Advent

I am finally getting a bit into the Christmas spirit. In the Netherlands we first celebrate Sinterklaas with poems, suprises, presents, sweet treats and much more. It starts in the middle of November and ends on December 6. During this period, children who still believe in Sinterklaas are very excited.

But of course advent also starts during this period. My mother made an Advent calendar for every grandchild (12!) on their first Christmas. My daughter is now 17 and still enjoys it a lot. I was two days late this year (my mother and sister-in-law buy and wrap all the small presents), but my daughter is very good at reminding me when she gets up, so here it finally is:

Isn't this something very special (O:

Then I also made my Advent tray. I'm not quite satisfied yet, but it is too cold and rainy to go shopping for something to add. So I'll stick to this for the moment.

It used to be a family tradition to get a Christmas angel on the first day of Christmas at breakfast. That is when I got these. And it really took four years to get them all toghether. That was always something to look forward to. Isn't this a wonderful tradition!

And here is a picture of my Christmas quilt I made last year. Actually I made two, since it was so easy to make. So one of my sisters was lucky. I didn't quilt it, but made knots. I'm not quite sure how that is called. It is an easy and fast way to get a quilt finished and it looks very good on this one.