Our Advent Calendar & Holiday Decorating Plans

That was sure a quick weekend, wasn’t it? I had the best intentions of getting a jump start on some Christmas decorating but somehow the weekend was over about as soon as it started without all that much holiday decorating getting done. My one accomplishment was putting up our small tabletop Christmas tree that we use as an advent calendar by hanging numbered mini galvanized pails on it (the details of how I put together our Christmas tree advent calendar last year can be found {here}).

Starting December 1st, each day my girls get to grab a numbered pail off of the tree and find a little treat or note. I’m still working on filling the pails but my plan is for some of the notes to say something special to my girls while others encourage them to do a specific act of kindness that day. They’re looking forward to next Monday when they can start each day with a fun surprise.

We always had an advent calendar growing up and, just like my girls, it was something that I loved about the holiday season. There are so many ways to DIY a simple advent calendar but if crafting isn’t your thing, the advent calendars sold in stores seem to get cuter and cuter with each year (note: affiliate links are indicated with an asterisk). Some of my favorite advent calendars that I found this year include this Crate & Barrel Winter Clothes Countdown that has hanging mittens, hats, and stockings with pockets to hold gifts and treats,

West Elm’s Village Advent Calendar* that has the most darling little 3D village,

and PB Kids’ Painted Reindeer Face Advent Calendar* with a string attached to each date so that you can hang a little goodie or note.

There are also a ton of adorable advent calendars on Etsy – everything from simple, inexpensive felt advent calendars to this beautiful Woodland Ornament Advent Calendar by Peppersprouts that has 25 hand-stamped cotton bags and wood ornaments:

Of course, there’s no shame in going super simple and getting the paper advent calendars with the little chocolates behind each numbered window – my girls love these! You can find these at most drug stores and grocery stores but some of the cutest ones I’ve seen are this one from Williams-Sonoma,

these advent calendars from World Market*, and (my personal favorite) the 99 cent advent calendars from Trader Joe’s.

This coming up week is going to be a crazy busy one so I probably won’t get much more holiday decorating done until after Thanksgiving (which is how it should be anyway, right?) but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been thinking about some fun decorating plans. I’ve been wanting to do something a little different from last year without buying much new and this is a little sneak peak of what I’m thinking:

I competed in lots of horse shows as a kid and have quite a collection of trophy cups, bowls, & plates along with all sorts of other horsey stuff that has been doing nothing other than sitting in a storage box for years. They could make for a pretty Christmas table and mantel don’t you think??