Tis the season...

...to open drawer number 1!!

"The origin of the Advent calendar, like so many of our Christmas traditions, started in Germany in the 19th century. Different methods of counting down the days to the celebration of Christmas were used.

Drawing a chalk line to mark off the days, later lighting a candle every night or putting up small religious pictures marked each day until Christmas. The first printed calendar was produced by Gerhard Lang in Germany. When he was a child, his mother attached little candies to a piece of cardboard and each day Gerhard would take one off. His first (printed) calendar consisted of miniature coloured pictures that would be attached to a piece of cardboard each day in December. Later Advent calendars were made with little doors to open on each day. The child might find a small piece of candy, a Christmas picture, a religious picture or a bible verse." www.about.com


My new Advent calendar to add to my collection (I'm not telling you how many I've got!!), each day there's a little box to open, with something sweet and chocolatey inside!

And talking of chocolate, after so many of you thought my Advent Crown was a chocolate cake, I've added some silvery sparkle to it. You can see it here and judge for yourself whether it still looks like a chocolate cake or not!!