Advent Calendar
Originally uploaded by rowdyman.

Not too long ago I was having the last two eggs for breakfast when I noticed how the container, once empty, reminded me of a depleted tray of chocolates. Taking this notion further I thought, if you trimmed the box a certain way, you'd be left with a tray with 24 compartments. For some time I'd wondered how there might be a way to easily make a customized Advent Calendar and here it was. Fill an empty egg carton with chocolates, and make your own box.

Unfortunately, I spent too much time making the box and getting the contents that I left precious little time to create the fun part - the cover. so I nicked some artwork from J. Otto Seibold (author of Olive the Other Reindeer and other fun stories). Still, something tells me penguins will be popular this year. Et voilà, just in time for the first Advent Sunday, I've managed to produce a couple of these things.

Hey, I'm not going to break Nestlé's tenacious grip on the Advent Calendar market or World Famous Chocolate's fascistic hold over scholastic almonds covered in shellacked waxy chocolate, but I just thought I could squeeze a couple of Advent Calendars out of my magic workshop.

I only had time to make one to mail it out in time for Sunday so that one went to Lucia in Seattle, and the other one, well, it may not be really sturdy enough for Canada Post's mauling mitts, so that one will be hand delivered to Gina. A third (forming a Trinity, if you will) will stay here in our T.O. manger - for there is no room at the inn.

Hopefully, this will begin a month long deluge of chocolates, licorice, cakes and tarts (but no hard toffee, I hate hard toffee - to hell with hard toffee - it's Christmas for God's sake, do not force me to put that English, tooth rotting gunk in my mouth!)

So this is Christmas...and what have you done? I made an Advent Calendar, what have you done, Mr. Lennon? Didn't think so.

By the way, click on the image above to see a few more pictures of the Advent Calendar