Hey everyone!

Anyone that knows me will know just how much I love books, I’m a bookaholic and I get just as much enjoyment buying books for the kids as I do for myself so I wanted to try something different this year in terms of the kids advent calendars because as much as they love chocolate they already have a chocolate advent calendar off relatives so to switch it up I’ve decided to make them a countdown to Christmas using books, this way I feel like the countdown and excitement lasts all day as they’ll have their chocolate advent in the morning and can choose a book to unwrap and read at bedtime, and we all need that added bit of magic this year don’t we? I’ve seen some book advents in shops but I didn’t want a themed or branded one as I’d seen so many different story books based around Christmas that I really wanted to make our festive book collection unique to us and special for when Lily & Teddy are parents themselves and can pass the books on.

Now, I am SO sentimental so I’ve decided to start from scratch with ours and buy each book from new however there is absolutely no need to do that as there are various different ways you can keep the cost down.

• Visit charity shops –

A lot of people are clearing out toys and books that their own household have outgrown in time for Christmas so you may stumble across some Christmas books in there, all whilst doing your bit for charity – win win.

• Use books you already own –

Don’t feel the need to go out and buy 24/25 brand new books, start with the ones you already have and bulk it out with a few new additions, this keeps it exciting and makes your book collection grow year on year.

• Look for book offers and deals –

With our advent I’ve had some brilliant offers with the books. The Works have a three for £5 deal and a ten for £10 and I feel like they have a super range of books, some traditional, some meaningful, some funny and some based on TV characters (I picked up a Topsy and Tim one in my deal). I know that The Works have some bundle deals online but if you go in to a store you can mix and match yourself which I found helpful. I have also picked up a handful of books from Home Bargains for 79p each and they’re so relevant and suitable for the age Lily and Teddy are at, it’s always worth a look in there and other bargain shops too.

It’s always a good idea to get an extra roll of wrapping paper in if you’re going to do a book advent, as I really like the idea of not knowing which one you’re going to pick out to read that night. I do plan on doing the elf on the shelf too (crazy I know!) but every couple of days he’s going to leave a prompt for us whilst we read our books such as make festive hot chocolate, grab a festive blanket, put the tree lights on whilst you read tonight, etc etc. I’m going to put the already opened books on display for the rest of the festive season so that the kids can revisit them as I think Lily would really like that, plus some of the front covers are way too pretty to be stashed away in a book box.

We have one special book for Christmas eve which is in Lily’s Christmas eve box off my mom, little does she know that she also has the same book in her Christmas eve box too (we do one for my mom in return) so that she can read it to them via facetime on Christmas Eve as we’re still deciding to keep mixing to an absolute minimum over the festive period in the hope that we can make up for it good and proper next Christmas.