**update about the mural at the bottom
I was perfectly happy with our flat cardboard Charles Wysocki flip-open-the-window advent calendar until I had the idea of chocolates falling from the sky. This is one of those projects that didn't quite work out the way I envisioned it. Maybe next year I can perfect it. I wanted hanging cones of treats that when the day came, you pulled the string, the treats fell down to the ground and the cone transformed into a beautiful snowflake. Sort of a pinata advent calendar. I really like the idea of the cones changing shape to snowflakes - a very clear way to see how many days left til Santa.
here's what I came up with
It doesn't work so well because I used cardstock and it's just too stiff to unfurl nicely. Also I had to rethink the falling chocolates since I hung it in Oscar's room. He'd never fall asleep knowing there were chocolates hanging overhead just out of reach! Still Oscar loves it and it's pretty and it gave me another chance to play with my glitter glue (for the numbers on the outside of the cones).
note to next year's Christmas self - try coffee filters like Siri!
updated to add: the wall? haven't y'all seen the wall before? tim is very pleased that his handiwork is upstaging mine ;) but yeah, I can't find the old post on it in the archives so maybe I'm just assuming. that is a mural tim painted on oscar's wall before he was born. the walls are a grayish blue - took us 3 tries to find just the right blue. (benjamin moore's gossamer blue for those interested). we wanted a tree with birds and tim started on a really elaborate branch system in dark brown and it totally overpowered the room so he painted over it and started again by mixing just a bit of darker paint into the wall paint and then he used that to do the branches. the birds are amazing - he used my parents' birder book as a guide. we wanted very realistic birds and they're just perfect! I did the leaves. you can't seem them, they're in a very light spring green. it's actually a spring tree. I'm going to go hunt down some more pictures of it and then put them up on my flickr.
