Advent Calendar Door No 1

Here is the first door on our shared online Advent Calendar:

This is a cute little house I stitched many years ago which comes out at Christmas.  It came with a plain wood "hutch" which I painted a lovely Christmas Red.  I love all the little festive details on this piece.

The tradition I would like to share is our Christmas Eve and following morning routine.  After tea and bath time we put out a mince pie and some milk for Father Christmas and a carrot for the reindeer.  We used to have to leave the carrot outside as the large boy insisted the reindeer could not come inside!  Now we buy special reindeer food from the Christmas Craft Fayre which has glitter in it.  The Nursery children make it and sell it to us all to sprinkle on our gardens so the reindeer see it from the sky and know where to come.

We have a special plate we can write on and the large boy makes a list of the things he and his brother would like.  Then we go to bed for a story and a reading of The Night Before Christmas, both the traditional version and the modern one by Carole Ann Duffy.  We leave stockings by each bed which Father Christmas will fill.

In the morning there will be a full stocking beside the beds with a comic in the top.  Once this comic has been read cover-to-cover it is okay to come and wake Mum and Dad.  My own parents started this tradition when we were small!  Then the stockings are opened in our bed.  The two boys and I have stockings and hubby has a pillow case because that is the tradition is his family!  Father Christmas also leaves a pillow case (or Santa Sack) for MIL when she comes round after breakfast.

The stockings contain small presents, toys and games, chocolates, chocolate coins and of course the comic.  After we've opened them and perused the contents we go through to the Lounge where OCD Santa has arranged the presents into 5 separate piles - the large boy, the small boy, Mum, Dad and Grandma.  We take turns to open the presents with me writing a list of who gave which present ready for the Thank You letters.

ps an apple corer makes excellent "reindeer teeth marks" in the end of a carrot.

Tomorrow's Door will be opened by Agi, find her blog here.