The best Advent Calendars for 2023
Before 1st December, there are a few things you need to do; getting Christmas cards before all the nice ones sell out, finding your elf if you do elf-on-the-shelf and buying Advent Calendars. Here are some of my favourite cards, wrapping paper and Advent Calendars available this year.
Just wanted to give you a heads-up that this guide includes items I’ve been paid to feature, PR samples, and affiliate links that earn me a small commission. All opinions are my own, and I wouldn’t include anything I don’t think would make an lovely gift for someone. Jen x
Cards, gift wrap and money envelopes
I love this Snowman wrapping paper, and I am a big fan of The Snowman film. If you like it too, then it is available from Danilo.
I also love these cards in the same theme, also from Danilo and a money wallet. I love money wallets as they make giving money or vouchers a tiny bit better!
Food and drink advent calendars
This Wickedly Welsh Advent Calendar is lovely for any chocolate lover. If you haven’t yet tried the Wickedly Welsh Chocolate, then I highly recommend it! It is truly luxury artisan quality chocolate and honestly, it is to die for! This Advent Calendar is £19.99 directly from Wickedly Welsh.
Swizzels sweets are a great choice for anyone who doesn’t much enjoy chocolate (apparently, there are people like that – bizarre I know!). This Swizzels Advent Calendar is available on Amazon for £17.99 and is absolutely stuffed full of sweets!
The Nomo chocolate Advent Calendar is perfect for anyone who has allergies or is vegan, as it is completely plant-based and still tasty! It is available from Nomo, Holland and Barratt and on Amazon.
Another great free from Advent is the PLAYin Choc 12-day Advent Calendar which is perfect for children who have allergies as it is dairy, nut and gluten-free. It is also plastic-free and has little toys in each day so a good option for kids who want more than chocolate! Buy the 12-day advent for £24.95 or a 24-day option for £49.95.
Instead of counting down to Christmas why not buy a Crimbo Limbo calendar and count down to the new year? Pickering’s Gin created this calendar to give people a drink every day from Boxing Day to New Year’s Eve. A unique and different idea is available from Summerhall Distillery for £30 and includes 6 different 5ml bottles of gin.
For a crisp lover, how about a Pringles Advent calendar?
More ideas:
- Hot sauce Advent for chilli lovers.
- Nutella Advent Calendar
- Popcorn
- Reece’s peanut butter
- Spices advent calendar for keen home cooks.
- Pork Scratchings
- Beanies coffee advent calendar
- Liqueur chocolates
- Cheese Advent Calendar
- Bailey’s Irish Coffee Liqueur
- Ground coffee advent calendar
- World’s smallest Advent – one jelly bean a day!
Advent Calendars with toys
Plus Plus is a great construction toy so the Advent Calendar is pretty cool too. This Advent Calendar is £29.99 from Amazon. Check out my stocking fillers guide for some other Plus Plus goodies.
This Disney Advent Calendar is a puzzle board game too, a great alternative to chocolate for young Disney fans age 4+. It is available from W H Smiths for £29.99 with free delivery.
Top tip: Sign up with Top Cashback if you haven’t already for a good amount of Cashback on this!
- Smurfs toys Advent
- Super Mario toys Advent Calendar
- Toy dinosaurs advent calendar
- Funko Nightmare Before Christmas
- Toy car advent calendar
- Lego Harry Potter
- Playmobil Advent Calendar
- Fortnite Advent Calendar
Advent Calendars with books and activities
For teenagers, a great Advent gift would be the Disney Twisted Tales Advent calendar. It includes a new twisted adventure every day in the lead-up to Christmas! This advent calendar contains exclusive content, including 10 brand-new short stories, writing prompt journals, and much more. It has an RRP of £39.99 but is currently £18.99 from Amazon.
For children aged 5-8, The Enchanted Christmas Treasury is a lovely book of 24 short stories, one for each day of Advent. These magical stories would be great for children to be read to together as an alternative to a chocolate Advent Calendar or even in addition to one! The book contains a lovely story for each day of Advent with the last day being “Puppy’s First Christmas” as a perfect build-up to the big day.
As you can see with the sample above each story is well written with a lovely illustration. A perfect way for a child to prepare for Christmas. You can buy this lovely book from Authors and Co for £13.45 from Amazon.
More ideas:
Other unique Advent Calendar ideas
- Beard Grooming Advent Calendar
- World’s Most Offensive Advent Calendar
- Escape Room
- Crime Lovers Advent calendar
- Rubber Ducks
- Friends TV Show advent calendar
- Yankee Candles
- Mindfulness advent
- Low cost beauty Advent by W7
Items for a make-your-own Advent calendar
If you have a reusable advent calendar, here are some great ideas of things you could add to it this year.
You could easily make a beauty advent calendar using a variety of products. This Burt’s Bees hand cream would be a good addition. Other good items would be lip balm, face masks and make-up brushes, which can be bought cheaply.
Nomo chocolate reindeer are cute and perfect for anyone with allergies or who is vegan. They taste amazing, and if I didn’t know they were vegan, I wouldn’t believe it! Nomo sells them in bulk at £18 for 30 reindeer. Alternatively, check your local supermarket’s free-from aisle for the Nomo chocolate range.
A tub of sweets is an easy way to make a sweetie advent using your reusable calendar. Whether they love double lollies, drumsticks or Squashies, you can alternate and make a variety of combinations. These tubs are available at most supermarkets with various offers in the run-up to Christmas, or add it to your next Amazon order.