Ok, December is officially here and it's time to kick it up a notch and get into holiday gear. It may be easy to hunker down into the bah-humbug spirit and wait for the holiday wave to roll on by OR you can try to make the best of it and do the holidays in your own little special way to make them something fun and exciting to look forward to. This is what I'm gonna do this year so I thought I'd bring you along for the sleigh ride.
Since I posted about the DIY Advent Calendars the other day I jumped on the Holiday Spirit bandwagon and made the one with the little sacks. I now have the task of what to fill them up with.
I get the even days and my mister gets the odd. We have always been big into giving activities and experiences as gifts rather than objects, so I've been making lists and trying to think of a bunch of fun holiday activities to sprinkle into our advent calendar for the month.
Here are a few I've been tossing around. Now I just have to make sure he doesn't see this post!
1. Make homemade ornaments. Like these tinsel snowflakes, cookie-cutter, or three dimensional paper ornaments.
2. Have a holiday cookie making party.
3. Make a gingerbread house or cookie cottage.
4. Sit by the fire and sip on some mulled wine.
5. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cinnamon and roast it for 10 minutes to infuse your home with the warm inviting holiday scent.
6. Design and create an advent calendar.
7. Go take a leisurely evening drive, look at xmas lights and see how many xmas songs you can remember the lyrics to.
8. Go ice skating.
9. Go buy gifts for a shelter.
10. Make a new holiday dessert while listening to xmas songs on the radio.
11. Host a cheesy christmas sweater party.
12. Have a xmas dessert pot luck party and homemade gift exchange.
13. Make Nutella and banana S'mores, sit by the fire and play games.
14. Gather some friends and rent a cabin for a fun filled winter weekend.
15. Go to a holiday play or concert.
16. Find some good holiday events happening in your town.
17. Make hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps and watch a holiday movie.
18. Make gingerbread waffles for breakfast.
19. Make a new holiday recipe for dinner.
20. Experiment with new holiday cocktail recipes.
21. Buy a new tea that you save to drink just in the month of December.
22. Go out to eat at your favorite place for a little comfort food.
23. Go to your local breweries and sample their seasonal winter beers.
24. Drive around town to your friends homes and go caroling at their doors.
Image: A Mad Tea Party
Apartment Therapy's Sofa Shopping Guide
Nikki’s Sweet and Cheery Print Studio
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sprout Side Table
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
Here in Chicago the Music Box Theater screens White Christmas. You pack into the theater, start singing carols, Santa comes and gives candy to the kids and then you watch and let Bing and Rosemary give you warm fuzzies all evening... such a great outing with a group and good for lots of ages.
How about help serve meals at a shelter? Gather up a can a day to bring to your local food bank? Write one personal card for a relative who you have been out of touch with but always remember fondly at the holidays?
Season of giving right?
On a lighter note, we've had indoor "snowball" fights with balled up socks, starry night walks, and had a family dance party to some of the more lively seasonal tunes -- fun!
Oooops, just saw #9 on your list.
I love these ideas! Thanks for the inspiration.
Gotta see "White Christmas" and "Holiday Inn", as well as an assortment of Charlie Brown and other seasonal specials! (Many of these can be rented or borrowed from the public library on DVD or maybe even VHS.)
Bake those special cookies, nut bars, or other treats that you only have at Christmas. (For us it's honey nut bars and nutball cookies...) (YUM!) Bake enough to have (at least) one a day until the Big Day.
Craft, write, and mail your own handmade Christmas Cards. Craft stores have all kinds of stuff to use, simple and fancy, expensive and cheap. Much more fun than most boxed commercial ones... (But if you must buy cards, MOMA pop-up cards are the BEST!)