An Enchanting, Magical, Interactive Experience

Welcome to the 407th Metamorphosis Monday!

I have the most beautiful, fun and enchanting thing to share with you today. It’s not exactly a metamorphosis but in a way it is because after I “play” with it, I feel so relaxed. If you’re not already in the mood for Christmas, it will definitely put you in the mood!

This weekend, my friend, Sheila, shared the cutest thing I’ve seen in a while! Have you ever visited Jacquie Lawson dot com? My sister and I used to send Jacquie’s beautiful animated cards to friends for birthdays and holidays, but it has been a while since I visited her site.

She now has something that’s just as fabulous as her cards, if not more so! She, along with her staff, have put together the most wonderful Advent Calendar you can imagine. The first one pictured in the snowglobe icon below is a Victorian Village, while this year’s is a lovely Seaside Village.

The cost for each online Advent Calendar is minimal at $4 each and if you buy several for friends or family (and you’re going to want to!) the price drops to just $2 or $3 each. They are delightful!

Once you purchase your calendar, you can either download it to your computer or just view it each day via your browser. I decided to go ahead and download it. When you do that, it places this precious snow globe on your desktop for easy access. The reason you see two snow globes below on my desktop, is because I loved this year’s Advent calendar so much, I purchased last year’s too!

jacquie-lawson-seaside-village-advent-calendar-snowglobe

 

So here’s how they work: When you open this year’s Advent Calendar, you suddenly find yourself in the cutest seaside village ever! People stroll up and down the sidewalk, boats float in and out of the harbor and magical things happen!

Notice the little silver ornaments in the scene below. Starting on the 1st day of December, that day’s ornament will turn red so you can easily spot it. When you click on it, something magical always happens. I’m not exactly sure what but I know it will be wonderful because I’ve been playing with the other little features that are already active now.

For example, see the little blue ornament picturing a Christmas tree? Anytime you see a blue ornament, you can go ahead and click on it now because those are already active. Once you click the blue ornament with the tree design below, you’ll have an opportunity to decorate several trees, or you can select to let the program decorate the tree. Then you get to choose which tree appears in your Seaside Village. I chose the one you see below.

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You can scroll up and down the street and click on all the blue ornaments. Lots of fun things happen, including cute puzzles to work. There are a lot of little hidden surprises too, depending on what you click. I don’t want to give too much away, so I won’t say anymore, but it’s a delight! 🙂

Once December arrives, you begin clicking on a silver ornament each day, only it will be red by then. I can’t wait to see what’s hiding behind each of the ornaments! I know it’s going to be fun!

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As you view your calendar, boats sail in and out of view, villagers stroll by, some walking their dogs, others just out for a fun day in the snow with their children. While all of this is taking place, beautiful Christmas music is softly playing.

If you don’t want to listen to the music and prefer to listen to your own music at home, it’s easy to turn it off. They’ve designed the calendar where everything you need is readily available.

You can’t see it in this captured screen below, since my pics aren’t animated like the actual calendar is, but snow is gently falling in this lovely scene. It’s all so beautiful!

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Last night, because I’m so IN LOVE with this calendar, I opened it again and it was nighttime in this enchanting place. Somehow the calendar knows what time it is where you live and the village follows along. So when it’s dark outside at your home, it will be dark in the village, too.

Last night, the lighthouse light was turning around and around, the streetlights were lit and the tree was gorgeous. All the snowflakes appear to glow as they fall. I discovered last night that you can click a particular setting and all the ornaments disappear, allowing you to enjoy this beautiful scene without the ornaments obstructing the view.

Do you see the little sailboat that has sailed into view? At one point last night, I saw a sailboat appear that was decorated with strings of Christmas lights! I want to move to this village! I think I’m going to need some new snow clothes first, though. 🙂

jacquie-lawson-advent-calendar-sesaside-village-after-dark

 

The Victorian Village

I was soooo in love with this wonderful Advent Calendar, I purchased last year’s Advent Calendar, too. It pictures a beautiful Victorian village.

jacquie-lawson-advent-calendar-with-victorian-village-1

 

It works the same way, you can click on any or all of the blue ornaments now, then do the activities you find behind those.

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The village is so charming and delightful to view as you scroll from side to side taking it all in.

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The ornaments you click on each day (starting December 1st) are gold in this Advent Calendar.

jacquie-lawson-advent-calendar-with-victorian-village-5

 

Once it’s nighttime where you live, nightfall arrives in your Victorian Village, too. 🙂

jacquie-lawson-advent-calendar-with-victorian-village-at-night

 

This is so much prettier than what I can depict here. It fills your screen and is truly gorgeous! You’ll want to jump right into the scene and stroll the street yourself!

jacquie-lawson-seaside-village-advent-calendar-at-night

 

The pricing for the calendars varies from $4 down to $2, depending on how many Advent calendars you purchase. They make wonderful gifts for anyone, including children. You’re giving them a joyous activity and scene for each day, starting December 1st and going through to Christmas.

And of course there are the activities behind the blue ornaments that are available to do right now. I ordered quite a few of the Seaside Advent Calendars for friends, which made the already low-cost even less.

If you would like to see a demo of the calendar and order one for yourself or a family member (this would be perfect for children/grandchildren) check out the Jacquie Lawson site here: Jacquie Lawson.

By the way, this isn’t a sponsored post, just sharing this wonderful calendar because of how much joy it has brought me.

 

Metamorphosis Monday

Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. If you are participating in Met Monday, please link up using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address.

To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top of your blog, into the “url” box for InLinkz.

In order to link up, you’ll need to include a link in your MM post back to the party so the other participants will have an opportunity to receive visits from your wonderful blog readers.

Please observe these few rules:

Only link up Before and After posts that are home, gardening, crafting, painting, sewing, cooking or DIY related.

Do not link up to the party if you’re doing so to promote a website or sell a product.

Do not link up a post that was just linked up last week since readers would have already seen that post.

*If a post is sponsored or a product was provided at no charge, it will be stated in post. Some links may be affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. *



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Comments

  1. The village is sparkling! It’s soft, quaint and festive. Thanks for sharing…and for your weekly posts.

  2. I adore J. Lawson’s cards and interactive advent calendars. Thank you for reminding me to order some. I can’t believe it’s almost time for advent calendars.

  3. I have received J. Lawson cards before, and they’re enchanting. This is a really cool idea. I’ll need to check that out – thank you for sharing! Thank you for hosting us, too, Susan. Starting to get my Christmas on…but only in the antique store booth spaces. 😉 We’ve morphed our spaces for the holidays.
    Rita

  4. Your descriptions make these pretty much irresitible. The seaside village reminds me a bit of the cove in the Doc Martin series.

  5. This si adorable! I will go to her site. Thanks for sharing this and for hosting!

  6. How ADORABLE and festive Susan! I just ordered a seaside advent calendar, thanks for the link. ♥

  7. Susan, This advent calendar idea is so unique and truly magical! The wonder of the season seems to be captured so well! Thank you for hosting and have a wonderful week. Linda

  8. Thanks for hosting. I love Jacquie Lawson cards. I love her advent calendar! Thanks for sharing that. I do enjoy the mood that her site always inspires.

  9. This year is the third or fourth year I have purchased Jacquie’s Advent calendars. One was an Edwardian home, complete with pets and Victorian customs and decorations. They are all delightful and entertaining. Each fall I can’t wait to see what the new one will be!

  10. My sister sends me a Jackie Lawson card for every occasion and they are so cute, I can’t wait to check out the Advent calendars, how much fun! Thanks for the party today

  11. What a great idea! FYI – I just discovered the John Lewis ads from UK. Check on youtube for the Christmas 2016 boxer ad – it’s that time of year!

  12. What a great idea. Thanks so much for letting us know.

  13. Susan, thanks so much for this fabulous gift idea…love it! Thanks for hosting!

  14. Susan, I received the Victorian one last year, and loved, loved it! I plan on sending out many of the seaside ones this year to family and friends. Thanks so much for this post to help me remember to send it! If I don’t receive one this year, I will purchase one for myself!

  15. This is so adorable. Just admiring it pushes me into a Christmas mindset!

  16. Hi Susan, I have been given these beautiful Advent Calendars for many years now and I just love them! They are so much fun and get so excited to get up just to click the ornament to see what is in store for that day. I’m on it at night playing and discovering little things around the village. I’m excited for this years by the sea, looks like lots of fun another year. These Advent calendars are so well done, just like the cards. Glad you got last years and this years, enjoy!!! Hugs, Brenda

  17. I’ve gotten every one since it started several years ago, and usually send enough to get the price down to 2 dollars each. I have had several people tell me that it has become a favorite part of the Christmas season for them.

    My mama especially loves the puzzles that come with them, and I love the decorating/tree trimming part. I especially loved flower arranging interactive portion they had the last two years.

    I am a huge Jacquie Lawson fan anyway 9 (am a yearly subscriber) and this is just the icing on the cake!

  18. I’ve been a loyal customer of Jacquie for about ten years and love the advent calendar best of all…..hope this gets the word out about her incredible work!

  19. Mary Huckell says

    Thank you for sharing Jacquie Lawson’s Advent Calendar. Have been sending her cards for years, and still amazed at the creativity. Am going to download one for our great grands to enjoy.

    Mary

  20. Thanks so much for hosting!! Love the advent calendars but the Victorian one stole my heart…
    Hugs,
    Deb

  21. rattlebridge farm says

    Susan, how delightful! I’d decided to do an Advent calendar this year, and I’m so inspired. Thank you for hosting. Have a great week!

  22. Nancy of Lake Stevens says

    I have been giving these calendars to my grandchildren since they first came out. Usually there is some sort of library with books on the shelf. We know how much you love books. If you look at each book there is some sort of history in each volume which pertains to the corresponding day’s picture. And in the past they have provided information about the particular piece of music being played. These calendars are real gems.

  23. I get these advent calendars every year. They are so much fun and a short trip to a wonderful fantasy land. My grandchildren also love the interactive nature of something new each day so I send them a copy too. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a bit of whimsy.

  24. Anne Shaheen says

    Oh my gosh what a great idea. Sent six of the Victorian Village to friends. We will all so enjoy this. Thanks Susan

  25. What a cute and unique Advent calendar! Thanks for hosting.

  26. I’ve subscribed to Jacque Lawson’s cards for several years. They are unique, and they can also be posted to Facebook for friends’ birthdays. Everyone seems to enjoy them.

  27. Especially if you get the cost down to $2 each, send in lieu of a Christmas card. If you order between Thanksgiving and a few days before Dec 1st, that allows the recipient time to download and get familiar with it. And they will think of you each day!

  28. Oh, fabulous!! I’ve just sent out a dozen of them and had excited messages back from friends. Thank you so much for the tip! So wonderful 🙂

    And for anyone who wants a physical version of an advent calendar, Replacements.com has several wooden ones. They’re about 24″ wide by 16″ high and 2″ deep.

    http://www.replacements.com/webquote/co_y1bspv11.htm?utm_source=ORIONList&utm_medium=email&utm_content=DCII2&utm_campaign=1445&rplDate=20161111130827&rplSrc=LET&rplSubEvent=1445

    I’ve given one of these to each family of grandchildren (the families with more than one share – the openings are big enough for several treats). It’s Nana’s job to reload them every year. I use a combination of chocolate and Playmobil toys.

    Thanks again for the inspiration

  29. bobbi duncan says

    I am so loving this because I love anything to do with holiday villages (we’re already pulling out our Dicken’s pieces to get an idea how we want this years village to look lol!). How adorable, and a whole month of holiday cheer. Great gift idea to add to my list, and so reasonably priced! I love how you get so excited about things you post…so cute, and it adds happiness to the world around you. Hugs!

  30. veryl stockdale says

    My sister sends these to me and I love them too

  31. Linda Slattery says

    Thank you so much about the tip, or was it just a down-right recommendation?) about the Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendars. I had no idea such a thing existed, but have been on the lovely end of several of her cards over the years. I am so tickled that the price is so reasonable so it makes it doable to include more friends and family. I sent out four, and one to myself to see what all the hoopla is about. You mentioned in an earlier post how Amazon Now is like having a personal assistant when it comes to shopping. You are quickly becoming mine, as I always trust your recommendations to be top notch. Thanks again.

  32. Susan, thank you so much for sharing this site. I’ve already ordered 4 Advent Calendars – both Victorian & Seaside for me, Victorian for our daughter, and Seaside for our grandchildren. Installed my Victorian, decorated my tree, & have snowflakes falling. This is going to be so much fun!

  33. The “Pin It” button that pops up on every picture is so annoying.

    • Barb, if you move your cursor off the picture, it should disappear. It only shows if the cursor is over the picture. Try that and let me know if it works.

  34. Thank you so much for the advent calendar idea! I am getting both for us and I have an inquisitive and very smart little 3 y/o friend who would absolutely LOVE the seaside calendar!

    She is a lot like my 16 y/o when she was little. She loves to learn. Little D’s mom married into a family we are good friends with (from church). My hubby and I are old enough to be the parents of all 3 grown kids (if we had them young). The youngest kid is going to be 27 next week and she is my pal. She is also the BEST aunt ever to D and the best sister and sister-in-law. She does so much for her brother and his family. My hubby has known the grown kids since they were born. D’s mom and her new hubby (one of the sons) just gave D a little sister 2 days after D’s 3rd bday in October.

    God really blessed this little girl bringing her into a family like this. And I am glad to be called (honorary) AUNT by this little sweet heart! She and I share a love for Olaf the snowman and the Hot Diggedy Dog song/dance on the end of the Mickey Mouse Club show. I can’t help myself….I have to dance to that song when it’s on. It’s infectious. My dog must think I am insane. hahahaha

  35. So cute! Thanks for sharing this, Susan. Hope you have a great week!

  36. Susan what a great find! I purchased the Victorian scene but both were very tempting! It is definitely putting me even more in the Christmas spirit 🙂

    Thanks again,

    Lindsey

    • They really do! So glad you are enjoying it Lindsey. I have to bring it up on my computer at least once a day, even though the ornaments aren’t active yet. Be sure to move your cursor all around the Victorian village, hovering over windows and other objects because there are quite a few surprised to be found! 🙂

  37. Regality (aka The Quing) says

    Thanks for the (Victorian) calendar. You’ll find the charge on your Visa. Er…wait. I guess I’ll find the charge on my Visa. *L* But, really, thanks for the info. Love it!

    A couple of little tidbits: For a while, a checkmark would appear on any Met/Tablescape pic that I’d already clicked on, even if I refreshed to see if there were any new entries. Now, the checkmark is gone and if I try to click on the pic, a Pinterest symbol appears, so I have to click on the verbiage under the pic.

    Also, before, hovering on the…can’t recall for sure, either the pic or verbiage or both would tell me what website I was headed to. No more.

    I really did like both of the former features.

    • Ummm, I’ll see if I can find a setting will turn off that Pinterest thing on those small pictures. I don’t what has caused the it to not show that you’ve visited that link. I’ll see if I can figure that out, too. Thanks for letting me know it was doing that!
      So glad you like the Victorian calendar. I noticed today, there are sheep on the lawn now in the Seaside calendar. 🙂 I’m pretty sure they weren’t there yesterday. 🙂 Love how it changes!

    • I think that Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter thing is coming from InLinkz…the service I use to create the Linky Party. I’ll email their help desk to ask about that. I was able to click directly on the picture though, to open the link. That worked fine. The Pinterest didn’t pop up if I was just clicking on the picture. I have a feeling InLinkz has made some changes. I’ll email them now to see if that’s why things are working differently because I haven’t changed anything on my end.
      Thanks again for letting me know. 🙂

  38. That Jacqui site is adorable, I have marked it, and hope to use some of those cards for my family. Problem is, which cards as I looked at about 6 and each was sweeter than the last, Thanks for the heads up and for hosting. Sandi

  39. Susan, I ordered this today & LOVE it! I have decorated the tree & a wreath. It’s so much fun & like you said, it is relaxing. I love Christmas, I love this & I love the interesting things you bring to your blog.

    • Thanks, Linda! I noticed today that there are now sheep on the lawn in the seaside village. I don’t think those were there yesterday. So I think they are updating it from time to time, even though the ornament surprises don’t start until December 1st. So much fun! 🙂

      • Susan, I just had to comment again because when my 5 year old grandson was designing things on the Advent Calendar, I noticed that the clock in the steeple was advancing with our correct time! I wonder if you have noticed that.

        • Oh, sorry. After posting the above, I noticed where someone had already mentioned that to you. I went back & clicked on the chimney to see the squirrel running across the roof but there isn’t a foghorn sound when I click on the lighthouse. Maybe that will show up later.

          • Are you speakers for sure turned on? Maybe it just makes that noise at night. I can’t remember if it was daytime or nighttime when I heard it before.
            Yeah, that’s so cool how the clock does that. Also, starting on December 1, the moon will look just like our real moon does right now. So it will be fun watching it grow and shrink. I can’t wait to see the surprises…I feel like a kid! lol

            • Linda Bloom says

              Oh, you were so right. I went back & checked the foghorn again & made sure the sound was turned up. The foghorn works now. I guess that must have been the problem, duh. This is so fun! It will be fun to watch the moon. I don’t want to wish away the days until December 1st but I am so anxious to see the new things that we will be able to access then.

  40. Susan, I ordered this after I read your post about it and I love it. I can’t wait until Dec. 1 to start opening the days. The puzzles are fun and I like decorating the trees and wreath. I think I’d love to be in one of those homes seaside watching the boats sail past. Yes, I saw the sheep too, love it!

  41. Hi Susan, I just came back here (left a comment a little while ago) because I was just on the seaside calendar…and did you know the clock in the tower keeps real time? If you click on one of the chimneys, a squirrel runs out, and a foghorn sounds when you click on the lighthouse. Guess I’m easily amused but these things aren’t marked, you just have to run curser over scene to discover! Mine had an update, which I installed.

    • I had found the lighthouse, but didn’t know about the squirrel…have to go try that now! 🙂 I didn’t notice the clock was on our time…how cool! If you click the clock, the hands spin around. There are a lot of fun hidden surprises on the Victorian Advent calendar, too. So fun to find them! 🙂

    • lol If you click on the chimney a second time, Mr. Squirrel just pokes his head up and fusses at you. Hilarious! Click on the other chimney with the bird, on it. 🙂

  42. Is this for Apple products only?

  43. Do you know how many hidden surprises were in 2016 Victorian calendar? I heard 11, but only found 10. Can you help?

    • I’m not sure how many there are either. This is my first year doing these. 🙂 I’m wondering if more surprises will begin to appear after December 1st when we can open the surprises behind each of the ornaments.
      *SPOILER ALERT*
      Regarding the surprises, it probably depends on what and how you count them. Not counting any of the blue ornaments or blue puzzle pieces, which I don’t consider “hidden” surprises, these are the ones I’ve discovered so far:
      Squirrel hiding in hole in tree (count as 1 or two since sometimes he runs up the tree and sometimes he just pokes his head out?)
      Snowman (goes through 4 different outfit changes, count as 1 or 4?)
      Clock (hands move around)
      Cat (may count twice since jumps in/out of two windows)
      Birdhouses (birds fly out and back in)
      Guy who waves in three different windows (count as 1 or 3?)
      Just run your cursor over all the individual elements in the various scenes, and anytime your cursor becomes a hand, you’ll know you have found a clickable surprise.

  44. A coloring book of the victorian and seaside village would totally awesome! I just dicovered this after reading about The Holiday movie! Thank you!

    • Beverly, I just discovered it this year, too. I purchased both the Victorian and Seaside calendars and love them! There are so many hidden surprises. Each day, in addition to the daily ornament we get to click on, they keep adding other surprises, too. Like today, smoke was coming out of the chimney that was near the carolers, so that a new surprise. I love all the little hidden surprises that keep appearing.
      A coloring book would be really cute, too!

  45. What setting do you click to make the ornaments disappear? Had no problem with last year’s calendar, but it is eluding me this year.

  46. I’m still looking for the hidden surprises–only found 7 in the Seaside Calendar … can anyone just tell the number they’ve found? I never did find the 11th in the Victorian Calendar and would LOVE to know, even privately, the 11th! My niece and nephew never found it either. (can tell @cay_anchor on Twitter).

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