Moi - if you are interested, this is our advent calendar for this year:

1st - Gift - Story of Christmas Sticker Book (A page a day to complete together and read the story during December)
2nd - Making Christmas tree decoration
3rd - Lollipops Outing
4th - Take kids present shopping for each other
5th - Christmas Treasure Hunt
6th - Cooking Rumballs
7th - Playtime Christmas Party
8th - Making presents
9th - Shopping for a Christmas decoration for the tree
10th - Christmas movie & pizza night
11th - Picnic on Magnetic Island
12th - Carols by Candlelight
13th - Cooking Christmas star tree
14th - Making cards
15th - Fury Game
16th - Making Christmas wrapping paper
17th - McDonalds lunch with Daddy
18th - Swimming at Water Park and Picnic Day
19th - Christmas Movie night
20th - Cooking Marshmallow Christmas trees
21st - Stable on the Strand
22nd - Sizzler and Christmas light looking
23rd - Christmas Eve Eve Party
24th - Stable on the Strand Carols

I write a corny poem and print it out on a digitally scrapbooked card to put in our calendar. Our calendar is a paper one that we make with the kids and decorate - it's using origami. We just get Christmassy looking scrapbooking paper and I fold them into the pockets. The kids then decorate the pockets and I stick them on a bit piece of cardboard and each of the cards for the day go inside.

We also set up our tree in November - DH starts nagging me about it in October because he loooooves Christmas. We spend a couple of days making special food beforehand and send the kids a letter in the mail to tell them when we are setting up the tree. We have call it our Christmas Tree Party, we play Christmas music and eat food that we shouldn't and afterwards this year, we had a 'Christmas Dinner' - roast ham & veggies with a special dessert and we use up all last year's left over bon bons. The kids thought it was fantastic and we had fun.

The other nice thing about the Christmas tree party is that all the decorations that they have made or picked for our tree come out and the kids just love looking at them - they don't remember making or chosing some of them, but they love it when we tell them about it. We also have a photo of each of them on our tree from their first Christmas and they love seeing their baby photo on our Christmas tree too.

I also get the kids a special outfit to wear through December when we have Christmas parties and carols to go to. This year, I made the girls a no sew red and white tutu with a plain white T-shirt that I have attached some boutique bows to for decoration. They get a new party dress to wear on Christmas day. I take photos of them in their special Christmas outfits and when we make the cards during Advent, they make a card they can slot a photo of themselves into so everyone gets a photo of each of my kids for Christmas every year as well.

When we make Christmas presents for everyone, we try to make them practical art - things people can use around the house. This year DD1 is painting a pencil holder for each couple (Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Special Friends), DS is painting some wooden placemats and DD2 will paint a canvas (DD1 and DS have painted a canvas for everyone at the same age). In other years we have painted plain cloth shopping bags, plate and mug drawings, made coasters (Big W sells sets of 6 glass coasters for photos - we put paintings in them instead of photos).

Christmas is pretty intense in our house but we treat it more like a festival. We love Christmas time