Friday, December 3, 2010

The world’s greatest Advent calendar

My little goddaughter is 16 months and since this Christmas will be her first ‘real’ one, I wanted to give her the world’s greatest Advent calendar. I know, I am a bit over-ambitious, but hey I feel haven’t had a Christmas in three years and it is my one and only goddaughter and I am on maternity leave ;-)

I was heavily inspired by my beloved granny , who always gave us the most amazing bespoken Advent calendars. Every year. Always different, unique and full of love. When we were little she divided Lego or Playmobil boxes into 24 little parcels and it took us all December to get the Playmobil hospital room (including nurse, flowers in a vase etc.). Later the presents became less divisible, so she started to make riddles for us and we wouldn’t get the big present before we had the right answer. I remember rushing home from kindergarten or school every day in December in anticipation of what I would find in today’s parcel.

My other inspiration is this amazing mum. When I saw last year what her little one got in his Advent calendar every day, I had the same feeling of anticipation. Luckily she posted the content of each parcel, so you could at least virtually take part in slow fill of the great shop. Pasta, Sweets, Fabrics, Fruits,... all beautifully crafted. And guess what: this year she came up with another 24 wonderful ideas for the little shop. I am full of admiration and follow the unwrapping of the parcel every day.

So after accepting that it is impossible to beat these two in the competition for the world’s greatest Advents calendar, I came up with this idea for my goddaughter: a kitchen set including little pans and pots, little oven mittens, wine and juice glasses, a handmade apron and a set of dishtowels:


Oh my – I had such a wonderful time putting this Advent calendar together. I could have gone on and on. Actually it was harder to limit myself to 24 little parcels than I thought. I have enough ideas for at least another two years. I am not sure, however, that she will play with her little kitchen that long. So maybe I will have to give her these for her birthday – as a complete set. What a shame!



all found at IKEA





al found at Haba

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