Our Felt Advent Calendar

Felt Advent Calendar, inspired by heart FELT truths

Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus in the stable

This year I wanted to try a new sort of Advent calendar with Moriah as we anticipate Christmas and the birth of Christ.  It was originally developed by Noel Piper, and mentioned in her book, Treasuring Christ in our Traditions, if I'm remembering correctly.  The blog Heart Felt Truths has revived the idea making it really accessible.

Last year we created a Jesse Tree, which was an interesting and helpful way to incorporate Scripture regarding the coming birth of the Messiah from all of the Bible.  While I liked the idea, I didn't really love the way we chose to do it.  (I'd love to invest in their embroidered ornaments in the future!)   I also think it will be a bit more helpful with older children perhaps, so we'll plan to return to it in the future.

the full scene

For now this felt Advent calendar depicts the simple Christmas story in a two year old friendly way!  You can purchase this Advent calendar, a DIY kit, or make it yourself with the free printable patterns for a really affordable price.  Making it also allows you to customize the colors to your preferences.  I didn't veer much from the original suggestions, because I liked them already :)  It took most of Friday night (after Moriah was in bed!) but wasn't all that labor intensive really.  Here are some pictures of the completed project.  I'm really looking forward to using it as a family this year.

buildings on the right

buildings on the left

the shepherds and angels
*I used a glittered black felt for the starry sky

the wise men and the star
*our angels and star are also made
from glittered white felt

their sequined treasures... who knows what frankincense and myrrh would've looked like?
I could imagine the gold better :)

This kit totals 25 pieces, one to be added each day as the story is told.  Lastly, baby Jesus arrives on Christmas day.  We're planning to hang it near our table to read and review at the beginning of the day (I don't think Moriah will want to wait for dinner time!)  The instructions say that a 3M strip works to hang the background on the wall without any damage.