Holidays: Advent Calendar

I love handmade things for the holidays.  I like ornaments, garland, the lights and I love handmade stockings.  Since having a little one, I have found myself wanting to decorate more.  I prefer snowflakes and stars to Santa and stuffed snowmen however, and so I am thinking about ways to bring in tradition into our way of thinking and approaching the holidays. I love the idea of counting time, so I like the basic concept of an advent calendar, I could even get into little treats, as long as they were healthy and didn't buy into the need to go out and BUY 25 things every year to put into this calendar.  We are also trying to reduce the sugar, which is no small feat this time of year.  

My solution was much more simple.  I made a calendar, and handstitched a felt star to move through the pockets to count time.  It may look a little Americana, but I think it fills the bill of a more natural approach to the holidays quite well.  It also makes for a nice little way of marking other events, like my daughter's birthday and that of my late Grandma.  I think a handstitched item to mark the Solstice would also be good, so that it can move each year to the appropriate day.