Christmas

Christmas decorating is in full swing in our house with the tree going up this past Monday -which is very late for me! I usually have the tree up by mid November but with all the re-arranging of the house the Chritmas decorating has been taking a backseat. I am a little fussy and particular when it comes to Christmas but each year I find a few more bits and pieces to add to our collection including this cute take on an Advent calendar:

This version is actually a placemat with 2 layers. The bottom layers display the numbers and you rotate the top layer accordingly. I have just blu-tacked it to the wall and each day take it down to change the number and re-tack to the wall. The Little Guy loves it and calls it 'pretty'!

This shelf is in our new dining area

displays a gorgeous Villeroy & Boch tealight candle holder (a gift from my boss many years ago), a cute wind-up wooden Santa sleigh and reindeer from My Wooden Toys (I can't see this particular toy on their site at the moment but they do have some adorable wooden nativity sets), a photo of the Little Guy and a lovely wooden Advent calendar purchased from Bed, Bath & Table last Christmas. The Little Guy is a bit young at the moment to use this but I look forward to future Christmases where I will be able to put some little notes about a Christmas related activity or event as well as chocolate inside each of the little boxes.

The Little Guy also has a Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set he loves to play with. I believe it is important for there to be some Christmas (or any other celebration) decorations he is allowed to play with rather then everything being out of bounds to him.

I also saw this cute version of a Advent calender at Infarrantly Creative blog:

How cute is it? What other great Christmas ideas have you seen?