Is it weird that I used to believe that an overweight man with a big white beard, rode in a sleigh pulled by reindeers all over the world to deliver my presents everyday? Especially since living in Asia we had no chimneys, all our windows and doors had grills over them for safety and well… surely he would have found it incredibly warm in his red suit? I mean can reindeers even survive in the tropics? Regardless this was the story I believed up until one of my cousins decided that the charade had gone on for too long which resulted in little me being a little upset.
Thankfully my mother still kept up with my pakkekalender (basically a 24 day advent calendar where I would get little presents) till I was in my teens and later resorted to the advent version (where I would get a small gift on each Sunday) when I got older. I also did have the traditional advent calendars. Not the fancy chocolate ones you get these days but where behind each door was a picture of some sort – and even that was just as exciting, come to think of it.
Now, that I am older I still continue with this tradition. Even though I am not always on the receiving end, I can honestly say I have a lot more fun making them for other people. The principle of the pakkekalender after all, is not to go out and spend exorbitant amounts of money on expensive gifts. It really just about the fun and excitement of getting a little gift everyday and part of the fun is how creative you can get with gift giving within a budget for 24 days. I have filled them with everything from little bags of gummies, beer, chocolate, funny socks and even cute stationery.
Before, I have only ever made a little Christmas box full of presents. However this year, I wanted to try something different, so I have made Dan’s pakkekalender in the shape of a Christmas tree out of fairy lights using some of the presents as ornaments .
All I needed was a string of lights (8.4m to be exact, some decorating clips (I used the Command brand so it doesn’t damage our wall), wrapping paper, an old amazon box, wooden numbers from TheWorks, twine to decorate and 24 little gifts. And if I may say so myself, I think it turned out quite well and having it lit up in the evening is very ‘hygge’.
What is even better though, is that Dan has caught the bug too and made me one as well! He was meant to meet me for lunch, but had a “meeting” that had been rescheduled. He did call me much later just to say he was sorry for having to cancel – when in actual fact he had run to the post office to pick up a delivery from Amazon, then to the shops for some last minute gifts and when I did speak to him, he was sitting in his car packing up the gifts. All this during his lunch hour – which is kind of sweet. And even he agrees despite how hectic his plan was (due to lack of planning) he did have a lot of fun making it.
I have to admit I am genuinely curious as to what he has come up with and can hardly wait till tomorrow.
Do any of you have some creative pakkekalender ideas? I would love to see them.