Busy Little Elves

Our advent calendar is full of activities that are all about the holiday cheer.

I didn't want the focus to be on trinkets or candy.

I had a few goals in mind when planning our fun:

*The Offspring needed something on which to focus their "Christmas is coming" craziness.
*I wanted our whole family to get involved.
*I felt there should be a mix of entertainment, literature, craft, and giving back to others.
*Everything had to be easy and fun.

So far, we have counted the licks it takes to finish a candy cane, read favorite Christmas books, danced to Christmas music, written letters to Santa, put together a Christmas puzzle, and read this book about Jesus' birth.

I focused on the "craft" component over the weekend when we had a bit more downtime.

We started with some finger crochet.

When I saw this over at Tiny Twist Creative, I knew we had to add it to the fun.

The Boy caught on pretty quick.

But he wanted to emphasize that he wasn't crocheting.

He was weaving rope. Glittery rope.

The Girl and I worked together for a while.

Then The Boy took over as teacher.

Elves help each other out.

We are going to use their chains like ribbon and use them to wrap some gifts.

The next night we made a pom pom garland.

I first read about it here. It's been at the top of my Christmas project list ever since.

We sat on the couch watching Harry Potter and strung and strung and strung.

The Girl was having a difficult time getting that needle in the center of the pom pom. So I did the needlework and she pushed it down the thread and called out the next color.

Elves work together.

I hung it over the door leading to the hallway.

I love it.

It makes me smile.

That door leading into the kitchen looks awfully plain.

I think more pom poms are in order.