far far away-advent calender for Tamara

The people who are furthest away often are the ones most present in our minds. AND in our hearts.
When my soulmate Tamara left for brazil last july to spend the next 9 months there, I was really depressed. You get used to it, but it's simply not the same.

Assuming that she must sometimes feel even worse than I do, and especially during Christmas season with all that glitter and family stuff, I had the idea of making an advent calender for her. In Germany, this is a very common tradition and even grown-ups without kids often have one hanging at their kitchen door :) I like best the version with 24 small bags or booties or packages fixed to a band and hung across the room or along the walls, that's what we had at home since I was a child.
But for Tamara, it should have a certain touch of travelling, and express the feeling of homesickness as well as the longing for being far away. Then I found an old road atlas my parents sorted out some time ago, and it flashed my mind to use the sheets for creating some unusual triangle paper bags :)



And then, PUH, the fillings...it took me several days to finish all that stuff because it HAD to become something really special. That's what came out in the end:

two family recipes, crocheted personalised wristband, vouchers, bath soak, spice mixture ...


anti-homesick-handkerchief ;)


embroidered winter spice sachet, ilovemate-trivet (mate is her favourite drink), short stories book and so on...

I took it to the post office the day before yesterday. By registered mail. I am so anxious that it reaches her safe and on time.