Counting Down Till Christmas With FUN!

I love counting down the days until Christmas. As a child this meant waiting each day until my chocolate surprise in the advent calendar was able to be eaten at approximately the same time as breakfast. As an adult I wanted to continue the fun of something new each day but without the chocolate (because I often received lots of chocolate as gifts and struggled to get through it all). Being a single woman without children I wanted to make sure the Christmas season was just as fun as it is for families so I set out to make the advent calendar reflect the kind of fun I wanted to have across the season and so my homemade Advent Calendar was born.

Across the first 24 days of Christmas I created a list of things to do, enjoy, have or gift to get into the Christmas spirit. The advent calendar I have now is a combination of family traditions from when I was a child, new traditions I created as an adult and acts of kindness I love to do to spread the spirit of Christmas across December. Each year I write a list of all the things I’d like to do on red Christmas paper & then fold the papers up and put them into my wooden advent calendar. This way I don’t know what things I am doing each day and it becomes a little bit of a surprise. The only exceptions I make are events that I plan in advance (by buying tickets), I place these on days where I must do these activities as per my schedule, because I don’t plan every day of the Christmas season out it leaves plenty of scope for surprise.

This year I would love to share with you what I am doing each day in the hope that it encourages you to come up with an advent calendar that helps your countdown to Christmas Day in style while making memories with your loved ones. This way you can enjoy all the season has to offer. For those of you who are on a budget don’t worry your advent calendar doesn’t have to be extravagant. In fact I think you’ll find that it is very affordable and easy to complete even on a budget. However, if you would love to do more or spare no expense feel free to do so as well! I love getting through Christmas season without feeling exhausted, pulled from pillar to post and stressed about finances, instead focussing on recharging and feel refreshed to enjoy one of the best days of the year, hence why I chose to do the activities I’ve listed here. And… in case you are wondering every year is different. I love traditions however I also feel like variety is the spice of life and there are plenty of ways to add traditions you learn from others, new experiences, new ways of giving back each year.

Julia’s 2025 Advent Calendar

December 1: Christmas lights are put up & lit up!
December 2: Write and send Christmas cards (across Australia and the globe)
December 3: Christmas photos with Santa
December 4: Bake doggy Christmas biscuits
December 5: Buy someone’s coffee (without them knowing)
December 6: Give someone a compliment
December 7: Wear Christmas outfits
December 8: Write a gratitude letter to myself for the year that was
December 9: Sing Christmas songs
December 10: Email Christmas letter to friends and extended family
December 11: Bake Christmas cookies
December 12: Write a letter to myself for Christmas 2027- this can be a gratitude letter, a reflective or success letter…even a manifestation letter (or all of these wrapped up into 1)
December 13: Watch a Christmas movie
December 14: Read a Christmas book
December 15: Make watermelon and coconut Christmas daquiris (delicious, these turned out to be my secret ‘cooking’ weapon!)
December 16: Visit Roma Street Parklands for the Enchancted Garden
December 17: Donate items to people in need via a local charity or Buy Nothing group
December 18: Express gratitude to my family, near and far- in person visits, phone calls, messages, video calls or posted letters!
December 19: Christmas TikTok Dances- learn and create a video performing these
December 20: A Puppies Christmas. Take Christmas pup-favours to the local dog park for all of Mia’s puppy friends
December 21: Bake Hazelnut Praline Cake (this is something I came up with when I was getting my hair done earlier this year) and I am eager to see if I can cook this!
December 22: See the Christmas lights. Be guided by the best reviewed spots online and go for a drive (with Mia of course) to see them all. Frozen coke from McDonalds for the trip!
December 23: Make a Sand-A Claus ‘Snowman’. As I’ll be at the beach for Christmas I am going to make a Snowman from sand complete with accessories.
December 24: Open 1 Christmas present

To top this all over this year I’ll be volunteering at a Soup Kitchen for those in need! I am really looking forward to spreading cheer and giving others an hear to listen to them this Christmas Day! Over the course of each of the days I’ll be sharing a photo of each of the days on the advent calendar. Follow along on instagram here.