advent calendar

  • make your own: canvas advent calendar.

    When Rose first made these simple canvas wall caddies, I knew we were going to have do a little advent calendar variation. Sure enough, as soon as we first shared the project, readers wrote…

    November 23, 2021 12 Comments
  • a book advent calendar, continued.

    This is the second year that I’ve taken to wrapping up books we own and books we’ve borrowed and setting them on a shelf to open one by one through the month of December.…

    December 11, 2018 25 Comments
  • a clutter-free advent calendar, updated.

    When I first posted about our plans for a clutter-free advent calendar, Faye was a wee thing of 19-months. That original list of holiday activities has all the hallmarks of a family with one…

    November 29, 2018 18 Comments
  • a book advent calendar.

    We’ll be stringing up our clutter-free advent calendar (and filling it with festive (and activist) activities for the holiday season) again this year, but with so many whisperings from folks we know planning picture book advent…

    November 30, 2017 48 Comments
  • a peace and justice advent calendar.

    The season of advent begins on Sunday and this week, when I pulled the pieces of the advent calendar that I made last year out of the cardboard box where we stash our holiday decorations,…

    November 23, 2016 32 Comments
  • a clutter-free advent calendar.

    Growing up, my mom introduced an idea to our family that she called Advent Angels. The idea was a riff on Secret Santa, but it was more about actions than things. We’d draw names…

    November 25, 2015 40 Comments
  • an advent book calendar.

    An advent book calendar—or perhaps, a book advent calendar—is a festive idea for passing the time on long December nights when the kids get home past dark and we could all use a bit…

    November 28, 2022 8 Comments
  • holiday magic, simply?

    I love making so-called holiday magic. I love stringing up popcorn and cutting out cinnamon stars and lighting candles. Give me all the fir clippings! If it’s cold enough I’ll make ice lanterns and…

    November 30, 2022 32 Comments
  • tiny gifts for tiny people.

    Everything’s cuter in miniature. Kids know it. Toy manufacturers know it. Parents begging their children to walk past the quarter-eating bodega vending machines stuffed with bouncy balls and adjustable rings and tiny dinosaurs know…

    November 22, 2022 9 Comments
  • ’tis the season.

    For consumerist dread? I like to fill this space with ideas for merry making and simple festivities, especially in this time of year. To me, conjuring a bit of reverence and a bit of…

    December 15, 2021 17 Comments