From miniature formats to life-size gifts… there is only one Advent calendar! With ever more beautiful and varied calendars, there is plenty to have fun before Christmas. In all fields, for all tastes and all budgets, here is a selection of the most beautiful Advent calendars 2022.
If the Christmas gifts are prepared as early as November, it is even more urgent to focus on your Advent calendar. Because unlike gifts for which you have until December 24, the Advent calendar must be in place from December 1st! It is therefore now that you have to choose your own, and the task is not so obvious as that, as the choice is appetizing, sensational, even irresistible! For gourmets, it’s an opportunity to taste all the specialties of a chocolate maker, and for cosmetics fans, there’s no better way to test a complete range of treatments without risking breaking the bank (or deceive !). Especially that in all fields, the big names and other renowned houses offer accessible calendars with their flagship products. Besides, if your budget is tight in these times of inflation, it is possible to have a pretty and satisfying Advent calendar. It’s because for brands, it’s an important loss leader, which can lead to large format purchases, so don’t miss out! And it must be said, there is plenty to choose from: from perfumery to toys to gastronomy, here is the selection of the most beautiful Advent calendars 2022. You are sure not to miss a box !
When are Advent calendars coming out?
If we only start opening them on the 1er December, the Advent calendars offered by the brands are often on sale in stores or on the Internet much earlier in the autumn. So you will find them from october in some brands!
Which beauty Advent calendar to choose?
Major cosmetic brands, such as beauty brands, almost every year release their Advent calendar. What do these loot boxes contain? From make-up to moisturizers, including soaps, hand care or scrubs, all your favorite beauty products or best of cosmetics brands can be found in full size or miniature in the beauty advent calendars. Sephora, Yves Rocher, MAC, Dior, L’Occitane, Clarins or even Birchbox: discover what’s new.
Gourmet Advent calendars, to taste or drink
While waiting for the Christmas treats, gourmets can wait with the Advent calendars that can be eaten. Chocolate, tea, beer, jam, sweets… Young and old will enjoy the new products on sale this year. The hardest part will certainly be not to open all the boxes at once!
Advent calendars for children, with toys
Harry Potter, Lego cubes, Hatchimals stuffed animals, Playmobil or Disney characters, many are the favorite playful worlds of our toddlers to find themselves hidden in the boxes of the children’s advent calendars. Every day, it’s a toy or a figurine that the little ones discover before Christmas, to compose, in the end, a very nice gift.
Advent calendars to make
Are you more manual, a DIY enthusiast and do wonders from recycled materials? We suggest you opt for the homemade advent calendarsfrom wood, fabric, paper… Some models are very simple to manufacture for example :
- Matchbox Advent Calendar : collect twenty-four empty cardboard matchboxes which you can then decorate with pictures, paint, stickers, colored paper… Then cut out a small door in each of the matchboxes. Assemble them by gluing them together, for example by arranging them in six rows of four boxes, numbered 1er to December 24.
- An Advent calendar in mini envelopes : you need twenty-four small envelopes of the color of your choice and a large card to use as support. Glue the envelopes on this support, opening upwards, for example by arranging them in six rows of four. Then number them from 1 to 24, in order or out of order, then decorate your advent calendar to your liking: with sequins, ribbons, small Christmas decorationspaint…
- A toilet paper roll Advent calendar : After collecting 24 rolls of cardboard, paint them in the color of your choice. Glue the rolls together or on a large piece of cardboard to create the shape of your choice, a Christmas tree for example. Place the surprises in each compartment. Finally, cut out small doors to the diameter of the rolls in cardboard and attach them to the ends of the latter using a pretty masking tape or string.
But then what to put in a DIY Advent calendar ? With what to fill his boxes, boxes or small bags? Miniature toys for children, homemade chocolates or cookies, sweet words: everything is allowed, it’s up to you to personalize!
What is the origin of the Advent calendar?
Initiated by Pope Gregory 1erin the sixth century, the advent season originally began on the fourth Sunday before Nativity and ended on December 24 with Christmas Eve. During this period, we were preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It was only much later that the famous Advent calendar made its appearance. It is in Germany that this tradition would have been born. In the nineteenth century, during the 24 days preceding Christmas, children were given an image, pious, often accompanied by a phrase from the Gospel or a maxim encouraging them to do a good deed. The idea was then to make them wait less long until the festivities, but also to make them wiser. Over the years, these icons have been adorned with colors, or with gold or silver threads. For practical reasons, they were then assembled on the same cardboard supportand to keep the surprise effect intact, care was taken to conceal the design.
Very popular in Germany, this tradition gradually spread to Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903, Gerhard Lang, a Bavarian publisher of illustrated medical books, had the idea of marketing these Advent calendars for the first time. A success which was not denied thereafter, and which was exported all over the world. During the Second World War, American soldiers stationed in Europe sent them to their families on the other side of the Atlantic where, from 1946, they were mass produced.
Why do we write Advent with an “e”?
Although Advent is a namesake of before, which additionally designates the period before Christmas, Advent is not a diversion of its look-alike. The term “Advent” comes from the Latin adventus which means “advent”. Namely the imminent arrival of Jesus Christ, which corresponds to the few weeks preceding his (date of) birth.
Religion, chocolates and other toys
The content of Advent calendar has also evolved over the years. The original religious image eventually gave way to small figurines, most often small animals, but also small soldiers during the glory days of the German army. The sweets have they appeared in 1958, with a small square of chocolateand to facilitate its export, baby Jesus has been replaced by Santa Claus.
Today the Advent calendar no longer has anything religious about it. And when you don’t make it yourself at home, marketing professionals have seized on the phenomenon to offer thematic calendars intended to appeal to an increasingly large audience. If chocolate remains a timeless classic, children also appreciate toys, all that remains is to choose between Lego, Frozen or Star Wars. The older ones are also spoiled for choice: selections of tea, make-up, beauty products, beers or “naughty” items (only for adults)… Even our foursome companions legs can now wait for December 25 in joy and good humor since advent calendars are entirely dedicated to them. The Christmas spirit knows no bounds.