Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Candy Strips

I love traditions, and so do my boys. Especially if candy is involved!

Behold, the Candy Strip!

My grandma made candy strips for my sister and brother and I when we were too young to understand how long 24 days really is. My boys are now the happy heirs of this sweet countdown.

The dwindling row of candy is a visual representation of the passing days. (Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, there is only room to tie on Little Tiny Candies.)

The poem at the top says,

December first 'til Christmas
is the longest time of year,
seems as though old Santa
never will appear.

How many more days 'til Christmas
it's so mighty hard to count,
so this little candy ribbon
will tell you the exact amount.

Untie a candy every night
when the Sandman casts his spell,
and Christmas Eve will be here
by the time you reach the bell!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

OH, My Memiere made those for all of my siblings and I, too. I still have mine, came across it the other day while decorating. Maybe I'll put mine up and tie four little pieces of candy onto each ribbon....

It is a nice tradition. I miss her.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

My Nana found little china bells that were shaped like angels, when I was little.

I made simpler ones (and less fragile!) for my boys.

Easy to make from inexpensive felt, which doesn't ravel so you don't have to hem it. I liked a green background, and then used my Christmas cookie cutters to trace some shapes on other colors of felt to decorate it... which isn't necessary, of course :0) And then yarn or ribbon, to tie on the candies.

leah said...

That is seriously cool. I'll have to put on my crafty hat and try to make two of these for my boys next year!

Abi's Blog said...

Love this, we did something similar when I was teaching, but haven't thought to do this for grandchildren - will try to remember to do this next year!