In the run up to the Christmas season upon us, I thought I’d share an early Christmas present. I have been very kindly sent a wonderful Buttonbag Advent Calendar kit, perfectly timed for next month. I love Buttonbag, do you remember I went to the book launch last year? The bright cheeriness of their ideas and kits are right up my street, very Planet Penny!
The kit has everything you need to make a personalised Advent Calendar for your children or grandchildren, and it’s simple enough for it to be a joint project, something exciting to do together in the run up to the main event.
It’s lovely to get something fun in the post…
And I couldn’t resist a peek inside…
And one lucky person will have this pleasure too, because I’m giving it away! And not only the kit, but also £20.00 worth of John Lewis vouchers to buy some little goodies to fill the pockets of the Advent Calendar.
All you have to do is to leave a comment on this post, and share your favourite family Christmas tradition. ( I’m sorry, the prize is limited to the UK only)
I will make the draw next Sunday 10th November, so you won’t have long to wait and then I can get the kit posted out in plenty of time for you to make the Calendar before the 1st December.
Looking forward to hearing from you very soon…x
Ed. to add: Thank you so much for so many of you sharing your Christmas traditions. I’ve so enjoyed reading them, it’s really put me in the Christmas spirit! The entries are now CLOSED, I shall announce the winner very soon so watch this space!
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Love the latest give away,always mean to make our own Advent Calendar but as yet have never got round to it. Maybe this will be the year I do
One of my favourite family tradition is a relatively new one -as my children are almost 4 and almost 2- in the run up to christmas, myself and my 4year old make shortbread biscuits and all three of us decorate them. But my ultimate favourite christmas tradition has to be putting up the tree! I get all mushy at the thought, light some christmassy candles, put on some carols and we all pitch in…I’ve always loved doing it, my fondest memories are myself and my grandfather gathering boxes from the attic and getting started…what a lovely advent calendar, I would love to win. Thanks for sharing it in your wonderful blog xx Natassia
My 4 children have all grown up now but seeing them carry on our family tradtions makes me all warm inside, from decorating the tree (now who did put the angel on the top last year? Always meant to make a note!) , making the mince pies for Father Christmas to reciting ‘The Night Before Christmas’ on Christmas Eve, I know their Christmas’s were special. This kit would be the perfect hieloom for the generations to come.
That looks great. My grandchildren would have fun making that!
Penny
x
My favourite Christmas family tradition is to gather round the tree on Christmas Eve evening, and everyone gets to open one small present, which was specifically bought for Christmas Eve…usually a favourite bar of chocolate, a magazine, or funny socks. It heralds the start of Christmas, really!
I love making personal gifts for Xmas, the thought is much better than just spending. Our Xmas tradition is lots of communal cooking. The girls cook (with a little tipple) we send the lads down the pub. Then after eating the lads clear and wash up while the girls put there feet up. It works well for us!
Ah, as a child I lived abroad and my favourite tradition was singing carols around a huge tree at a local shopping centre, all outside as it was hot!!
Love the look of this advent calendar,very bright and cheery.
Alison
What a beautiful Advent Calendar. My favourite Christmas tradition is when we put the tree up and unwrap all the treasures that we have kept carefully stowed away for a year. Rediscovering angels and stars and sparkly pretties is always such a joy.
My brother and I would write letters to Father Christmas and put them in the cupboard ‘where the fairies lived’ – you see, we didn’t have a chimney so the only way that Father Christmas could get in to read our letters and leave us presents was for the fairies to let him in through the front door.
Bless!!
My brother is expecting his first child in January so this would come in handy for next year 🙂
Great giveaway Penny!
Every year we go to the midnight service at our church(which is actually next door!!) and then come home for mulled wine and mince pies!
Ohhh, I would love to make one for my little boy (3 years old), who isnt too sure about Christmas and ran away to hide during unwrapping pressie time last Christmas!
Our Xmas tradition is to take a long walk, early morning in meadow, canal path and park on Christmas Day!
At the end of Christmas dinner we pick a letter from the scrabble set and that is the letter for next year’s dinner gift. We have to buy a gift, for about £5, for each person sitting down to dinner and it has to begin with that letter. There is often a bit of manipulation with the letters but great fun.
Love the look of that kit! My favourite tradition is putting up the tree and when the girls were young we poured melted chocolate into moulds and covered them in tinfoil to hang on the tree. After a few days the warmth of the room would stop the sellotape sticking and every so often one would fall off the tree with a rustle (through the pine needles)and a plop!
What a lovely bright idea. I just love it! And it’s a giveaway too…..well…well! I would love to be entered please. Christmas traditions have changed since our children have their own homes now and are making heir own traditions! I love going to church on Christmas morning and everyone coming back here for coffee and mince pies. I also like buying a new ornament for the tree each year so each one can ‘tell a tale’. Joan
This is lovely! (Like so many of your stunning Facebook posts!)
In my Australian home we having swimming pool competitions (it’s 40+ degrees!) and eat frozen mangos… I love English Christmas decorations and snuggly fires, but just for this Christmas I’ll have mangos and my mum! 🙂
(Yup, I’m based in the uk.)
Ooh lovely giveaway! My favourite Christmas tradition is my children sprinkling reindeer food (glitter and porridge oats) on the lawn on Christmas eve and then dressing in brand new pajamas so they look extra smart for HIS arrival!
Our family tradition is to have tinned sweetcorn with our Christmas dinner! It all stems from when my youngest sister was little and ate few vegetables. Now I have my own family I still serve it as one of the veg on Christmas day – it wouldn’t be Christmas without it.
Hi Penny It looks like a fabulous giveaway and you are very generous to add the JL voucher too.
Our family tradition is that we eat our christmas dinner then have a break before dessert in which time we have a light hearted quiz. The age range is from 8 to 82 so we split into about 3 groups each containing children, its not taken too seriously. The winning team takes first pick from some chocolate prizes which we have all brought. So everyone ends up with something especially the children.
I love making peppermint bark. It’s a tradition my mum started and gives me fond memories of her 🙂
I came across your blog site a few days ago, i love it!
The family tradition i remember from when i was a little girl was the bucks fizz just after breakfast, i felt so grown up drinking ‘grown-ups’ drinks! Only a small one tho and mine was probably diluted with lemonade! I’ve got a young family of my own now so busy making our own traditions that my little ones will remember when they are ‘grown-up!’
Love the colours you use Penny!
We started a new tradition a few years ago of staying at home – just the three of us! Now we do all the rushing round seeing family in the days after Christmas. It’s a bit selfish, but Oh, what a joy – not to have to cook dinner for 18 people and look after them all day. THAT’s my best Christmas present!!
Oh that is lovely! We don’t have a lot of our own traditions yet, but a favourite from before I left my parent’s home was going out to buy our Christmas tree and each choosing a new bauble for it each year 🙂
What a lovely giveaway – we are having our first ever Christmas together as a family this year and so are going to be starting to make our own Christmas traditions
The only one we have so far is toast shaped as Christmas trees on Christmas morning
Would love to make this for my daughter. Our Christmas family tradition is to hide a present and leave clues for the person to find it 🙂
I love advent calendars, I make a new one every year. But that isn’t our tradition, ours is to make mince pies, all 30 dozen of them to give away. My husband’s colleagues and my work friends start mentioning them in November and wonder if they will appear this year!! They always do, it wouldn’t be Christmas without me being knee deep in flour!! I love it.
Andrea
Last year we took our girls on a rainy trip to the local park, we’ve no fixed traditions as yet but plenty of time to make some! The advent calendar is lovely, I’ve always wanted one we can fill with our own treats rather than giving the kids a chocolate ration every morning for a month!
Our Christmas tradition is that my husband and I buy each other a pair of pyjamas and a pair of slippers/or cosy bed socks, we give each other the gift on Christmas Eve so we go to bed and wake up chritmas morning in our new PJs. This is a tradition carried on from when my husband was a kid and his parents would give him and his brother new pjs on Christmas Eve, and has been carried down to our two children (our daughter nearly 3years old and 7month old son), as since my inlaws have had grandchildren they have sent a pj parcel in the post to be opened on Xmas eve. There are so many things right about having new pyjamas at Christmas!!!
Our Christmas tradition is simple, but we always do it – a walk around the lane after Christmas dinner to help walk it off!
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I cannot believe I have only just found your blor (and FB) Lovely giveaway! Our Christmas tradition is the tree decoration. Each year one new bauble is purchased and added to the ones collected over the years, some made by my now grown up children and hopefully some to be made by my grandchildren. I always put on the lights and my children (still even though they have families of their own) decorate the tree. We all step back enjoy the lights being switched on and settle in to watch National Lampoons Xmas Vacation on Dvd. Perfect! Sue x
Our Christmas tradition is a new one, we give a present Christmas Eve afternoon. This present is usually new pj’s, new slippers, a film and some treats so we can snuggle on the sofa with our cats and relax into Christmas. Purrfect
=^.^=
One of many christmas traditions we have is to snuggle on sofa on Christmas Eve and watch the muppets christmas carol, whilst munching on some mince pies
What a lovely Advent calendar. Our tradition is just to spend time together and this year there’ll be a new little face to welcome (I’m so looking forward to meeting him)!
Chris
Xxxx
Great Giveaway 🙂 I love all the traditional traditions.. stockings, tree ornaments, Boxing Day walk..
Ever since my now husband and I got together, we’ve bought ourselves one special Christmas ornament each year, so our Christmas tree provides a diary of our relationship.
My children are very little, 3yo and 19mo so we are still working on Christmas traditions for our little family. My favourite so far is a Christmas Eve gift from the elves, new pjs and a book to read and hearing Father Christmas’ distant sleigh bells as he passes over the house (ably assisted by DH)! I love the idea of a advent calendar that can be used each year. Beautiful!
We start by getting the treats ready for santa and ruldolph to leave in our porch. Santa has his mince pie with a small glass of port and rudolph gets carrot and milk. Then we put Santa’s magic key outside the front door on a hook. At bedtime we read The Night Before Christmas. I’m hoping to start a new tradition this year of everyone having new pyjamas on xmas eve and watching an xmas film together.
My favourite tradition is our Christmas Eve evening… having hot chocolate by our fire, while watching a Christmas movie (usually miracle on 34th street). Once the film is finished we cut up the carrots for Rudolph, pour Santa a glass of milk & leave a mince pie & little thank you note by the fire place with our stockings hung. Lastly we sprinkle special sparkly reindeer food in a trail from our gate to front door & then off to bed.
My favourite family Xmas tradition is just being together spending quality time. It is the only day in the year when nobody is rushing, working, busy… I love it.
Thanks for a really gorgeous giveaway 🙂 x
I love all the usual traditions but the boys have inspired some new ones…. On Christmas Eve, at tea time we have chocolate fondue for pud… this one was started by Grandma! Also Santas Elves leave them a present of new pyjamas, a mug and a treat like cookie mix so they can get ready for bed plus a sachet of reindeer food (mixture of oats and glitter) for sprinkling outside the back door.
My favourite Christmas tradition is that on Boxing Day my husband & I take our 3 children to visit my parents where Father Christmas has left everyone more presents & we have an extra day of celebrating. I always enjoy the food more that day because I haven’t had to prepare it xx
My favourite tradition is the party we have at solstice featuring mulled wine and loads of neighbours and friends. Once it is over I am ready to feel Christmasy
Even though all my children are now teenagers we gather at a friend’s house & all of us read out our letters to Santa. It has evolved as the children got older & the adults got wiser. We have shared births, deaths & marriages over the years so it is uplifting to share our wishes for the coming year for things other than actual presents. This year I will be asking for a bigger bank balance & a smaller waistline as he seems to have given it to me the other way round!!
Looks wonderful x
One of my favourite traditions is one that lots of families can enjoy, i.e. the traditional Boxing Day dance out on the Ironbridge in Shropshire with the Ironmen and Severn Gilders Morris side. The men traditionally sport fancy dress, and the ladies (with a little more decorum) add festive headgear to their normal dancing kit. Whole families come to see us, some join in with our large band, and all are very generous in throwing money into our buckets for our annual supported charity. This happens, whatever the weather, even when it reached -12 degrees and we had to shovel snow first.See: http://ironmenandseverngilders.org/ for lots of photos and videos of past frivolities (including the snow shovelling in 2010!) It is also repeated on New Years Day with out the fancy dress. Last year these 2 ‘dance outs’ not only gave pleasure to hundreds of people but also, along with our ‘Xmas Card collection’, raised over £1000 for Macmillan Cancer Relief
New family tradition is leaving reindeer food out in Xmas eve & hanging up the magic key for Santa to get in. This year I hope I’ve started my own tradition of making Christmas Puddings. My Nanny made them every year until her eyesight failed her. Miss finding the 20pence pieces she would wrap up & put into them. My Mum’s brandy sauce us the best too!
Love putting up decorations every year.
Every year the week before Christmas we get together as a family, my Dad, my sisters and brother and children and grandchildren, over 60 of us now and growing. We have to hire a local hall now there’s so many of us. we all take some food along, and the children sometimes put on a little play they have been secretly rehearsing or sing some carols, we play pass the parcel and have a lot of fun – Santa always finds time in his heavy schedule to visit and the children get a small gift..its usually very loud, very hectic but its the best tradition ever.2 christmas’ ago was the hardest, mum had suddenly died and she was the glue that held us all together, but although it was hard without her, we had enough great memories from all the years past we ended up laughing, crying and knew she was watching over us all. Christmas for me is all about family.