advent calendar

I have seen some advent calendars on other craft blogs this season, and thought this would be the year I whipped one out, too. I had left over fabric from last year's Winter's Lane quilt, so all I needed was half yard of matching fabric. Luckily at my first stop I found Kate Spain's Solstice line, and the gray swirls and red berries were a perfect match.

I made 25 pockets and embroidered a number on each. You can't see them in all my photos, as many are hidden under the bells. If I were to make this again, I would put button holes on each pocket, and then wrap a bell around each button. Removing the bell marks which day of the calendar has passed, and for my purposes, the safety pin limits peeking.

 I bought a bunch of little toys (MyLittlePony, Littlest Petshop) and some fun candy. There are still some pockets left unstuffed, because I didn't buy quite enough. And I used the old tactic of writing on a slip of paper, "Look in the mail drawer," for items too big to fit in the pocket.

I was hoping to encourage anticipation and gratitude, but so far I'm hearing complaints. A few less complaints once the lightbulb went off that there might be real treats involved. . . but we'll see how it goes.

It looks pretty hanging on the wall, so overall I am happy with it. And of course I will never make another one with buttonholes, because this one is so pretty.