Advent Calendar Day 24

The pocket for Day 24 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained the angel for the top of the Christmas tree. So the pocket picture of Father Christmas gave no clue.

Day 24 pocket

I made the angel from an old brown t-shirt, it has pipe cleaners in its arms and legs and between the head and body, so is somewhat posable. The dress is golden fabric (the same fabric I once used to make an ice skating dress for a Gotz doll) overlaid with tulle which is flecked with gold. The wings are made from short pieces of gold ribbon which came off crackers one year, I stitched them with golden thread onto a doubled over pipe cleaner.

The hair was black wool knitted, dampened, ironed then unravelled to make it wavy. The headband is a scrap of fabric left over from my wedding dress and both the Christening gowns of my daughters (which I made) plus some beads which came from an old hair tie my elder daughter used to wear. She recognised it immediately.

The angel Gabriel

The angel's face

Close up of the angel

The angel's wings

Back view of the angel's head

Back view of the angel

Back of the angel dress, showing the opened fastening

Back of the dress showing the wings stitched to the dress

Undressed angel, wearing the headband

She had guessed that the final pocket would contain something for the top of the tree, The package was too big to fit the pocket so was one of those which had a numbered card. She examined all the details of the angel then carefully placed it on the top of the tree.

The angel at the top of the tree

The tree was shared with her landlord and landlady, so also has some of their decorations on it, including the former Archbishops of York (++John Sentamu) and Canterbury (++Rowan Williams).

The angel at the top, above the choral scholar with the two archbishops

The fully decorated Christmas tree topped with the angel from day 24 pocket

So the Advent Calendar is empty and Christmas 2020 has arrived. This project, first planned in September 2020, has been a helpful way of getting our family through a prolonged separation in a year of turmoil and anxiety for many people whose lives have been changed and disrupted by the global pandemic. The planning and secret making of many new pleasant surprises has helped me and my younger daughter channel our anxieties and love into some tangible lasting gifts, while our nightly video calls to watch the next pocket gift be opened has helped all four of us connect, discuss, laugh, cry, and cherish our time together. 

Merry Christmas.

Advent Calendar Day 23

The pocket for Day 23 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained a scandinavian folded fabric star I had made. The picture on the pocket is a Christmas tree with stars.

Day 23 pocket

I used a YouTube video to show me how to make the star from four strips of fabric, folded (no seams).

Folded Scandinavian star decoration made of fabric

One side of the folded fabric star

The other side of the folded fabric star

The Scandinavian fabric star on her Christmas tree

She was intrigued by the star and kept saying 'how' (meaning how had I made it) before putting it on her tree.

Advent Calendar Day 19

The pocket for Day 19 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained another reference to her musical occupation, well at least in my view it did! The picture is a robin, which sings, and the gift inside was another cross stitch picture made by her sister. I saw them as mice carol singing, she saw them as mice carrying gifts.

Day 19 pocket

The mice cross stitch and 'oh bring us a figgy pudding'

Front view of the mice asking / singing for figgy pudding!

Back of the mice Christmas decoration - starry fabric and figgy puddings

She had always wondered about figgy pudding and whether it was another name for Christmas pudding (which she likes). I had made a Christmas cake and a Christmas pudding which we posted to her along with her gifts and some lights for her Christmas tree.

Day 19 was also the day we decorated our Christmas trees so the pockets of the Advent calendar, which had been holding the unwrapped items until the tree was ready, started to be emptied. Two days earlier she and her landlady went out to a Christmas tree farm and bought a beautiful Nordman fir tree. 

The Advent Calendar just before her tree decoration activities began

Day 19 cross stitch hanging on the tree, with a Day 6 snowflake and Day 2 star in the background

She has sent me photos of the tree as she gradually added the decorations from her Advent Calendar and her landlady added the collection of decorations her family have used over the years. 

At home, for the first time our younger daughter had the job of putting the lights on our tree, a role her elder sister has usually done in recent years when at home, otherwise I have done the lights.

Advent Calendar Day 18

The pocket for Day 18 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained a fabric animal. Although the pocket picture was a polar bear in a Christmas outfit, I wrote on the note inside the wrapping "Why have a polar bear when you can have an elephant", a comment which made her laugh.

Day 18 pocket

The little elephant was made with two different small print shweshwe fabrics, its ears were sewn right side out with an overlock stitch edging, which gives it a rustic appearance. Its tail is gold thread - a nod to Christmas.

Shweshwe elephant Christmas decoration

Shweshwe elephant close up

Shweshwe elephant with a sparse gold thread tail

She was highly amused by his tail and loved his curled trunk.

Advent Calendar Day 17

The pocket for Day 17 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained another cross stitch item stitched by her younger sister and assembled by me. The picture on the pocket was connected to the contents by its shape and a joke as it is a round figgy pudding and the cross stitch picture was a very round Father Christmas who had been indulging in too much figgy pudding after all that sleigh riding! 

Day 17 pocket

Father Christmas cross stitch decoration
with ribbon trim depicting his Christmas eve travels

Front of the Father Christmas cross stitch decoration

Back of the Father Christmas cross stitch decoration

My elder daughter laughed a lot when she saw the decoration - I think Father Christmas's sticking out hands made her giggle the most.

Advent Calendar Day 16

The pocket for Day 15 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained another hand made item. This time, inspired by the pocket picture, I made an Advent wreath out of contrasting Christmas fabric, stuffed with pipe cleaners.

Day 16 pocket

Miniature Advent wreath of contrasting fabrics and ribbon

Miniature Advent wreath decoration

My daughter was very pleased with this decoration and liked the idea of using the pipe cleaners for stuffing (quicker than attempting to stuff the thin tubes with anything else).

Advent Calendar Day 11

The pocket for Day 11 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained Christmas trees. The pocket was Christmas trees in a snow globe so was a hint at the contents. This was another cross stitch picture, this time a Christmas tree stitched by my younger daughter and assembled by me.

Day 11 pocket

Cross stitch Christmas tree decoration

Christmas tree print fabric on the back

Cross stitch Christmas tree on the front

We watched on video call as she unwrapped the package and exclaimed at the trees on the decoration, a definite hint to get her Christmas tree up soon.

Advent Calendar Day 8

The pocket for Day 6 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained some fabric star and holly decorations I made for her, not ice skates or snowflakes as depicted on the pocket.

Day 8 pocket

Blue star in a red pentagon decoration

Front view of blue star

Red back view of blue star

Red star in blue pentagon decoration

Front view of red star

Blue back view of red star

Holly leaf decoration

Front view of holly leaf decoration

Back view of holly leaf decoration

She was intrigued with how the decorations were made and spent a little time examining their folds, she laughed about the lack of clue on the pocket picture.