Each and every year, I look forward to Christmas time and for some reason, this year, it feels extra special. I’m not sure if it’s because we’ll be spending the holiday on American soil for the first time in a few years or if it’s just because I’m more thankful than ever for my little family these days, but I’ve been looking forward to December for months and now that it’s finally here, I’m ready to jump head first into the festivities. While my husband’s basketball schedule will prevent us from spending Christmas with our friends and family back home, we still plan to go all out and celebrate the most wonderful time of the year as husband and wife. Because I have been excited for the holidays for so long, I thought it might be cool to create a fun countdown in which my husband and I do something festive every day leading up December 25th to get into the Christmas spirit. I created an Advent calendar for couples to help us do just that!
An Advent calendar is essentially a special calendar created to count the days of Advent leading up to Christmas. Traditionally, Advent refers to the time of anticipation and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but now-a-days they vary. Some Advent calendars feature the manger scene while others are more oriented to children and feature Santa Claus or other Christmas décor. On each day, the participants pull out a Bible verse to read and discuss, a small gift or treat, or a prompt for an activity. Advent calendars usually either include 25 days, beginning on December 1st, or they are abbreviated to include the 12 Days of Christmas.
While there are a lot of family oriented Advent calendars for sale, I had a hard time finding one that included exactly what I was
looking for this year. I wanted something chic that matched my Christmas décor. It was also important that each countdown activity be romantic and designed for my husband and I to do together either to bond, have fun, or remind ourselves of the Reason for the season. I decided that the best way to get exactly what I was looking for was to design it myself, so I created an easy DIY Advent calendar for couples.
To create our Advent calendar, I picked up the following items from a local arts and crafts store:
Vase
Decorative Sticks
Envelopes and Cards
Ribbon
Hole Punch
Scissors
Assorted Pins
I began by placing the assorted decorative sticks in the vase, then, I started on my envelopes and cards. First, I cut the fold over portion off my envelopes so that the cards inside could be retrieved with ease. Then, I punched a hole in each envelope and tied a ribbon loop through it so that it so that it could hang on the stick as shown below. We decided to do a 12 Days of Christmas Advent calendar instead of the longer 25-day version, so I wrote the numbers 1-12 on the envelopes to signify the order in which we should pull out each card.
When it comes to the prompts to put on each card, you can be as creative as you want to be and there are some great lists out there suggesting potential Christmas traditions for couples. Because December is basketball season and can be hectic for us, I was super intentional about picking which activity we would do on each day to take into account days when my husband might be traveling or when he might have games. I definitely wanted us to review the Nativity of Jesus Christ since that is, after all, what Christmas is all about and I also wanted us to take this time to not only connect as a couple, but also create some new traditions. You can check out the prompts that I decided to include in our Advent calendar for couples below:
Send each other a naughty or nice text giving one naughty (R-rated) compliment and one nice compliment
Read Matthew 1:18-2:23 to remember the Reason for the season
Pick out a wreath or make your own and hang it on the door
Dance to your song and share a kiss (no mistletoe required)
Make Christmas cut out cookies
Watch a Christmas movie
Create a Christmas Eve box with new PJs, a game, and a bottle of wine to enjoy on the night before Christmas
Drive through Franke Park, Fort Wayne’s Festival of Lights, to view the Christmas lights
Pick up a small gift for a neighbor, leave it at their door, and ding dong ditch
Share your favorite Christmas songs with one another, create a playlist, and listen
Write a love letter to one another to be opened on Christmas morning
Read Luke 2:1-20 to be reminded of the Reason for the season
This year, my husband and I decided not to splurge on a Christmas tree. We don’t know quite how long we’ll be living in the area, and it seemed silly to pay for ornaments and décor that we’ll likely leave behind when we head home after the basketball season. Since we opted not to do a tree, we decided to place the envelopes on our Advent calendar together and treat it as a makeshift tree trimming party. We hung up our stockings and other small décor items and placed the envelopes on our Advent calendar tree while enjoying hot cocoa spiked with a little Bailey’s. We’ll be starting our 12 Days of Christmas countdown next week and can’t wait to have some festive, romantic, fun!
Will you be making an Advent calendar for couples this year? If so, which activities will you include? Be sure to follow me on Instagram to see my husband and I partaking in some holiday fun and spreading from Christmas cheer!
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