A Personalized Advent Calendar

December 22, 2020

This is the second year I’ve made my mom a personalized advent calendar. She loves Christmas and always make the holiday a big event even for her now adult children. I wanted to create something fun for her to enjoy the holiday spirit all month long.

My mom adores Christmas movies, particularly Hallmark Christmas romances. She has a huge collection of the films on DVD. Last year I searched for the top favorite Hallmark Christmas movies and wrapped one up for each day from December 1st to 24th. That way she got to unwrap and enjoy one holiday film every day until Christmas!

This year I incorporated a few Christmas romance novels in with a new selection of films. Each wrapped gift has a number on it so she knows which one to open on which date. I also included Hallmark’s new book, Countdown to Christmas: Have A Very Merry Movie Holiday. It has behind the scenes details on her favorite movies, recipes, and Christmas decoration ideas. That was the present for December 1st in case it gives her some inspiration for this Christmas!

Advent Calendar - Countdown to Christmas

Here are a few of the Christmas romance novels I found for her this year:

Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber is a go to author for my mom so I was really excited to find this holiday story from 2015. When all the flights to Seattle are booked before Christmas, two strangers are forced to share a rental car to drive from San Francisco. Ashley Davison is a graduate student trying to make it home in time for the holidays while Dash Sutherland, a former army office, has a job interview to get to by December 23. As they drive they discover they have a lot in common and perhaps share an attraction.

Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan

This was my first Sarah Morgan book. I listened to Moonlight Over Manhattan last month and really enjoyed it. When I found a paperback copy of it, I decided to introduce my mom to her writing through this novel as well.

Harriett is a professional dog walker who is challenging herself to do something out of her comfort zone every day until Christmas. Ethan is a grumpy ER doctor who is looking forward to spending his holidays working. When his sister leaves town to deal with an emergency she asks him to watch her dog Madi. Ethan agrees with no idea what he’s getting into. Madi is not thrilled with her new placement, making a mess of his apartment and barking enough to bother his neighbors. Harriett is Madi’s walker and wants to take the dog home with her over the holidays where she will be more comfortable. Ethan, not wanting to let his sister down, has another idea – Harriett can move in with him to provide Madi with 24 hour care. Neither one realized how much they’d enjoy the other’s company.

Christmas in Lucky Harbor by Jill Shalvis

Jill Shalvis is another new author for me but I believe my mom has read her before. I checked out one of her Christmas novellas, One Snowy Night, in October. Christmas in Lucky Harbor has two holiday novels in one and takes place in the small town in Washington. The stories follow two sisters as they move home to remodel an old inherited inn and discover a chance at love.

Some favorite Hallmark Romance Movies:

Operation Christmas
A Royal Christmas
Home for Christmas Day
Snow Bride
It’s Christmas, Eve
A Christmas Detour
A Crown for Christmas
The Sweetest Christmas
The Christmas Ornament
Northpole: Open for Christmas

Future Advent Calendar Ideas:

I’m excited to keep this tradition going in future years with some slight variations to keep the days a little surprising. Maybe next year I will add some self care items.

My husband and I always get one of the cardboard advent calendars where you open a door each day and reveal a piece of chocolate. This year I really wanted to order a coffee advent calendar for us like this one but I was too late getting it ordered! They were already sold out.

I also love different bookish themed ones that people come up with, especially for their kids, with a different holiday themed storybook for each day leading up to Christmas. I’ve been keeping an eye out for a bookish advent calendar for adults too. Getting a full length novel for each day sounds a little overwhelming though. I already own so many books that I haven’t read, I’ve put a buying ban on myself the past couple years.

LIFE'S A PEARL