'Traditional' advent calendar with no chocolate?

[frannyf]

Has anybody any idea where I could get an old-fashioned style advent calendar with no chocolates in, just the sort with a little picture behind the door? I don't really let my little one have a lot of sweet things and he would enjoy just opening the door each day (like I used to when I was a girl - none of this chocolate nonsense then, lol!). Do they make such a thing any more, do you know? Thanks in advance for any ideas... (p.s. he is too young for the playmobil toy sort)

I found some nice ones in the local post office- very traditional christmas scenes.

great to see this thread. I hate those awful choc commercial ones too and the chocs are disgusting and it's the thought of one at breakfast time that's a pain too. I will be checking out my local Oxfam for choc-free ones now.

I procured two traditional calendars in Smiths today. They cost 2.99 and 3.49 each while the choc ones were only 99p!

Reviving for obvious purposes.

Anyone seen any lovely non-chocolate (but also non-pertinent-scriptural-text-for-the-day, that's going a bit far for us) ones this year?

yes our local bookshop has gorgeous ones that open right out into a snowy village scene.

big bookshop in town has lots too

Buy a chocolate one, open the bottom of the box and remove the chocolate, seal back up and scoff it all in secret yourself?

I like the reusable ones that make a nativity scene or decorate a tree - you get a little fabric figure each day.

Great Little Trading co. had these.

m&S 3.99 very nice but the price
We looked everywhere and the looks you get from shop assistants if you ask Cruel Mummy!

I got one this year in Oxfam, about £3. Has a cartoony Father Christmas picture on it, very nice. I decided this year that if ds was not going to get chocolate, I would get him another type of advent present, so I bought the playmobil santa for him as well and can't wait to give it to him

Borders have got some lovely ones, some religious, some generally Christmassy.

I got one in WH Smiths this year, shock horror. Mainstream shops seem to be coming back to the idea of non-choc calendars, and so they should. With healthy eating for kids so high up the agenda now perhaps we'll see more of them soon.

I have ordered the fabric nativity scene from Letterbox. I really hope it arrives in time!

Mission accomplished - two rather nice ones - a gloomy dark street of snowy houses one for ds - you open the windows of the houses & it turns into a scene of Christmas Cheer (to be hung against window for full effect); and a 3D scene cartoony one with lots of reindeer rabbits and robins for dd.

Sources - Cards Galore & Parchment. Clintons had similar but not as nice.

I have a lovley one that has ornaments for the tree instead of choccies. Got it at a local shop here.

It is, however, missing one ornament, so we put a chocolate in that one.

wwb, I saw the ones in Borders today - they were lovely. Also John Lewis and M&S had a few - they had some in John Lewis that were fabric so that you could put something in each numbered pocket. JL also had the playmobil ones where you build something small every day. Your ones sound lovely binkie.

My grandma has sent a traditional one from tradecraft. Not sure what i'm going to do when my kids are old enough to realise other people get choclate in theirs!

For us being old enough to know that other people get choc calendars has coincided exactly with learning at school about what's healthy and not food-wise - and then being slightly prim about Unhealthy Food.

So I have evilly taken advantage of the primness.

I have searched the internet for days trying to find an advent calendar depicting a Victorian house (preferably with a pop-up street scene). No chocs or 'rewards' for opening the doors and windows!
I had one a few years ago but have been unsuccessful in locating one.

HELP!

Totally agree with you, Binkie. The jollity of opening the windows was the Thing when we were children (living in a skip in the middle of the motorway), plus the almost unbearable excitement of when there were more open windows than closed ones. Chocolate: pah! Strictly to be eaten by grown-ups under the cover of darkness.

EricB: is this what you are looking for? There are pictures elsewhere on the web if you search by the ISBN. Only if cost is no object, perhaps!!

Hobs: I still remember the year when our advent calendar had Actual Real Glitter on it.

you can get them in waterstones, ottakars, borders etc. you can also get lovely woodmansterne ones from most nice-ish independent card shops, if you have one near you.
they also had them in paperchase.

we don't do secular advent calendars (the worst one I've seen was an action man one... honestly) and I've seen LOTS of lovely ones like you want this year!

Thanks Binkie but it doesn't provide any details or show an illustration.

I'll wait and see if anyone else has any personal knowledge of such a calendar - there MUST be some available in the UK!

Eric

My local independent toy shop, book shop and gifty-type shops all have lots of chocolate-free advent calendars.

here