Five For...Orthodox Advent Countdown
photo by alicepopkorn
In Orthodox Christianity the season of preparing for Christmas (commonly known as Advent) is called the Nativity Fast. It lasts 40 days and begins on 15th November.Because of the difference in dates, (Advent begins on the Sunday four weeks before Christmas) it is almost impossible to find an Orthodox Advent calendar.So this year, my family is planning to make our own Countdown calendar. (Technically, it's more of a countdown than calendar, but you get the idea.)
Similar to my earlier post about recycling socks for an Advent countdown, I have decided to make our Orthodox Countdown on a string too. We have decided to use red stars for each day. Red, because it is the liturgical colour for the season, and stars because they remind us of the Star of Bethlehem, showing us the way towards Christmas. Every day in Orthodoxy is dedicated to one (or usually, many) saints or feasts. To help keep us focused and teach our children about the saints and the Christmas Story, each day we will place a picture and short description of the saint of the day (or piece of the Christmas Story) on each star.
By the time the Nativity Fast ends, we will be surrounded by a beautiful garland of saints and symbols of Christmas. I'll post pictures as the garland progresses.
How about you? How do you count down to Christmas? I'd love to hear your ideas!
Five For...Recycling Your Socks for Christmas
photo courtesy of familyfun.go.com
I know it's not even Halloween yet, but I like to plan ahead. (I try, anyway!) I originally came across this wonderful idea on the Family Fun website. The idea is to take various colourful socks that your kids have and string them up as an Advent Countdown calendar. I thought that was great, but I've put an even better twist on it and best of all, in today's credit-crunch society, it's THRIFTY.
How about using all of those stray socks you have? You know, the ones the dryer ate, or have somehow magically disappeared? You could do just about anything you like to decorate them. You could dye them to make them colourful like the picture above, you could embroider them, decorate them with ribbons and buttons, or even paint them. Let your imagination run wild! You don't have to have kids to do this, it's a great idea for the 'big kids' out there too!
Here's what you need:
- 25 socks
- A marker or paint
- 25 mini clothespins (available at craft supply stores, but if you want, you could use (recycle) regular clothespins too)
- Stocking hangers, painter's tape, or pushpins
- 6-foot length of cord, string, or ribbon
- Use the marker or paint to number the clothespins with 1 through 25.
- Use stocking hangers, painter's tape, or pushpins to temporarily hang a 6-foot length of cord, string, or ribbon.
- Clip the treat-filled socks to the cord in numerical order, then each day have kids remove one to discover their surprises.
- Get Out of Chores Free" or "Pick a Movie Rental" cards -- each good for one use!
- A puzzle distributed in pieces among the socks; kids can put it together over the course of the month.
- Trading or sports cards
- Special coins such as foreign currency or a silver dollar -- chocolate coins are always a hit too!
- Music or other gift cards
- Jokes or riddle
- A game (a Mad Libs or Sudoku a day)
- Art supplies, such as a mini paint kit and pad
- A special ornament to add to the tree
- Write or print out an encouraging thought for each day or a Christmas fact to focus on what Christmas is really about.
