Bonus!

You get a second post today, because after I got home from my wander to admire Christmas decorations in Quincy Center, I got busy making an advent calendar for our house! It doesn't look exactly like it did in my mind's eye, but it's pretty close...and it's full of chocolate. I haven't heard any complaints. ;)

Please forgive me for the color bizarre-ness in these photos - crappy crappy lighting in our living room, especially after the sun goes down. The top photo is probably the most color-realistic. 

If you're wondering what was on tv (below), it was Veronica Mars who kept me company while I made this. Well...really it was Logan Echolls, because I love him. Shhhh....don't tell Pete! I am tearing through this show! They do such a great job of sneaking in one last little cliff hanger at the end of each episode that it's causing a lot of late nights and unproductive days off. Each time I think "just one more episode" and then end up with the "MUST! KNOW! WHAT! HAPPENS! NEXT!" problem. It very Lost-esque like that. And also in the whole "long overarching story line which has lots of twists and turns" way, for that matter.

Moving on....above is a glimpse of the treats in our calendar - Hershey's Minis, mini Toblerones, and Lindt peanut butter truffles. nomnomnom. When I told Pete I was going to do this, he told me that we didn't need more treats in the house and it was ridiculous. But guess who is busting into the treats first these days?!?

If you want the (sketchy) details: I chopped the corners off of plain white envelopes to make the bunting-like triangles. I made the little squares on each of them using clip art I downloaded from the Microsoft site and then added the number for each day in PowerPoint. I cut out each square and then stuck them on an envelope corner using spray mount adhesive. And then I cut up some yarn I had in my stash, threaded a yarn needle, and poked two holes in the back of each triangle to string them up. A few clear pushpins to hang them on the wall, and there it is. I already know I won't repeat this same thing next year, I have another idea I think I'll like better. But hey...this is working, and I can recycle all of it when it's time to take it down!

ETA: If you're interested, there are a few more photos of our other Christmas decorations on Flickr...and if I get around to doing some more decorating, I'll add to that set.