Along with an Advent wreath, another way to mark the passing of days until Christmas is with an Advent calendar. There are varieties of these available in bookstores and even grocery stores. The common format is a big picture of a Christmas scene–either secular or religious. There are 24 or 25 little doors built into the calendar. Opening the door of the day will reveal a surprise picture–a shepherd, an angel, an elf…. Fancier calendars offer a daily piece of chocolate or other candy.
I once had a large burlap calendar with a winding road made of yarn. Each new day was marked by a loop of yarn. Little felt characters attached to Christmas tree hooks represented the members of our family . Everyday we moved the little people one loop closer to the manger and the Nativity scene. My children especially liked this calendar.
For the past few years I’ve been drawing my own calendars. Each day I’ll pray for a person or I’ll pray a word related to Advent and Christmas. Here’s a picture of last year’s calendar.
I’m not sure what format I’ll use this year, but my friend Cindy has created the template below for her calendar. Her website Mostly Markers has a downloadable version to print. There is also a link to her last year’s calendar which was beautiful.
Drawing: Sybil MacBeth
