Websites for Traditional Advent Calendars - No Chocolate Allowed!

[CDMforever]

Looking for the old fashioned advent calendars of yesteryear we used to have as children roughly 30 years ago with just pictures behind each window. The big well known stores seem to be phasing them out more and more every year.

any good?

Lots of charities do them - Traidcraft etc.

there were tons in whsmith last year

Local RHS garden centre have lots including a Matthew Rice one, a 3D one and a HUGE nativity scene one. All v.nice. RHS and NAtional Trust online shops have them.
Oxfam do them too.

that toyshop in covent garden has the really pretty ones from germany
have forgotten its name but google will help you

I hate chocolate in advent calendars, why would you give your child a piece of chocolate before school every day for a month?

Can't help with where to purchase a traditional one - I still bring out the one my Great Aunt gave me for my first Christmas (this will be it's 40th year) but my DSs have enjoyed the Father Christmas and Christmas Tree ones here For the tree, I bought a bag of cheap Christmas wrapping bows and they stuck one one each day.

oh and actually if you search on amazon they have many lovely ones
i got a stunning eric carle one last year

Orchard Cards

or

Advents Direct

If you know a pheonix cards rep, they do lots of nice ones.

Actually we have a felt one with a nativity scene on and 24 pockets each containing a character/ star/ tree from the Christmas story. each day the Dcs add another character to the scene. It's lovely. I think I got it from the Great Little trading company a few years ago.

Wow, loads of gorgeous ideas. Thanks all. DH just poked his round door and sighed. (She's already started and its early September....)

CoupleofKooks, LOVE your nickname. Its my favourite David Bowie song, now where is that album????

I'd quite like to have a material one for when I have my child and fill each day with a little gift.

But feel free to point me to this thread in 10 years time when I've got a child and buy the £1 chocolate ones

My friend rcommended Lego advent calendars - quite pricy at around £20 each but apparently they are fab!

juneybean, it's quite hard to find little gifts for very little ones that aren't chocolate so those fabric/train/mini stocking ones can cost an absolute fortune and end up being chocolate coins anyway! They do look lovely though.

30 yesteryears ago I had ones with chocolate in!

DD has a wooden one. I buy some cheap 'in my pocket' figures from ebay and then alternate with a chocolate.

Myself, I still have a chocolate one!

We are greedy. We have a German style rope with 24 little individual stockings on ( fits small gift for each DC in ) and an open up a window and see a picture each day one that we got online from Orchard Cards last year. Matthew Rice ones are nice too.

Now have my heart set on a fabric one where you attach the decorations to the tree from orchard - very beautiful. Will probably have to get a couple of paper ones too SANS CHOCOLAT!