This is such a lovely idea for churches, families, or co-ops! My friends, Pastor Jason and Amy Fiedler, started making Advent boxes for their small congregation during the pandemic as a way for the church body to stay united during the Christmas season. But what began as a simple outreach has turned into a cherished family tradition. Both Jason and Amy are regular speakers at the Living Education Retreat and are seasoned Charlotte Mason educators. So of course their love of picture study and hymn study would be included.
Their family takes time at the beginning of November to assemble the boxes in order to insure that the recipients have their boxes in time for the first week in Advent. You can see from the pictures what each box contains. Here is the document that includes an introduction, instructions, and the readings for each week. Feel free to use and adapt for your group. Each year, they change the elements of the boxes.
The recipient receives the box with an introductory note and four legal size envelopes – one for each of the four weeks of readings, along with a nice quality art print for each week. They also include four votive candles and glass votive holders from Amazon. The sweet wooden trays can be found here.
If you have any questions, just leave them below and they’ll get back to you soon.
What a simple, sacred gift for this Advent season. A meaningful way to reach out to your neighbors and friends with the love of Christ.
Warmly,
Nancy
This Advent time was especially meaningful this Christmas. My husband commented several times on how much he was enjoying it and the whole family was engaged. Do you have something similar for Lenten?
I’m so glad to hear this! Having something similar for Lent is a lovely idea but I don’t know of anything at this time.
We’ve not (yet) created anything similar for Lent. It’s a lovely idea!
What is the font used on the labels and envelopes? I love the design! Thanks!
I believe it’s called “dry brush”.
I could also see doing those when our kids leave the house…sending boxes so we can still celebrate Advent together 💜
That is such a beautiful idea, Emily!
These are lovely! We do this at our church as well, changing it up from year to year to go along with the sermon series. I love how it connects church and home so beautifully. We do a printed guide for all church members and then Advent bags for families with young children that have a few Advent activities in them, changing those from year to year as well. I think it’s taken the pressure off for the parents of finding things or choosing from the endless options.
I’m not seeing how to order?
These boxes were just assembled for the families in our small church congregation, not for sale. 🙂
I posed this idea to my church, and they love it too! A couple of logistical questions:
– It looks like at least one of the pieces of art chosen isn’t in the public domain. Would we need to ask the artist to use it?
– Do you include greenery in the boxes? Is it plastic greenery or real?
– Are the boxes shirt boxes? Where might we get those in bulk?
You all are BRILLIANT, by the way. I love so much!
Yes, sticking with art that’s in the public domain is probably easiest.
We did not include greenery in with the boxes. Families set them up in whatever way they choose.
Yes, they are plain old shirt boxes. I believe I purchased them on Amazon as well.
So glad to hear that your church is interested! They’re so much fun to put together, and have been greatly appreciated by the families who receive them.
Oh, I LOVE this idea! When you say the elements in the boxes change each year, what does that look like? Different pictures?
Yes, we choose new artwork each year, as well as new hymns. The readings and prayers are also changed each year, though not drastically, as they always follow the traditional themes of Advent.