{Create} The lazy person's advent calendar

I wondered for a minute while typing that title if the store-bought ones from Woolworths are not lazier and then I decided no, this is definitely lazier.

It would take me at least 45 minutes to jump in the car, drive to Eastgate, find parking (Joburgers, pse go on leave to the coast so we can find parking again), get the chocolate advent from Woolies, pay, jump back in the car and get home.

Supplies:

• little paper bags (confession - I was ordering little notecards (some of you will get some very cute ones from me for Christmas)) and I thought I was ordering 100 little white bags. Well, it turns out I ordered 1000.......... :) so I'm using them as envelopes, etc. I think I'm already through about 100!
• red and black permanent markers
• Christmassy stamp (I ordered this one late last year because I thought we'd make Christmas cards this year. Hahaha) and ink
• punch
• thinking cap :)

1. D stamped the 25 white bags and I wrote on the numbers. Please notice, absolutely no perfectionism with vinyl and stickers, etc. Easy-peasy otherwise I would get bored.
2. Then we started disagreeing because he was choosing activities that required lots of effort on my part - cooking/ baking/ crafting.
3. So we gave up for an evening or two.
4. Mandy then emailed me and told me it was all stuff she would have done anyway and a lightbulb went on.

What are things we do/ have to do anyway?

• Go out on the weekend and do something here at home
• I make pancakes.
• They watch movies (for 20 minutes before they get bored) and eat a snack with D.
• They colour and do stickers, etc with Nanny S
• They go to Kids Care (4 times over this period)
• Go Christmas shopping
• Decorate
• Do Christmas tree

1. So I took some white project board, used my tag punch, punched 25 tags and used the black permanent marker to write out the activities.

I finished the calendar in all of 20 minutes.

2. The only change was adding a Christmas slant, like our normal library run was now  "get Christmas books from the library" and colouring in was of Christmas trees, bells, and so on. And then Christmas stickers, Christmas baking, snow man pancakes, etc.

See, EASY-PEASY!

3. Hang them up with cute pegs (CNA...) and you're done. We had a beaded garland on the wall so I pegged the little bags straight onto that.

It all looked really cute. Kendra squealed, "Mummy, that's pretty" which is when I know my work is done :)

Nanny S has been roped into this thing and she reminds me if there's something obscure that she's not clear about so I can plan for that day. I love it.

(Pin for next year. I plan to do the same old thing next year)

If you did an advent calendar, how is it working out for you?

PS pics obviously taken inside at about 5:45 pm and the light is never great in my dining room. One of my goals for next year is to get AWESOME with inside pics :)