting together your advent calendar for this year! The countdown to Christmas is about to begin!

-wonderland sam

imdb.me/samanthalee