You Can Never Be Too Old For Advent Calendars!

So, the season of advent calendars is just beginning. A little glimmer of joy once a day for twenty-four days. What more could we ask for?  

From chocolates to candles, toys to skincare. Advent calendars truly have it all. And more importantly, they’ve proved that advent calendar joy is not only for kids, but also for all of us older lot too! Don’t be such a Grinch! 

Where Did Advent Calendars Come From? 

Advent calendars originated back in Germany in the nineteenth century with the Lutherans. The mother of Gerhard Sellmer decided to give her son a small candy attached to a cardboard every day for the twenty-four days leading to Christmas. Apparently, she did this to give her head peace because the young boy wouldn’t stop asking when Santa Claus was coming with his presents! Even with advent calendars I bet our parents still wish for this type of peace during December. 

Sellmer, himself, chose to produce and sell advent calendars of his own. However, during WW2, cardboard became rationed in Germany, and he was forced to close his business in the 1930s. All is not lost though; Sellmer was able to reopen his business in later years and resume sales with a calendar that looks a lot closer to what we see today. In fact, Sellmer’s advent calendar company is still in operation today and his original design is still available to buy.  

Chocolate advent calendars first appeared in 1958 but it wasn’t until 1971 that Cadbury joined the game. Even later still, it took until 1993 for Cadbury and other chocolate advent calendar creators to make them a mainstay of Christmas.   

Tiktok: Living Through Another’s Advent Adventure 

Like many others, I am no stranger to loosing hours of my time to TikTok. Am I mad about it? No. Should I be? Probably… at least a little. But that is definitely a story for another time! 

TikTok is our one stop shop for all that we crave yet don’t want to make the plunge for ourselves! We watch the couples redo their homes, the influencers showing us their daily lives and even hauls from those in our own income brackets to those who can afford heaps and bounds more.  

These hauls turn to advent calendar unboxing come 1 December. (And sometimes, even earlier) Tiktokkers flood to the app to share the details of their newest advent calendar addition. We get a preview of what’s in store for us if we are to get the same calendar as our influencer pals!  

Despite the familiarity of the chocolate themed advent calendars, we all love a bit of a change as we grow up. It only makes sense for us to opt for more extravagant advent calendar choices. Of course, we would want cool make up calendars, or cream and perfume-based calendars. It’s like twenty-four extra presents, and they last a lot longer than the five seconds our favourite chocolates do.  

These Tiktokkers are our self-appointed quality control! Testing out the viral and expensive calendars before we go out and buy them. Many times, calling out brands for not making their calendars worthwhile. However, the excitement when the calendar that is being displayed is a good find is indescribable! There’s something so unifying about it, like we are in a little Christmas TikTok community. Christmas can be a very lonely time for many people, something as simple as watching the same video as others feels like it brings us all together. 

Why Not Have Our Own? 

We are all uni students, we don’t have €80+ to throw away on an advent calendar, as much as a lot of us would love to. So why don’t we make our own. I know it’s very close to our Advent season, but we still have plenty of time to complete the twelve days of Christmas. (Even easier on the bank again!)  

All it takes is a few simple steps, and some creativity! Get something to store all your surprises in like a big box. I’m sure we all have random boxes that we keep under our bed that we have convinced ourselves we need, well now is it’s time to shine.  

Now grab some wrapping paper – or for the sake of keeping things cost efficient and kind to the environment – how about dive into that fluffy sock collection that you don’t use. Come on, you and I both know that you have your favourite two pairs and that is all you wear! You can spare six pairs of socks for a few days. It even means that every two days you’d get an additional regift of your fluffy socks to pop on and get cosy! 

Then comes the most exciting step, put an amount of money aside that is sustainable for you. That might mean you want to challenge yourself to try spending €1 on each day. Or you might be making a more upscale beauty calendar for yourself and want to put aside more money. Maybe treat yourself to some of the basics that you’ve been putting off.  

And the final part of our festive fun is the assembly! Put all your gifts into whatever means you’ve decided on (Fluffy socks, go for fluffy socks)! Then pop them into your bigger box and mix them up so you can still get the ever-important surprise when you choose one present a day.  

If you give yourself more time, you could even up the stakes of Kris Kindle or Secret Santa next year and do this among your friends. You are never too old for some advent calendar fun! 

I’m Still Unsure of These Advent Unboxings 

Through these TikTok unboxings, we get to see the truth behind the packaging. Though controversially this TikTok trend is taking away my favourite parts of advent calendars – the mystery and the patience.  

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to know when big brands are screwing us with advent calendars that aren’t worth the price they slap on the front. But on the flip side, all our mystery is now gone if we decide to buy these calendars because they are plastered all over TikTok. My advice to you is that if you plan to enjoy an Advent Calendar yourself then don’t ruin the magic. Don’t watch that video, enjoy the surprises that are in store for you. 

With patience, I do just hate that they are now being opened all at once for views on TikTok. I love the idea that advent calendars are about instilling persistence and patience among us to have consistency each day.  

I don’t know, I feel very much for both sides of the coin. I want to be spoon-fed this really enjoyable content because I know probably won’t ever spend extraordinary amounts of money on an advent calendar. But on the other hand, the morals in my head are begging to be unleashed.  

I think, upon reflection, I just want us all to have fun. That’s the main idea of Christmas anyway – to enjoy it.