advent calendar | On the Needles

Cue the 80’s glam metal, because it’s time to start counting down (almost).

December’s right around the corner and that means it’s time to break out the advent calendars!

I love a good advent calendar. It’s the best combination of waiting (which I am very bad at. I get very impatient), and opening presents early (which I enjoy doing quite a lot). The past few years, I put together a beer advent calendar for my husband, where he got a new bottle of fancy holiday beer every day. Last year, he made me a yarn advent calendar, where I got a new mini-skein of yarn every day. It was the best!

When I was little, we had advent calendars, too. My brother and I each had our own tiny fake tree, and we picked out small ornaments for each day. By the end of the month, we barely had a square-inch of tree visible beneath all the ornaments. I still have a bunch of the advent calendar ornaments, though my little tree has gotten lost along the way (though, maybe it’s at my folks’ house… I should check the next time I visit).

It might be a little late in the year to put together an advent calendar, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try!

I like this one because it includes a very cute little tree!

Christmas Tree Advent Calendar #294 by ShiFio’s PatternsThis one looks even simpler- maybe you could get it knit up by the end of the weekend, if you really put your mind to it? I particularly love the teeny tiny balls!

Advent Tree Wall Hanging by Roxanna JuneBut if you felt like getting really fancy, I kind of love this garland! I like that each day is a totally unique ornament, and I love that they hang from all those little buttons. If I had a million hours of free time, you’d better bet that I’d be all over this project!

Advent Garland by Frankie BrownDo you have an advent calendar tradition in your family?

When my brother and I were little, we each had tiny Christmas trees that we used as advent calendars. My mother (or maybe my grandmother… sorry Mom, I can’t remember which) had made us both these long wall-hangings with 24 little pockets for the days leading up to Christmas.

On the day after Thanksgiving, my parents would pull out the trees, wall hangings and an old cookie tin full of miniature ornaments. My brother and I would spend the afternoon taking turns picking out ornaments and carefully putting each one in each pocket.

Every morning in December, we would add a single ornament to our trees. The first week, the trees always looked a little sad and bare, but by the 10th or so, they started looking quite festive. And by the week of Christmas, it was hard to find a free branch to add the day’s ornament to.

I’m not sure what happened to my little tree and wall-hanging, but I still have some of those miniature ornaments (a bunch of them are hanging on my tree right now!), but I still remember that particular holiday tradition fondly (especially the excitement my brother and I felt when we started having trouble finding space for our ornaments!).

Interested in making your own advent calendars? Try one of these beautiful ones (although, it’s probably too late to make them for this year!)

Mini Stocking Advent Calendar by Alison Stewart-Guinee

Smitten (a Holiday Garland) by Emily Ivey