Advent, Advent ein Lichtlein brennt...

Wow, where did November go? I can't believe how fast this month went by and how much closer I am to not only be done with my last semester at West Chester, but also how much closer I am to being home for the holidays.
We had the first snow on Thursday not only in Philadelphia, but also in Münster, where my family lives. If you ask me, it is way too early for this. What it isn't too early for though is to think about the upcoming Adventszeit. That's right - this Sunday is the first advent! For the advent time (the four Sundays before Christmas eve) Germans put out an Adventskranz with four candles. Every Sunday you light one candle, until at the fourth Sunday all candles are lit. Originally this is a Christian tradition, but there are many families who do this for, well decoration, not for the religious reasons. Whatever the reason, it is a nice tradition. My crafty brother actually just started making a modern wood version of this with the help of his wife, who takes care of the decoration. They are selling them with different decorations on their website. Here is what one of them looks like.

Deko Tablett from Back2Wood.de

I personally love candles and I don't think that there should be any reason to put this away right after Christmas. It just becomes part of your own winter wonderland in your living room. Gemütlichkeit is the keyword here!

One tradition that I love more than anything is the Advenskalender. Who doesn't like to open a little present every day? And I have been pretty spoiled when it comes to this, as our Adventskalender are always hand-filled with nothing but our favorite candy or little treats. Noticed how I said are, instead of were? That's because my mom still makes me one every year. I am spoiled!

There are so many different Adventskalender in all shapes and forms and it can be a lot of fun for crafty people to make their own. The Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) has a great idea for a decorative Adventskalender, all together with a description on how to make it. Click here to view the video (German). Or how about this one, shown in the picture below?

Adventskalender vital-genuss.de

This Adventskalender from vital-genuss.de is also easy to make, cute to look at and made from environmentally friendly products. Just click on the picture to get to their website and the instructions (German).

I hope that this might inspire someone to get crafty and make their own Adventskalender, rather than buying the, may I say, boring one that is already filled with the same chocolate everyday. I'd love to post a picture of the snowman Adventskalender that I made years back, but unfortunately it's still in Germany as it was too heavy and big to take with me when I moved. But maybe if I can find any time within the next couple days, I will make this one from vital-genuss. I will just need someone to come and fill it for me...

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