Advent Goodness

Credits: Knitted gnomes, wooden houses, and wood-cut gnomes by the Wabi Sabi Wanderer; felt tree and St. Lucia peg dolls by Erin, needle-felted toadstool and fairy house by Shanti, pinecone gnome, snowflake ornament, and angel peg doll by Maureen, and dala horses, wet-felted/knitted snowpeople, and Wee Felt Folk dolls by yours truly! 

Some dear friends and I revived a beloved tradition this year, that of creating Advent Sticks for our children.

A few weeks ago I fired off an email suggesting we each create three handmade crafts, times five each (down from our usual quota of five times five crafts). Dreaming up sweet, unique, wintry handmades, spending our evenings in quiet (or hurried) creating, and finally gathering to exclaim in delight over each one's offerings before finally wrapping each one in tissue paper...this is why we do it.

This year, the gaps were filled in with kindness coupons and store bought sweets to bring the total up to 25 wrapped gifts, one for each day until Christmas Day. Instead of tying my goodies to a stick, I put them all in a basket. I've set up a space as a winter seasonal table, and each offering will be added to it to create a magical play space for my three older children.

Our Advent exchange is a treasured tradition; sometimes I wonder if I'm nuts to do it every year, but then we gather and the warmth, inspiration, and joy of it all reminds me that it is worth every stitch and every moment of delayed sleep!

Please pop by Twig and Toadstool for Maureen's account of our exchange! Thanks to Maureen for the photos!