the box of christmas goodness

I was just going to get a Chuck-E-Cheese's gift card for my sister's family and call it good. I was thinking it would be easy for me, fun for them, and cheap to ship. Then I read some blog posts about Advent calendars, started thinking of my own ideas ideas, realized this could be sooooo much better than pizza that tastes like cardboard, and wa-la, the box of Christmas goodness was born.

I've said it before, that all my good ideas are stolen from the internet. This one is no exception. Ali Edwards designed these little cards and has them for sale through Designer Digitals. But I, being without Photoshop and therefore can't download any of her stuff, decided I could just as easily make my own. So I did. I have quickly fallen in love with kraft paper (that I finally found on sale for cheap at JoAnn's) and I used my prized Sharpie collection that Phil got me not too long ago. I made up 25 tags, one for each day beginning today, and wrote a little message or task on each.

Then I went to Winco because they have the best bulk candy selection around (I mean, seriously, gummy Christmas trees?) and got a whole bunch of different kinds for Hannah, Carson & Keegan. I took a big roll of that clear wrapping stuff and tied up the candy and cards with ribbon. It ended up super cute, really, really long and actually ripped apart before I could get it done. Oh well.

So the gist of it is each day they get to untie the bottom ribbon, the stuff falls out, and then they have to complete the task or open a gift. The gifts are all numbered according to the tags.

Today's gift was for my sister (which, in retrospect, I should've sent something for the kids to open on the first day because they have been waiting anxiously since Monday morning when the box arrived - check out those faces!)

and it was a little 5X7 scrapbook I made for her to document the whole month.

I made the easiest borders and pages I could because I already had invested a lot of time in this box, and I was on a shipping deadline. I left enough space for a 4X6 photo and told her to save the little cards to add too. The best part was I used up a lot of scraps from previous Christmas projects. Even after the mitten garland, I still had lots of paper scraps left over.

All but two presents fit in a large priority box and I'll send those later.

The absolute best part was that I called during my lunch today just as they were getting ready to open the box. Hannah had just gotten off the bus and they were waiting for her. I absolutely loved hearing their excitement and giggles and listening to Jenny read my direction letter to them and then getting the pictures sent to my phone. I felt like the coolest aunt ever!!!

And so the countdown to Christmas begins!