Kristen Stein Fine Art

• Original Works Currently for Sale
• Framed Ceramic Tiles
  
• Art Glass Pendants and Rings
  
• Crocheted Wire Knit necklaces
  
• Wire Bird Nest Pendants
  
• Wire-wrapped Sea Glass Pendants
• ACEO cards
• Prints, Posters and Giclees
• **NEW** 2010 Fine Art Calendar
  

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I love counting down the days until Christmas and have done advent calendars with my family ever since I was young. Now that I'm a mom, I love continuing the tradition with my own family.

I wanted to make homemade advent calendars this year, but the time seems to have escaped me and I was unable to complete the project before December 1st. But, I will try to have something for next year and I'll plan to work on it in the Spring. lol!

My most special calendar is one that my father made me. It's a wooden Santa holding two blocks that count down the days until Santa's arrival. It is pictured here with two wonderful wooden lanterns of a snowman and moose that he also made for us. I adore them!



As for the advent calendar, this year, my daughter picked out a toy-filled calendar.....something I didn't even know existed. I was used to the traditional paper calendars with Holiday scenes of some sort, or maybe the chocolate filled ones with the skinny little, crunchy chocolates. But, advent calendars are now quite fancy. I saw a $40 one at Fresh Market that was filled with German Chocolates and it was a HUGE calendar.

There are toy calendars from Lego, Barbie, My Little Pet Shop, Polly Pockets, PlayMobil and more. This year, my daughter chose the Polly Pocket's Calendar. There's a doll that is provided on Day 1 and then each day you open a window that reveals some sort of accessory for the doll. She'll love it.

My husband has a traditional chocolate filled one and the chocolates are in little drawers. You can choose 1 of 4 sides when you replace the drawer to create 4 different images by the end of the countdown. So, first there's the chocolate and then a puzzle for the little one to enjoy by Christmas.

I decided to look on Etsy for my advent calendar this year. There are so many wonderful handmade ones. I will show you a few of my favorites. (I went with the printed one shown above by OneGreenBee)


Gorgeous quilted calendar:
By WoodenCrateCrafts






Love the simplicity of these countdown bags by nuvonova.







Wonderful block calendar set into wooden house. Made from kids alphabet blocks. Created by ANewPatina






Wonderful block calendar by designs2cherish that tells you how many days are left until Santa's arrival.

And so much more! Click here to see more of the wonderful handmade advent calendars on etsy.

Just a few fun ways to count down the days!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

p.s. Leave a comment below about your tips for making a handmade advent calendar, or a cute story of how you count down the days to Christmas, or a special find of a fun calendar...anything related to the Christmas Countdown. All those who leave comments will be entered into a chance to win something 'artsy'....haven't decided yet, but it will be fun. I'll let the winner know on Friday.


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I recently received 3 of the paintings that were previously part of an exhibit at the wonderful Comcast Center in Center City Philadelphia. These paintings are some of my favorites and I'm thrilled that they were selected for a special exhibit in the retail section of the Comcast Center. Huge "thank you" to the staff and directors who took such good care of the pieces while they were in their possession.



For a limited time, these paintings will be specially priced through Nov. 2009. So, if you had your eye on them, now's a great time to acquire them at a new lower price!