I don’t know if everyone knows, but somewhere in the last few years, advent calendars got cool. The humble advent calendar fuelled much excitement when I was a kid – fighting your siblings for a tiny, brandless, misshapen Santa chocolate? Sign me up. Recently however, marketing departments of the world have taken it to the next level. It’s a well known fact that if people love something, they’ll love it even more if you make it very small and charge double the price. Enter the advent calendar 2.0
The below is a varied list that guarantees to make every day in December an exciting, christmassy adventure!
Ginvent Calendar
Everyone knows that drinking (similar to calories consumed/money spent) doesn’t count in December, so why not drink the month away with 24 different gin varieties!
You might not be surprised to find that there are quite a few options for gin-themed advent calendars. I’ve chosen the Gin Foundry’s version because they claim to be the inventors of the Ginvent Calendar (and who am I to question them). The first instalment started in their pub (long before gin was trendy) with a 2×2 metre version, opening a new door and serving delicious gin specials for each day of December! Legends.
Coffee
We all know Christmas is the most stressful wonderful time of the year so why not get yourself through every day celebrate with a different cup of piping hot caffeine each morning in the lead up to the big day.
Haighs Advent Calendar
Because I felt obliged to include a chocolate advent calendar, I have upgraded from the cheapo versions from my childhood (sorry mum) to Haighs’ fancy option. 25 days of chocolate – standard advent calendar stuff. Ticks all the boxes. This one even comes in a reusable fabric calendar, because you know, save the planet and all that 🙂
The Aldi Wine Advent Calendar
I don’t have a link for this, its only available in stores (and is definitely sold out by now, sorry) but WOW – when googling “wine advent calendar”, this one is huge! Apparently these have been selling out in minutes all across the world and its finally found its way to Australia shores. 24 mini bottles of wine – sparkling, white, rosé and red to get you in the Christmas spirit.
This would go perfectly with the 12 days of Cheesemas! Totally speaks for itself; a 12-day-cheesy-Christmas-countdown.
Harry Potter LEGO Advent Calendar
I’ll pretend this is an option for kids but really I love Harry Potter so this one was always going to be on the list. Let’s be honest though, I’m only interested in the super cute lego versions of Professor McgGonagall and Ron in his Xmas jumper.
Cult Beauty
Beauty advent calendars are ridiculously popular at the moment. Everywhere is getting involved. Cult Beauty is such a cool site, they always have the best products so this one is definitely at the top of my wishlist! A month of tiny drawers, filled with amazing skincare heroes, cult-makeup products and cutesy Christmas bits.
Tiffany & Co.
Standing at the height of a small child, Tiffany & Co.’s advent calendar really is the perfect gift for your good friend Caitlin. 24 Tiffany-blue boxes, filled with the classics, from a 18k yellow-gold bracelet to a rose-gold Tiffany pendant studded with diamonds, opening one of these every morning in December will perk you up even more than the coffee version! Maybe. These bad-boys come in at a very reasonable $160,000 AUD and quite frankly I think it’s money well spent.
I could’ve made this list a lot longer but I feel this covers the essentials. If you need me I’ll be looking at my perfect skin, wearing diamonds, drinking cocktails, eating chocolate and playing with lego.