What non-chocolate advent calendars are there?

[ExAstris]

DH and DS are both happy with normal chocolate advent calendars but I haven't bothered with one for me the past couple of years as the chocolate tastes funny (I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to chocolate - Easter egg chocolate also often tastes odd, I think it may be what they do to it to shape it). But I feel left out!

So what other advent calendars are there? I know some of the cosmetics companies make them but I'm not into make-up. What are my other options? Maybe even just a really good quality chocolate one?

Im keeping an eye on this page for the beauty ones. I have already bought myself a bomb cosmetics one from amazon. Also superdrug have some in

www.reallyree.com/search/Advent
www.superdrug.com/search?searchDisabled=&text=advent

Sorry me again, bit obsessed with advents this year. I got a loccitane one last year which i loved, full of nice hand creams and shower gels. Im not that into make up so prefer the bath and body ones.

Ciate do a nail varnish one if you like that.

The window with a picture ones that I used to get (and reuse each year) in my youth I find at garden centres nowadays. DD loves the Lego calendars. We also have a house with 24 doors but they are tiny, the last couple of years I have made choc shapes with ice cube trays and similar to fit inside!

You can get the traditional ones from WH Smith but they're off the beaten track as it were.

They're usually hanging up on a stand and you could easily walk past them thinking they were calendars.

I'd love to find one that has single doors until you get to the 24th which would have double doors. I remember that type from when I was young.

We always get one with just pictures and then the whole family plays advent calendar bingo (have to admit that DH and I did this even before we had kids). Everyone thinks of 5 things that might be behind the windows and if it matches you get a point. I'm getting quite excited thinking about it now

I had this one last year from Phoenix Cards. www.phoenix-trading.co.uk/web/corp/area/shop-online/product/ADV19/snowy-village/?bid=d06fadbdf84c88c44ebe02c9f3f258d639b352ad&cat=false&search=Advent%20calendar&sortorder=1&itemsperpage=12

I loved making the houses each day

Does anyone know if the paper ones with "see through" windows have a particular name? We had once last year and it looked lovely in front of a night light but I can't find one.

This Alison Gardiner 'Country House Christmas' Large Traditional Advent Calendar looks nice sorry?

Just had a fun browse on Amazon and am mildly tempted by the Nutcracker Theatre Charm Bracelet Advent Calendar. There's also this fine Wera Tools Advent Calendar for the DIY enthusiast in your like! And one for the farm lovers

I can't get too nostalgic for paper calendars sadly. They were the norm when we were little but friends had chocolate ones and I know which we'd have preferred!

Love that charm bracelet one!

We always have a picture one! You can find them on Amazon, also museum and National Trust shops often do them. It's annoying that they are so much more expensive than the chocolate ones.

Advent calendar choc is disgusting - I wouldn't even eat it as a child! Or easter egg choc. It's just that it's really bargain-basement, super-cheap, palm-oil based "chocolate". Yuck!

Oh and the Caspari picture calendars are the nicest :)

I always buy myself a Loccitane one , lovely. On the chocolate front the Divine ones are quite nice.

We have a fabric one I bought in Germany a lot of years ago and I put lovely chocolates in that one.

I've got an advent village I've had since I was little
It folds out on a table and every day you make a house or a shop, looks lovely when it's done and it's one of my most sentimental Christmas decorations

Thanks Fluffle that is nice, but the ones I'm looking for have windows which the light shines through, rather than a card picture window.

imsorry - is this the sort of thing you are after?

I'm looking for something non-Lego for a 13yo boy.

Sink I don't think the light shines through the window on those, it just acts like a lamp shade? Nice though.
I've tracked down the designer of the ones we had last year but they don't seem to be the same. They have some nice activity calendars and advent cards though: www.rachelellen.co.uk/Shop/Christmas-2016

Sink - I've just found a description of those you linked on another site, and they DO have translucent windows, so thank you very much!

Non lego advent for a 13 year old boy:

- Build your own RC car Ladt year was a helicopter - Google for photos.

imsorry thank you, will go and have a look at that

I have a patchwork pocket one which is just big enough for ^Assorted Lindor" and the 24th gets a chocolate angel.
Easy to make- just fold and stitch the pockets and hem it onto a stick. It's the first thing to go up in our house.

I get the quentin blake non choc/tat advent calendar each year. I can then buy a nice bottle of gin with the money saved but usually buy 12 bottles of mulled wine in the sainsbros 25% off week

Its on the John lewis website now, along with lots of others.

dusk that sounds lovely, will have to keep an eye out for one.

I always get a traditional, old fashioned one - no chocolate - preferably on the corny side and with glitter! I hate the tacky Disneyfied ones.

The usually have them where they sell the charity Christmas cards, in the town centre church.

liquidrevolution - we got the Quentin Blake one a few years ago - it has totally random non-Christmassy pictures behind the doors - useless for Advent Calendar bingo - no-one had guessed "Crocodile" or "Boy in a green jumper"/

I got a lovely one yesterday at a National Trust shop - they already had quite a bit of Christmas stuff in. Felt really bizarre buying Christmas stuff in 30 degree heat, even for me, the ultimate Christmas addict!!

I'm waiting for my Advent Christmas letters from the International Elf Service, but I don't think that'll be any good for you 😁. Someone posted last year about an amazing beauty product one. It sounded amazing!