Di’s Country INKers Holiday Blog Hop
Posted on December 1st, 2015
Welcome to Di’s Country INKers’ holiday blog hop! We are featuring Christmas and holiday items made with Stampin’ Up products. My project is an Advent calendar created with tiny treat boxes and Home for Christmas DSP. The numbers are from the Hello December 2015 Project Life Accessory Pack. The bow on top is made of Mossy Meadow striped ribbon. I had great fun thinking about Ben and Aurora as I adhered all those little DSP squares to the boxes, thinking of how they will look forward to opening a box each day of December.
December first has always been a big day at our house. We hang the Advent calendar and begin marking the days leading up to Christmas. I sewed our Advent calendar before my older son was old enough to understand what it was. As he reached in the pocket to attach an ornament to the appliqued tree, we would talk a minute about what Christmas is all about. When he was older, we added a small candy to each pocket along with the ornament. 
The candy caused some controversy when his younger brother came along and began to sneak the candies out of the pockets.
Even as adults, they will check to see that I’m adding an ornament each day if they aren’t around to do it. Of course, they also reach in the pocket for a candy. Too funny, as they both know which cabinet the candy stash is, but pulling one from the pocket has become a family holiday tradition.
Now I have grandchildren who put the ornaments up on the Advent tree when they stop by. This year, though, I wanted them to have one at their house too. Naturally, I wanted to create one with Stampin’ Up! supplies, so I was thrilled to see Allison Okamitsu’s Advent tree made of the tiny treat boxes featured on the Stampin’ Up! blog in September.
It was a little tricky to space the boxes on each layer. You can see that mine is certainly not perfect. I kept refering to the picture of Allison’s tree to see how it was supposed to look. The good news is that the kids thought it was amazing when I gave it to them this past weekend. They are excited to start opening those boxes to discover what is in them.
Inside each box, they will find a card with a scripture verse from the gospel account of the Christmas story along with a Hershey’s Kiss for each of the family members (because adult children still enjoy a sweet treat, too).
Although this project is definitely NOT a quick and easy one, it turned out so cute (even with the imperfections) that I’m glad that I persevered and finished it.
What Christmas traditions does your family have? If you’ve never used an Advent calendar, think about starting this year. In the midst of all the commercialism that abounds these days, it’s nice to be reminded that Jesus is the reason for the season.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Next up on our hop are Susan and Ashley over on their Stamping With 4 Hands blog. You can click on the Next button below or use the links listed below. Have an awesome day!
Blog Hop Lineup
Di http://www.stampingwithdi.com
Barb http://www.beelinestamping.com
Crystal http://stampinonroodfarm.blogspot.com
Connie https://www.texasschoolmarm.com
Susan/Ashley http://www.stampinwith4hands.typepad.com
Kathya http://www.stampwithkathya.com
I loved the description of your family traditions. Meaningful. The advent tree was a labor of love, I could tell! Lovely.
OMG! This is amazing!! It looks awesome and I bet the kids and adults want to sneak a peek in the boxes.
Love ya, Di
What a fun story about your kids’ traditions. We do stuff like that at my Mom’s too. Some things were just meant to be perpetuated!
Love your Advent Calendar too – I’m going to try one this week as well…
How pretty!!!!! Great job!!!!