Day 5

I stayed up WAY too late on Monday making this holiday countdown calendar for Buby, and eventually Bleu. But it was absolutely worth it the next morning when he came skipping downstairs first thing and boiled over with excitement. He's learned by now that objects hanging from wall to wall are generally there to celebrate him.


I was inspired by a similar calendar in the Dec/Jan issue of Wondertime and thought "I can do THAT!" Only instead of mini floral gift bags I chose plain white paper sacks because they 1) are cheaper, 2) live nicer with my decor, 3) hold larger goodies, and 4) lend a kiddish lunch-bag look. Certainly you can do this with much more pizazz than I. I struggled over the numbers. I couldn't find any large felt adhesives or oversized number stamps that I liked, and didn't feel like stenciling. So I bought the 12x12 inch Frosty Gingerbread Paper Pad from Martha Stewart Crafts {$9.99 at Michaels} and simply cut some whimsical numbers free-hand.


I'll use this paper for a dozen other projects, too. And to save space {My Sweets' idea!}, I doubled up on the days. So from one side of the banner you see days 1-12. From the other you see 13-24. On day 12, after Buby goes to bed, I'll simply refill the same 12 bags and flip them around on their clothespins.


Inside each bag is one teeny delight. My mix includes: small playdough, a mini jigsaw puzzle to do at the kitchen table, lip balm, love notes from moi, a certificate to have breakfast for dinner, a pretend voucher for lunch at Ruby Tuesday {Buby's favorite restaurant}, mini bubbles, a clementine, stickers, an organic fruit strip {Archer Farms makes great ones for Target}, temporary tattoos, and a fresh strawberry cookie from our village bakery {to be purchased the night before}. When Buby rises in the morning he runs down and tries to remember on his own what number we're up to. And then he finds that number in the line and comes after me to get it down. A sweet new tradition I look forward to continuing.