Tags of Comfort & Joy

I've had this craft, a homemade version of an Advent calendar, rattling around in my brain for a few years now. I originally envisioned it quite differently (there was to be cardstock, a craft knife and tissue paper involved) but the way I ended up doing it was much simpler and ultimately I think more satisfying. As usual, this is a very humble craft, but when it was finished, and I stood back to look it over, it was exactly how I had hoped it would be. That's such a great feeling! :)

So, do you remember a few days ago I showed you a grapevine wreath I cobbled together for the dining room? Well, my intent was not to have it just hang there prettily, nice though it looks against the windows. I knew I wanted it to serve as a base for a Christmas countdown, an Advent calendar of sorts.

Some Advent calendars open to reveal a beautiful picture, or perhaps tiny chocolates, and some hold sacred Scripture within. Some calendars - as my boys like to remind me - even reveal tiny Legos each day of the season. But this calendar is quite personal and it bears tidings (or tags) of comfort and joy. :)

In all there will be 37 tags, taking us from the first of December to the Feast of the Epiphany. But hanging 37 tags on this wreath at one time would be overwhelming - not just to behold but to make all at once! So each Sunday a week's worth of tags will appear dangling from the entwined branches of our wreath. On the outside of each tag is a number indicating the day it is to be read, and on the inside is a little surprise for the boys - a simple but special activity we'll do that day. I hope that each of these little bits of comfort and joy will enrich our path towards the most beautiful day of the year.

Now, for the specifics!

Materials:

• grapevine wreath
• berry garland to dress it up
• small bird in nest (quite optional)
• small gift bag tags
• ivory cardstock
• twine
• stickers
• scissors (regular and pinking), hole punch, glue stick, ink pen

(A quick note ~ This wreath has a rustic, woodland look to it - it fits our decor at home and is "boyish" as well. You might opt to make your wreath in a whole different style, perhaps using an evergreen base, or golden ribbons instead of twine for instance.)

I started with pre-made gift bag tags because that way half the cutting and sizing work was already done for me. I cut a gift bag tag (approximately 2x3 inches) right down the middle, thereby making two smaller tags, and trimmed the bottom edges with the pinking shears. I then punched a hole at the top of each.

Because my tags were dark, I decided to use small ivory squares inside for the text. (If you choose a light colored tag this won't be a problem. I thought about using printed scrapbook paper for this, but ultimately I wanted something thicker.) I quickly cut up strips of ivory cardstock using a ruler - a cutting board would be even faster - and on each square I wrote down a brief message describing the special activity that we'll be doing that day.

After writing my message, I just used a bit of glue stick to adhere the ivory squares. This one shown above, for Sunday, December 2nd reads:

Advent begins! New colors on the altar and new books! Nativity set! Let's buy a new Christmas book @ B&N. We'll also try a holiday "coffee."

(I should point out that my boys won't actually be getting a caffeinated beverage, but they've been begging to try one of those Starbucks flavored coffees I get all the time now and again. I'll let them order either a decaf or a cup of flavored hot chocolate.)

One of the things that first overwhelmed me about this project was the thought of having to come up with (and really committing to) so many different ideas at one time! Sure, some of the days were taken care of thanks to already scheduled festivities on the December calendar. But there were plenty of "everyday" days that needed a little something. Plus, I thought, what if our plans change, what if a new activity comes up, or what if we just need a quiet day when something "active" has been planned?

So that's when I decided to put up just a week's worth of tags at a time. First of all, the wreath will look nicer with just a few tags spread around it, and secondly, this will help me be more thoughtful and timely with our plans. I'll write the tags out as I plan the week ahead and on Sunday morning the boys will find their wreath sporting a fresh batch of tags!

Now, the tags do stay a bit open, so you could fasten the bottom (or side) edges closed with a small bit of tape or a sticker. I've left mine open, but made sure the boys know there's no peeking!

You might notice these project pictures are a bit more cluttered than usual. Typically I wait until mid-afternon to launch into projects like this - when I can clear off the table and have a lot of room (both physically and mentally, lol) in which to work. But today I just decided to jump right into it. We got our lessons done early and the boys were all busy with "crafts" of their own so I gave it a go. (Crackerjack was drawing Mario characters, Bookworm was making paper snowflakes and Earlybird was just having at it with the scissors and glue.) 

The last thing I did was to thread a bit of twine through the tag's hole and tie it tightly at the top, forming a loop. I then slipped the tag's loop onto a bit of the wreath. It's easier to remove a tag in this way, rather than tying it to a branch.

And here's the wreath as it looks now, all set for the first week of Advent!

So what's inside these first eight tags? What little surprises are in store for my boys next week? :)

• Help Daddy to set up the outdoor decorations!
• Look for new colors and books at church! A special trip to the bookstore too.
• Attend a "Holiday Cocoa Storytime" with our homeschool group. (Each family is bringing their favorite winter holiday story to share, and we're bringing the hot cocoa and marshmallows!)
• Take a winter woods walk on St. Barbara's Day (and bring home branches to force).
• Bring out the Polar Express train set (a once a year treat) and watch the movie, The Polar Express (and enjoy mugs of hot chocolate).
• Attend Book Group and bake gingerfolk on the Feast of St. Nicholas.
• Visit the nursery to see all the Christmas plants. Make poinsettia ornaments to give as presents.
• Make a gingerbread house with Nana!

If you'd like, each week, I'll share our tags with you all. (Or if I get the ideas all down on paper in advance - and most of them are aleady formed - I'll do a post with them all in one shot.)

I placed all the supplies for making up a week's worth of tags in a large ziploc bag. I'll keep that bag on my bookcase ready to go.

Wow, when I first starting planning this craft, it seemed Advent was light years away - and now it's just a few days away! I'm glad I have this project off and running, though. I think the boys are really going to enjoy it. :)

Well, I'd best be off; it's quite dark now and supper's simmering away on the stove. After a bit of mild weather, it got very cold here today. But it's clear and crisp tonight, the stars are out and it's lovely - it smells just like Christmas out there.

Keep warm and well everyone, and see you sometime tomorrow. :)

Comments

[Lucille]

Oh do please share all your ideas! Even if they are unique to your little clan, it is nice to think about the fun things your guys are doing and it gives us good ideas too!

The one thing that has kept me from doing one of those advent calendars with little things inside was how to come up with so many little things...

I like your idea alot!

[Lisa Haddican]

Where oh where do you come up with these ideas!! I am not that creative--yet;^)
Reading this post has given me the "itch" to try something similiar with my babies-well they're not quite babies anymore.:)
Thanks for sharing!
Blessings!

[Christie]

So elegant. Our homemade advent took a couple of forms. First we decorated envelopes and placed them about the tree, but I didn't actually much care for that year. Last year I covered matchboxes with holiday paper and I really like those. They get rearranged throughout the month like blocks. I really like your tag idea and wonder how it would go over if next year I swapped out the matchboxes. I doubt it would go over very well at all!

I also shudder at the thought of putting all the ideas in at the beginning. We usually put in only the activity a couple of days in advance. Sometimes the day arrives and my daughter will shake the empty box and proclaim that the advent fairy is late today. Gasp!

Please share your ideas. I feel like we need to have several new ideas each year to keep it fresh and have been dreading coming up with this years list.

[Jennifer]

Beautiful! I love this idea. It is so much more meaningful than a countdown to Christmas type of calendar. And using special family activities as treats instead of things? Love it. :)

[Eileen]

This is just so sweet, I could cry. Everything you do, even something as simple as this! is just so elegant and beautiful.

(Everything I do looks like preschool!! I just couldn't do this the way you do.)

And your special surprises--I wouldn't have even thought to say "look for the new books at church" as a sweet surprise, but it is, isn't it?

I just shake my head in awe. (And steal what I can--even if it's not as nice, it'll still be better than what I could come up with!!)

[Fe]

I'm another who'd like to see your activities!

I am currently working on the bits of paper to go in our Advent Calendar. I do them all at the start and I dated them. At this stage I can switch them out if I need to (Puggle is still a pre-reader), but reading your post made me think that next year, I'll only date those activities that are tied to particular dates (St Nicholas, St Lucy and Gaudete Sunday... when we put up our tree) and leave the rest undated.

I've picked up a few ideas even from the first week's activities, which is good, because some of what I used last year won't be do-able this year:-)

Now I'm itching for nap-time to arrive so I can really focus:-)

[KC]

What a wonderful idea! Off I go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow for stickers. I already had a wreath I had planned on decorating simply with liturgical colors, but now I have something else to add. First order of business, buy a Christmas tree on Sunday!

[Dana]

What a wonderful idea! I had never thought of using activities with the children as a special thing to look forward to in this way. Thank you for the inspiration.

[Lisa]

Dawn,

What a nice idea. The boys are going to have alot of fun with this.
Lisa

[Angel]

I think I'm going to save this as an idea for next year. This year I'm not sure if I can even plan a *week* ahead LOL. And I don't want to disappoint anybody when I can't do what I say I will do because the baby is too fussy; everyone is sick; the twins are going nuts... etc., etc. It seems like I always have to think about these sorts of things for a really long time before I come up with a way to make them work in my house, but I am happy that you post about them -- because I never come up with ideas like this on my own!

[Jennifer]

Super cool, Dawn! I used similar tags last year for the Twelve Days of Christmas to extend the season in a hopefully meaningful way. Marianna and I made a swirly tree out of ribbon on her door and hung all twelve tags on it. It was very pretty.

[KatieButler]

Dawn, another wonderful idea! Our Advent is full of special activities because of everything you shared last year. Thank you!

[Barbara]

Thank you for your never-ending ideas! BUT, what I am interested in from this post was what was "simmering away on the stove"? Since we share a great love for the Barefoot Contessa, I would love to know what you cook for supper - i.e. your menu plans, particularly if you prepare a list for the week. I imagine there is as much creativity and beauty in your cooking as is in the rest of your posts!

[Heather Duncan]

For someone who claims to not be crafty, You would put Martha Stewart to shame. I so love your ideas!

I created notebooks similar to yours, but I have seasonal ones filled with crafts, ideas, recipes and other things that are geared for that particular season.

Time to impliment a file system similar to yours. I have all the stuff (I have a Desk Apprentace from Staples that needs a good cleaning out).

[stephanie]

I love this idea ... I've gone a different route with my advent "wreath" this year and it will work, but I'm hanging on to this idea for next year. (And, yes!, I would love to see what you all are doing ... I'm always on the hunt for ideas ... especially those that aren't costly). :)

[Homestead Mama]

I just found this blog... what an inspiration! Thank you for this! What a wonderful idea.

[Maria Cunningham (Maria B)]

I'd love to see your ideas Dawn. I think I am going to try a variation of your idea. Thanks so much for sharing!

[JoAnn]

Wow! What a wonderful advent calendar! I've done something for Advent the last few years but this year I haven't even gotten the all the decorations up yet. I'm only two weeks behind my usual schedule! I wish I had found your blog about 3-4 weeks ago...I would have used this.