I’m going to use this platform to declare this: advent calendars are kinda the best. They capture all the excitement building in the hearts and minds of children and they temper it by delivering it in small doses the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Growing up, the method my parents employed was a drug store calendar filled with tiny poor-quality milk chocolates that my brother and I retrieved by poking our fingers through a small perforated square. And, we loved it! We looked forward to receiving those calendars every year – and I’m sure the small morsel of so-so-chocolate helped tame us a little bit.
Seeing the complete joy my own children get out of the advent calendar tradition got me thinking about why we don’t give them to adults. I know we’re the mature ones who have the composure and will-power to wait until Christmas to open our gifts … but, c’mon, that’s no fun. So this year I decided Bruno was going to partake in the slow trickle of magic that is advent.
Read on to see how I put an adult advent calendar together; maybe it’ll inspire you to try one of your own.
Materials
- 24 boxes (envelopes or pillow boxes would do the trick too)
- Numbered stickers
- Twine
- 24 knick-knacks (Most of mine were $5 and under)
Step
Number your boxes 1 to 24.
Step
Fill them with treasures*.
What to Put in Those Boxes for Your Adult Advent Calendar:
The sky’s the limit, and yet, you want to keep those 24 treasures affordable. Here are some of the items I put inside the boxes:
- Candy – I bought a few bags of Bruno’s favorites (dark chocolate dipped orange peels, Swedish Fish, Peanut Butter Cups) and split them up to cover multiple days
- Fun or fancy dress socks (’cause really, white cotton socks are for the gym, and that’s it)
- Mini airplane-sized bottles of booze
- Coffee gift card
- Deck of cards and tiny toys even an adult will love
- Coupons for Experiences: A family holiday lights drive, ice skating in the park, drinks out, a night off bedtime duty
- His favorite chap stick
- Tea (he loves the Yogi Herbal Bedtime Tea, and so do our kids)
- Stylish Paperweight
- Mini Moleskine Notebook and pen
Step
Wrap them up in twine whilst humming “My Favorite Things”
Step
Take great satisfaction in the knowledge that you are knowing you are making someone’s day…
I am in the process of doing one for my hubby too, and each enveloppe will contain a note with a fun geek quote (as he is a computer scientist). I hope he will like it !
That’s adorable, papelhilo! Love it!