AIB Bah Humbug about advent calendar inflation?

[Rhubarbgarden]

Advent calendars used to be a cardboard nativity scene with pictures behind each window. As a child I found opening these little windows exciting out of all proportion. Then, gradually, advent calendars started having chocolates in the windows. I thought this was rather sad. Now, suddenly, everyone has got advent calendars that have boxes and pouches for presents. Presents! 25 presents! I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Where will this end?

I bought an advent calendar kit (to make a cloth one) about two weeks ago when I was wandering around John Lewis with delusions of domesticity/ability to sew. I now have two days to sew the flipping thing and think of something to put in all the pockets and am still putting it off.

(obviously I suffer from this delusion frequently as am also contemplating making an elf costume for my DD rather than buying one from Mothercare)

Chocolate free advent calendars

I got the kids calendars from the website above.

Also has anyone else seen the £80 make up one from selfridges?

I made one with my class one year - empty match boxes glued together in the shape of an Xmas tree.

They loved it.

Haven't done it with my own kids, because I had 483902483902438920432 matches left, would have felt bad about chucking them. Unforseen but forseeable side effect.

They have Doctor Who, Glee and Toy Story ones. I don't have one. WOE.

I've seen the paper ones with the little pics of Jesus things in them in the local scary bible shop window, so they are fefinitely gettable.

So glad I'm not alone. It's very encouraging to see so many people still get the plain cardboard ones. I've just received a 'thank you' one from Cats Protection' actually - pics of a rescued kitten behind each one! And whoever suggested the advent candle - I love those. Dd will definitely be getting one of those when she's old enough.

Thought this thread was about the cost of advent calendars going up! Ironically, the chocolate ones seem to be cheaper than the non-chocolate ones. I have bouhgt one from the Book People which costs £2.99 but the DDs have to colour it in themselves. You can buy chocolate one in glorious technicolur for 99p in the 99p Shop!

Can't understand why the chocolate ones are cheaper! Snob value?

I cannot for the life of me, find the traditional advent calenders here (Australia) and it irritates me beyond belief!

There are now ones here that have gifts in them, stickers, whistles, bracelets, colouring sheets etc

We have an Advent House - red wooden house with snow/glitter along the roofline. The doors and windows are all little drawers (4 each on the ends, 9 each front & back), 2 large flaps in the roof for 23 & 24. We put little treats (not always edible!) in the drawers each evening. I did want to fill the house on Nov 30th but my husband pointed out that the boys would have opened them all by Dec 2nd if I did!

BleurghUna, printing is pretty expensive - I guess that's why the chocolate ones are so much cheaper, as just a design on the front and the rest of it is packaging.

Boo sucks to all you gus, I have a Mars one this year. :o

we have cadbury ones where the chocolate gets bigger the closer you get to christmas!

We got our cardboard ones today from a traditional stationers shop-loads of choice but I nearly fell over when she said how much-£5.99 each but they are lovely.

This irritates me too.

Ds first Christmas (he was 5 months) mil & fil bought him a chocolate one each, hey are separated. Lovely we said, but we don't want him to have them. Said the same for his second Christmas, still 2 advent calendars arrived. Last year I knitted a christmas tree and 25 decorations to hang on it for ds and dd, who was 9 months.

Again we said no advent calendars please and we ended up with 6 because mil thought we wanted them too.

This year we have said the same and still have 6 bloody advent calendars despite the fact that mean mummy and daddy do not give them chocolate and they have the fun of finding a toy to hang on the tree every day.

Sorry rant over. I do have some IL issues that need resolving but they don't seem to listen when I ask them not to do something.

MIL bought us one with little decorations inside and each day you hang up the new one on the fireside scene on the calender itself. It's really lovely and i squash a chocolate in each drawer as well

Hassled, the fun is in the countdown!! And I do remember being excited to see what was behind the door when I was a child

I had a cardboard one that came out each year- doors pushed closed and then reused. My Great Aunt gave it to me for my first Christmas (I'm told) I still have it, it's beautiful and in perfect condition. How did that happen? My DC are not allowed near it. I fully expect to take it to The Antiques Roadshow one day soon

For my own DC, I have always made one. The favourite is this Santa one They stick on a cotton ball each day until Santa has a big bushy beard. I've also done a cardboard Christmas tree shape with gift bows or stickers to stick on each day and a star on top for 24. This year they each have an envelope of 24 numbered paper chain strips. DS2 is v pleased, DS1

this is the one DD's got this year
She chose it and she genuinely does get excited about opening the doors to see the pictures.

I hate the chocolate ones but the kids love them....so we have 4 lovely picture ones and a tin of quality street! am i a cope out!

The Playmobil ones are wonderful - you can use them year after year after year (and we have done). I still get disproportionate amounts of pleasure seeing the Christmas scene build up day by day.

I love the cardboard ones with pictures, the sparklier the better - and if dd doesn't she does a good job of hiding it

They have a nice selection here including christmas card sized calendars as well as 'proper' ones. Agree they're more expensive than the choc ones though!

DS is Star Wars crazy and I must have been having a weak moment so we now have a Lego Star Wars one .... and a Playmobil one for DD... and a traditional glitter picture one for me :o which no one else is going to be allowed to touch!!!

I like the look of a cloth or wooden reusable one with pockets or drawers that you can put what you like in. But, apart from chocolates, any ideas what I can put in them that's small enough to fit (think matchbox sized) and suitable for a 2.7 year old girl?

zonked, I personally am trying to avoid giving too much (my eldest is now 12 and I wished I had learned much earlier).

So in my pockets I put in 2 slips of paper, one with a question on it, like what did the wise men follow to get to the stable in Bethlehem (and maybe do multi choice with a couple of silly possibilities) - I realise this is still a bit too old for your dd btw. On the other slip I put an activity, so make snow flakes, bake biscuits, watch a christmas film, read a Christmas story, make Christmas cards/tree decorations etc. Also could put silly jokes instead of quiz questions.

In my experience, they enjoy doing stuff with you and remember it a lot more than getting 24 tiny bits of crap little presents.

If you really want to put presents in, how about you buy a lego/playmobil thing and split it up, or hair bobbles etc etc.

But really, I would avoid setting up the expectation of just getting more and more stuff just for the sake of it. A little bit of chocolate and a joke/ activity is really delightful and more than enough fun for kids. (bitterly rueing my materialistic more more more 12 yr old monster) My ds is nowhere near this bad, but think Dudley in 1st HP - only 24 presents. I got 24 last year, I should have more this year etc etc. shudder.

I got dd a Peppa Pig one from Poundland for a £1 which choccies inside

The branding is ghastly. I held out against chocolate (Advent is supposed to be about waiting not getting) for ages; but ds is now at boarding school and they all have chocolate calendars as a way round the no sweets rule. I have of course given in but I make him have one with just pictures as well. Not really sure why.

phoenix trading do some gorgeous ones where you build up a scene through advent (Nativity play/stable scene/winter village where you build cottages and shops etc and finally a church for Christmas Eve and they can be reused each year (my godchildren now have accumulated abaout 3 or 4 advent calendars they bring out each year because these are so cute they don't want to throw them away) - and they mail around the world.

I also have this one in which you add a nativity character from a pocket each day - no gift purchasing required. My 3 year old dd rearranges happily each day through December.

And I do the paper ones (Harrods had HUGE selection this year) but I too am mean about the chocolate and have no truck with it!

I thought this thread was going to be about inflation in the sense of those ones with THIRTY windows "counting down to new year". They seem to come with the Simpsons and Spongebob on them. I mean, what the actual fuck?