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countdown to Christmas {random acts of kindness advent tree}

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Too soon?

Did my post on Friday, the little recap of all of the Christmas crafts we did last year, not imply that I had already started the countdown to Christmas?

It was supposed to. 😉

And, by countdown to Christmas I actually mean countdown to Christmas crafting.

And that countdown to Christmas crafting actually came to zero about a week ago. Would that make it T plus 7 days? I don’t know. 🙂

I’m actually teaming up with a few other incredible bloggers and we’re banding together to bring you 4 creative ways to countdown to Christmas. We’re talkin’ about advent calendars and in my case, an advent tree!
countdown to christmas

My idea actually came to me in July. And I blame it on Joel. He was cat sitting for a friend and asked me to go over one day he got stuck at work. And I just so happened to see the perfect branch just laying there on the side of the road begging me to take her.

See, if Joel hadn’t needed my cat sitting help I would not have been on that road that day, and I would not have seen this branch and I would never have had this idea. (There’s really no way to prove that last part, but I’m sticking with it. He’s used to it … and should be thankful I didn’t make the advent tree in July. You’re welcome, Joel.)
countdown to christmas*the photo shoot in front of the shed didn’t really work out other than this pic of a cute pup.

Anyway, 4 months later, a dusting of white spray paint, green craft paper cut in random shapes and glittered in random patterns, a plant pot painted with metallic gold paint and filled with driftwood covered in my wedding veil …

… because veils aren’t just for weddings and driftwood isn’t just for trees anymore. 🙂

And we have my take on an advent tree.
countdown to christmas

And you know what we’re doing to count down the days?

We’re doing random acts of kindness.

That’s right people! We’re passing it on to random people we don’t know and who will probably give a sideways glance as I try to explain in a language not native to them what the heck I’m up to. 🙂

You might remember that we had 12 Days of Kindness last year.

This year we’re stepping it up a notch and we’re doing 25 random acts. BAM!
countdown to christmas

In all truth, I mixed in a few random acts of kindness for myself, and my husband, and some people I know. In the vein of spreading the holiday cheer I didn’t want to leave the ones I love out.

countdown to christmas

And here’s how I put it all together.  I wrote my 25 acts of choice on the white side of the craft paper and then I separated them into piles.

Pile #1 – the acts I would actually want and be able to do on Christmas Day. I flipped them over, shuffled them around a bit, picked one and used a sharpie to hand write a 25.

Pile #2 – (add the cards not chosen from pile #1) the acts that made more sense to do on a weekend. You know the ones, pretty much anything that required a store to be open was out … bank tellers are not getting cookies on a weekend here. Flip ’em over, shuffle ’em around, pick 8 because there are 8 weekend days in December before Christmas, number accordingly.

Pile #3 – all remaining cards flipped, shuffled and numbered.

And then I used a single hole punch and jute twine to hang them. And done.
countdown to christmas

I like that there is still some surprise to it even though I personally picked all of the acts.

I think this would be really fun and rewarding for older kids, who are old enough to understand it and benefit from the experience. Knowing there are a few in there that are just for me (spend a few hours on the roof, go for a long run, set up a candle light dinner for me and my love) is pretty sweet to look forward to, too!

Now, this is just one of 4 advent ideas coming your way today!  Be sure to click on my friends’ blog names to check out their blogs or the pictures of their projects below to go directly to their super creative advent ideas! These are some seriously talented ladies. 🙂

Taryn from Design, Dining and Diapers, Carmel from Our Fifth House and Carrie from Making Lemonade.

countdown to christmas countdown to christmas countdown to christmas

And if you missed Friday’s recap, here you’ll find 11 DIY Ornaments that we made last year. That link will also answer the question that you might be asking “what does she mean driftwood isn’t just for trees anymore?”.

And if you don’t know why I would think it’s fun to hang out on my roof, you can get the story on that here.

And tell me, is it too early to countdown to Christmas? Are you into the whole advent calendar/tree thing? Do you think some of those tags look like green and glittered ghosts?

Update:  Get the complete list of the random acts of kindness here.

Comments

  1. Karah, I love the Advent Tree idea. Keep up the wonderful blog. I appreciate you.

  3. Thanks for organizing this! I love the random acts of kindness – I may do this next year with my kiddos – such a great lesson in giving back!

  5. Karah, it’s not too early! Also, I LOVE the advent tree along with the random acts of kindness. LOVE THIS.

  6. What a great idea! I love random acts of kindness….it’s what makes the world go round!

    blessings,
    karianne

  7. How wonderful Karah! That is such a nice idea to make it into a random acts tree. You are so kind, it’s very fitting of you.
    I am sure the people you touch will indeed be thankful :)))

  8. Karah,
    Yep, one of the green tags reminds me a Pac-Mac ghost 🙂

    I love the *random act* idea. There are so many things I’ve *meant* to do – drop cookies off to the auto mechanic, remember to do something nice for the Children Librarian (would a 500 count jar of purple foam earplugs be too much?!), etc – but I never do. (Ack!) This might be a way to capture all of those good intentions.

    And, I only *wish* that I could make one of my tags “Hang out on Karah’s roof!”

    We have taken a less “do” and more “be grateful” approach in the past. Here’s a link to our ‘Thankful Tree” http://www.cookingatcafed.com/2009/12/our-thankful-tree-and-big-thanks-to-2.html

    (Talk about dragging home a BRANCH! OMG. We went for a walk and picked up a small tree! This thing went from the back of the hatchback and extended to touch the windshield. But, our family had a blast doing something so crazy. We still have the *tree* – we decorated it with white lights and are using it in one of the boys bedrooms. (I actually wrapped it in white lights AND put up paper snowflakes and then my hubby said if I put up paper Valentine hearts…I’ll be pushing his cuteness button just a wee bit much!)

    ~ Dana

    • LOL, love the earplug idea!!! And now I can’t stop picturing your husband with a cuteness button. 🙂

  10. I love, love, love this idea. Especially that you included yourself for random acts of kindness:) I can’t wait to see the smiles you bring to other people, maybe you’ll have to carry your camera around to photograph the bank teller with cookies…

    Jessica

  11. i love this idea!!1 we do activities to get us into the christmas spirit. i think this is an idea that could be used any month, like a month of random kindness. 🙂

    • I totally agree. I also really like the idea of picking one day a month, pick a specific date and each month on that day do as many random acts of kindness as we can. They would be truly spontaneous, adding to the fun.

  16. Karah this is a wonderful idea! I’m not a big fan of advent calendars but this totally changes up the whole thing – the spirit is wonderful. Maybe I should do this.

  17. I LOVE this, Karah! Pinning and I’ll be referencing this as part of meaningful holiday decor post next week at Fancy Little Things. Thanks for sharing!
    xo Heidi

  24. What a wonderful idea! I love your tree with the glittered ‘ghosts’ (lol, yup I agree!) and what a sharing, caring thing to do for the season.
    Debbie 🙂

Trackbacks

  3. […] her blog, The Space Between, Karah says, “I fully blame my husband for this Christmas craft. If he hadn’t […]

  5. […] advent calendar ideas.  These ladies are so super talented, be sure to stop over and say hello! Advent Tree by Karah from The Space Between Chalkboard Advent Calendar from Carmel at Our Fifth House Luminary Advent Calendar from Taryn at […]