24 Days of Christmas Books Countdown

On December 1st we started our 24 Days of Christmas Books. Some people call it a Book Advent Calendar or activity. We have a nice collection of holiday books thanks to the Scholastic Books Warehouse Sale.

When we first started this activity a few years ago, I cleaned off the shelves at Half Price Books and walked away with about 20 Christmas books for $59. If I had had a coupon I would have saved more money but I couldn’t find my coupons! Some of the books were new and some were used, some I’ve never heard of, some look a little worse for the wear but all of them will be loved by our family this season! We actually had to remove some of these books from our collection because they were frightening to small children (and me) or just waaaaaay toooooo loooooong!

Later I picked up the Elf on the Shelf book set (with Elf) which set me back a bit but this will add a lot to our Christmas traditions so it’s totally worth it! Finally, I searched Lulu’s shelves looking for any Christmas books that we already had and I came up with about six of them!

Money Saving Tip: Head to the library and check out Christmas books. Recently I’ve seen a lot of Christmas books at the dollar store AND we ordered a ten pack of holiday books from the Scholastic book orders at Lulu’s preschool!

Then, I wrapped each book in Christmas wrapping paper, trying to use a variety (I found some really cute rolls that were just the right size and had PLENTY of paper in the dollar bins at Target! Finally, I placed all of the books in the giant basket that we use to hold books in toy room. Of course I had to empty it out first, for which I was handsomely rewarded with missing toy parts and a tube of diaper cream!

Beginning on December 1st, Jay, Lulu, Scout and I will cuddle up on the couch in our living room, facing our tree, the evergreen scented candle burning in the jar on the coffee table. Lulu will unwrap the first book of her choosing (although we might force the Elf on the Shelf on her the first night so that can get underway) and then we’ll crack open the book and read together as a family and teach her all of the wonderful things about Christmas!

Start getting your books together! Check out some books at the library, snag some for a steal at a used book store, find them on your shelves at home or go find some brand new ones at the store. It’s never too late to start this!

I pinned a photograph that had this idea summarized in it with no link back in 2011. I’m so thankful I found it!