Advent is an exciting time - magical in the eyes of a child. I was easily satisfied with cheap chocolate advent calendars when I was small, but since it's nearly impossible to find one without Santa emblazoned on the front (I'm not anti-Santa, but I am pro-Jesus), and my conscience protests buying chocolate that isn't fair-trade, and one fair-trade advent calendar without Santa on it costs $12... multiply that by 3 kids, and well, I needed a new strategy.
So, copying my talented friend Sarah, I made an advent garland out of tiny stockings. Every day the kids pull a new paper out to reveal the day's activity, and for days that I don't have anything ambitious up my sleeve, they go hunting for a piece of chocolate money - one bag of fair trade coins only set me back $7.
You can check out Clay's photo today to get an idea of what the stockings look like.
Perhaps next year, I too will be ambitious enough to copy my friend Kim!!!