The hustle and bustle of Christmas has officially begun! I am savoring the beginning of this season pulling out decorations, drinking hot cocoa and setting my new favorite Pandora station to play non-stop around around the house.

We are focusing this year on celebrating the complete season of Advent so it seemed necessary to have a traditional advent wreath guiding us through the weeks. Here is my mostly-free-to-make, disposable (since we are moving), modern take on the tradition.

I used our left over wine bottles from the Thanksgiving centerpiece and put 2 coats of white spray paint on them. Then I shaved down four taper candles to fit inside the bottles and surrounded it all with moss balls for a simple, modern take on the traditional evergreen wreath.

Each bottle is wrapped with ribbon and has an important Advent word affixed to the front for our family to consider as we enjoy the festivities in these weeks leading up to Christmas.

We celebrated the first Sunday last night by lighting a candle and reading a chapter from our new Advent book. Each week we will light one of the candles, read together and savor the passing of the season. On Christmas day all four bottled candles will glow as well as the single taper in the middle symbolizing the center and purpose of the season for us- the birth of our Lord.

BLESSINGS

*PS. This project was inspired by the beer-bottle-Menorah seen in the December 2009 issue of Ready Made.