Advent is exciting, it is the build up to Christmas that has children the world over bouncing around with eager anticipation of the big day to come. The fact that the big day is so many days away makes it all the more exciting.

I remember being excited in November at the thought of the impending Advent Calendar that would hang in the kitchen. Now folks this was long before they put those nifty little chocolates in the commercial calendars. This was just a piece of card with little doors to open to reveal a suitably Christmassy picture underneith. There was no prize bigger than that.

This was pure build up, pure anticipation of the sheer unbridled joy that would be coming my way in a few weeks time.

Advent calendars are incredibly special and should be treated with love.

Last year I wrote a book called So Easy Christmas, which is available both in hardback and as a Kindle book on Amazon. In it I shared the Santa Sack Advent Calendar that I made for Idgy and use every year. So here I thought I would share how to make an advent sack with youso you can get ready for that big and important build up to the festive season.

It is so easy to make and as it comes with it’s own sack soyou can just stash it away after Christmas and whip it out again next December 1st. Couldn’t be better, couldn’t be easier.

How To Make An Advent Sack For Christmas;

fabric for sack 40x60cm (I just used an old tea towel)

1m ribbon for the sack tie

24 match boxes in assorted sizes

scraps of paper and fabrics to cover boxes

scraps of ribbon and twine

manila card for tags

glitter

glue

scissors

Knitting needle to pierce tags

To make the sack simply fold over approx 3cm of the long side of the fabric and sew along to make a channel so you will be able to thread through the ribbon later to pull the sack shut. Now making sure you have the fabric folded to it is right side in sew the two sides leaving the top with the ribbon channel as your open end.

Turn right side out and carefully cut a slit in the channel at either side of the side seam. Use a big safety pin to hold your ribbon and thread it through the channel and out the other end. Tie the ends together to form a loop. You will now be able to pull the bag firmly closed when you want to and also hang it up.

Empty out the match boxes and try to resist the temptation to build your own scale model of London Bridge/Empire State Building or whatever until you have finished the task in hand…….

Use your scraps of fabric and paper to wrap around the outside sleeves of the boxes. Glue in place with PVA/Craft glue. You are not wanting to wrap these like packages, merely make a glued on sleave so that the drawer part can still move freely in and out.

Wrap a piece of ribbon or twine around the little package and tie in knot or bow.

To make the number tags use your plain manila card to cut out mini luggage tags about 2x1cm, trim the tops to a point and punch a hole using a hole punch or knitting needle.

Put a spoonful of PVA glue into a bottle top/yogurt lid and carefully dip the edges of the tag in the glue. Now tip some glitter on to a sheet of paper and gently dip the gluey edges in the glitter. Give the tag a little shake an set aside to dry over night. Do the same with the other tags. When the glitter has completely dried write the numbers 1 to 24 on each tag.

Thread the tag with embroidery thread or just plain thread and carefully tie it to the knot/bow on your little match box packages.

Now have some fun looking for all sorts of tiny goodies you can put in the boxes. I tend to use those yummy gold and silver chocolate coins, candies, a badge, little bead bracelet, mini ornaments. Anything small, if you have kids who collect farm animals this is perfect, tiny items for a doll house, for older kids earrings, beads, even a memory stick. Just think ‘inside’ the match box!

When you are ready for 1st December just hang the Santa Sack somewhere prominent (like in the kitchen) and each day there can be a rummaging in the sack and the right number found and opened. Make sure you put the empty boxes in a safe place ready to put back in the sack after Christmas and store it all away again for next year.

Lots more Chrsitmas ideas to come…….

Karon x