When I was little, my brother and I had advent calendars. They were just paper and we tacked them up to our basement door in the living room. But I loved opening up those flaps every day and seeing the picture and verse inside. I still have my advent calendar and treasure it!

Advent calendars are one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I have about four and would gladly spend all day opening up those lovely little doors, flaps or boxes! I started looking all over the internet for more advent calendars to add to my growing addiction collection. And as I looked, I found some great ideas for what you can put inside your advent calendar:

• a Scripture that tells the story of Jesus’ birth
• a small piece of candy
• an ornament
• a charm (that could be made into a bracelet or necklace)
• a piece of paper with an activity (ie. “let’s make Christmas cookies” OR “we’re going Christmas light watching tonight!”)
• a clue to an activity, craft, story (that’s kinda what we’re doing. I put in a sticker of a king yesterday because we read Isaiah 9:6-7)
• a small toy
• the title of a Christmas story to read

Now, are you ready for the calendars? I seriously get giddy looking at these pictures! I’ve linked each one to the blog, tutorial or store so you can make/buy/mail one to me! Please click on them, there’s more pics on each one!
1. The Box. I’ve been wanting one of these for awhile. And I just happen to get this one at Thanksachristmas from my sister-in-law. I adore it. This is where I’m putting the verse or picture of what we’re doing for our “jesse tree“.

2. The Best One I’ve Ever Seen In My Life. Do you see what this is? GUM! She just decorated the outside of gum…like Dentyne Ice or one of those in a blister pack. What a fun gift for kids to make their friends!

3. The Recycled One. It’s just made out of paper bags! How cute is that?!

4. The Muy Expensive One. I found this in Pottery Barn Kids and I ADORE IT!

5. The One You Get To Destroy. I discovered this at Thanksgiving as a way to used leftover Halloween candy. Such an easy idea—put candy inside, glue a piece of tissue paper on top and let your kids bust it open! You need to click on this one, there’s some great pictures!

6. The One I Wish I Had Come Up With. Can you tell what this is? It’s a MUFFIN PAN! With little magnetic covers over it! Just scrapbook a square and put it over each little muffin hole. What a fabulous idea!

7. The EASY One. Envelopes. Hung up with clothespins. My kinda craft! I think this is the perfect one for putting scriptures or activities in.

8. For the Uber Talented. Quilted, etc. etc. You pull an ornament out of each box and hang it on the tree! So cute. But I got an idea from this one…just attach buttons to anything and hang ornaments on it. How cute would that be? Even on a plain sheet. Or a garland. You could buy ornaments and just hang them up until each button was used.

9. The Other Magnet One. I love this whole magnet idea—scrapbooked magnets on a cookie sheet! Clever, indeed!

10. The Modern Box One. This is way cute. Small little boxes (maybe matchbox, jewelry boxes, etc.) with small covers (I think some of these are playing cards!). Then just stick them to the wall in any pattern and open the box on the appropriate day. You have to click over to this blog because she’s got tons of sweet pictures of it.

11. The Mitten One. My sisterchick, Kristen made this for me (and Lydia) last year at my sisterchick party. It’s just mittens with numbers made from sticky ribbon (is that right, Kristen?) It’s only got 12 numbers on it, for the 12 Days of Christmas. But since I don’t really know what that is (outside of a really annoying song), I use it as a birthday countdown. Lydia’s birthday is 12 days after Christmas. The only bad thing is now I’m going to have to come up with a countdown for Asa’s birthday. Pirate ships, perhaps?

12. The Recycled One Part 2. Now this one is really recycled. The circles are old Christmas cards and the little “box” underneath is milk tops! I think this one would be really fun to make!

13. The Pirate One. Yes, you read that correctly. A pirate advent calendar. I really do not get the connection. But how could I NOT include this on on my list?!

See my 2009 picks for best advent calendars!

Best Advent Calendars EVER is a post from: ohamanda.com