advent elves

i received my first advent calendar when i was a little girl. it was handmade by my grandmother "fritz" who lived in wisconsin. i only saw her every few years as we lived in pennsylvania. she was a wonderfully creative woman. her advent calendar was a simple red felt banner with 24 hershey kisses tied to it with a bell at the bottom. she included a poem to go along with it (i don't know who the original author is):

december 1st to christmas
is the longest time of year

seems as though ol' santa
never will appear

how many days till christmas
it's so mighty hard to count

so this candy ribbon
will tell the exact amount

untie a candy every night
when the sandman casts his spell

christmas day will be here
by the time you reach the bell

Sadly that advent calendar is now long gone. I wanted to continue the tradition with my children. Instead of candy ribbons though, each child has an elf with the little pockets for trinkets and treats.

love their little feet

you don't have to spend a lot of money
these little treats were bought at party city, most for under 10 cents

the kids are so excited for december 1st and their first little treat. what kind of advent calendar do you have?