A few months ago I had looked into the Lego winter collection. As a mom of only boys, I thought it could turn into a fun family Christmas tradition for us to get a new piece of the collection each year and put it together. Also, my boys are 2 and 5 this year, and I wanted to start doing some sort of advent calendar/activity. A week ago, I decided to put the two ideas together and create my own Lego advent activity where my son will get part each day for 24 days! We purchased the Lego Winter Village Cottage as our kit for the calendar. Next came the hard part: dividing the 1490 pieces in 24 days. My first step was to go through the two instruction booklets to chart out how many pieces were used on each page and figure out the best places to break it into days. I also used a calendar to take days of the week into consideration. This way he can do a little more on weekends, and I made sure week days where he would be in school would be a little lighter. I also decided to have him build the large cottage first, then the items around it.
The instruction books have directions for the smaller items first. Once I figured out how to divide the pieces out, next came the more time intensive part of sorting through all 1490 pieces. Thankfully my husband helped me with that and we knocked it out over a few nap/bed times. We went by the guide I had created and found the blocks on one page of the instruction booklet at a time until we had all the pages for the given day. Unfortunately while we were sorting I hadn’t yet figured out how I was actually going package them, so we just put them into sandwich bags temporarily. We ended up with a small bag of left over pieces, which we are assuming are truly left over pieces since all Lego sets tend to come with extras. Initially, I was hoping to get small gift boxes or something similar to put the pieces in for each day. However, since we were looking for what to put them in on November 30th, I decided instead of spending a lot of time hunting, I’d just make origami pouches for them.
I used to enjoy doing origami before I had kids, so I knew that was a good back up plan for me. We bought a pack of scrapbooking paper, so I had nice 12×12 squares to make large pouches from. If I had planned ahead a little better I probably would have gone to a craft store and gotten Christmas scrapbooking paper, but instead I just went with cute paper that isn’t Christmas themed. As my husband pointed out, it looks like cute wrapping paper, so it works. Each day just needed one pouch with the exception of Day 15, which required 2 pouches. So, I made the pouches (you can do a quick search on Pinterest “origami pouch” for instructions. They only require 4 folds each, so they are pretty quick to make. I then printed out “instructions” for each day on card stock, and cut them out to put into each pouch. I put the Lego pieces for each day in little goodie bags and tied them with ribbon, then put the bag into the pouch with the instructions. I used a silver sharpie to write the number for each day on each pouch, and arranged them in a basket we already had.
I am excited to show it all to my son tonight and start 24 days of Lego fun! Next year I plan to get the set in October or early November so I can get it taken care of and out of the way early. I also plan to keep and reuse all the origami pouches! /moms/Best-Lego-Sets-2013-32560380 on this server. Your technical support key is: 3697-abac-1756-6707 If you are unable to fix the problem yourself, please contact and be sure to provide the technical support key shown above.The requested URL /showthread.php?t=1132429 was not found on this server.It’s almost time for advent calendars. Turns out these little relics of childhood are still the rage, and even come with whisky! Here are 25 ways you can buy or DIY your own advent calendar this Christmas. These are definitely not limited to Christmas celebrations – could be a fun wedding or birthday countdown too!) 1. Advent Calendar Shadowbox (DIY): Head to a flea market, discount home store or craft store and look for little shelves like this.
Then get out the craft paper and make a bunch of custom boxes and pouches. (via Lil Blue Boo) 2. Whisky Advent Calendar ($240): Behind each of these 24 doors is a different sample of whisky, including a sample of 50 year old Scotch. 3. Ornament A Day (DIY): This one used to be available for purchase on Pottery Barn, but would definitely be an easy DIY using ornaments you already have. 4. Ciate Nail Polish Advent Calendar ($58): A different nail polish every day? 5. Minimalist Advent Calendar (DIY): Happen to have a stockpile of small jewelry boxes? Turn them into an advent calendar with a decidedly minimalist aesthetic. (via Shim & Sons) 6. Matchbox Advent Calendar (DIY): Matchboxes are perfect for lots of DIY projects because they’re actually miniature drawers. Tape or glue a few together or to the wall for the littlest of gifts. (via All About You + DIY Christmas) 7. Printable Holiday Boxes (DIY): All about DIY but don’t have the tools for designing your own numbers and boxes?
This printable template is design-y and colorful, just the way we like it. (via Oh Happy Day) 8. Vintage Luggage Tags (DIY): Take inspiration from your travels! Use or create old-fashioned luggage tags and attach a different gift to each tag. 9. Lego Advent Calendar ($40): There are a few things you’re never too old for. Two of them happen to be Legos and Star Wars. 10. Green Glassware (DIY): For a rustic camping aesthetic, use paint and fabric to cover glass jars with deep green hues. We can imagine all kinds of tools for survival in these jars, like waterproof matches, an emergency blanket, and more. 11. Grain Sack Advent Calendar ($148): Made from repurposed grain sacks, this hanging calendar has a very rustic aesthetic and is definitely inspiring some DIY ideas here at Brit HQ. 12. Galvanized Metal Advent Calendar ($149): This could also be a permanent fixture in an entryway for keeping keys, mittens, and other “on the way out” essentials. 13. Envelope Advent Calendar (DIY): Who knew envelopes could be so stylish?
This couldn’t be easier to create and you probably have all the materials in your desk drawer or craft room. (via A Few Things From My Life) 14. Coffee Cup Advent Calendar (DIY): Got a coffee or tea lover in the mix? Use coffee cups in takeout trays! We love the idea of filling each with different types of coffee beans or tea bags. (via Living At Home) 15. Clothespin Advent Calendar (DIY): Grab some paint, twine, clothespins, and pouches and get to work. (via I Heart Naptime) 16. Wrapped Chocolate Bars (DIY): Keep the chocolate part of the advent calendar tradition alive but super size it! 17. Wine Advent Calendar (DIY): This is for the serious wino. A bottle a day might be overkill unless you’ve got a few people to share with, but we still love the idea. Maybe every other day is a bottle of fancy seltzer? (via Style Me Pretty) 18. Hanging Buckets (DIY): Another Pottery Barn find from holiday seasons past, you can definitely DIY it up with buckets, branches, and twine.
19. Vintage Style Advent Boxes ($25): If you’re not up for creating your own boxes, these vintage style ones are available over on Etsy. Love the festive color palette. 20. Tea Advent Calendar ($30): Love yourself a hot cup of tea? Try a new variety every day leading up to Christmas with this tea-riffic calendar :) 21. DIY Favor Tin Advent Calendar (DIY): You can find favor tins at just about any craft store or on Amazon. Add magnets to the back, designs to the front, and put treasures inside! 22. Bubble Wrap Advent Calendar ($13): What’s more satisfying the popping bubble wrap? It would be extremely difficult not to pop all of these at once, but a good exercise in self control. 23. Beer Advent Calendar (DIY): Head to the beverage store and get a whole bunch of different beers to try or favorites to enjoy. Put them all together in an advent calendar bin and try a different one each day. You could even keep the “calendar” in the fridge! (via 2 Little Hooligans)