Crafts,  holidays

Chalkboard Globe Advent Calendar

If I’m being really honest, some of my creative ideas are the result of sheer panic or parental guilt.

Case in point. My kids have been asking since Halloween if I had purchased chocolate advent calendars. It’s one of their favorite holiday traditions.

“There’s plenty of time,” I said.

No.

No, there’s not plenty of time.

In my defense, my grocery store does not sell advent calendars, so I haven’t been able to make an impulse buy that would avoid all this parental guilt regarding the holiday tradition I started.

Last week I decided I needed to get serious about finding chocolate advent calendars because tick-tock goes the clock entire year.

I visited Target, Michael’s, The Christmas Tree Shops and Trader Joe’s.

I struck out at all of those places.

The Christmas Tree Shops might have had them, but the place was being swarmed by the Tuesday morning deal seekers. I wasn’t mentally or physically prepared to get close enough to the end caps by the cash registers to see if they still had advent calendars.

I purposefully drove 20 minutes out of my way to go to Trader Joe’s only to discover they had sold out of advent calendars the night before. Sold out! I was so mad I gave them $70 for things I didn’t need like organic, snowflake-shaped pasta. That’ll teach them a lesson.

I sat in my car in the Trader Joe’s parking lot munching on my feelings newly purchased dark chocolate star-shaped mint shortbread cookies and contemplating why I started this advent calendar tradition in the first place my Plan B.

That’s when I decided we could start a new tradition. A better tradition. We could countdown the days until Christmas on our chalkboard globe. Since Santa has to travel around the entire world, there’s some nice symbolism there. I could just give whichever kid remembers to change the chalkboard sign a piece of chocolate. Then I could give the other kid who whined about their sibling getting to the calendar first a piece of chocolate too. It would be great.

Then I glanced around and saw that the heavens had opened up and a beautiful beacon of light was shining down on the Walgreen’s next door to the Trader Joe’s. It was a sign.

I never go into Walgreen’s, but I know they have all sorts of random merchandise to up-sell you on while you’re waiting a suspiciously long time for a prescription.

Sure enough, tucked in the back corner by the batteries was a section of chocolate advent calendars. HALLELUJAH!

I’ve never been so happy to spend $3.84 to “save” a Christmas tradition. Let’s just not mention all the time I wasted to spend that $3.84, okay?

The funny part about how my brain works is that despite the nonsense that got me to this place, I am SMITTEN with my chalkboard globe advent calendar. I love it so much! It’s a great way to use what I already have to make my home festive for the holidays.


P.S. Painting a thrifted globe with chalkboard paint would be an easy DIY. However, I purchased my chalkboard globe from Michael’s when they had their 80% off fall decor sale. Target currently sells this chalkboard globe, which is very similar.


Want some other Christmas ideas? Okay…you twisted my arm!

Candy Cane Advent Calendar – Because it is EASY to find candy canes!

DIY mini Leather Christmas Trees

Semi DIY’d Christmas Stockings


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