Filling your own advent calendar: 24 boxes and what fits inside
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
5 min reading time
Filling your own advent calendar takes an afternoon, provided you plan ahead. This is how you divide your budget over 24 days, choose the right box size and plan the filling.
Buying an advent calendar takes five minutes. Filling one yourself takes an afternoon, but then it contains 24 items that suit the person for whom it is intended. The problem is rarely creativity: it's the math. Twenty-four gifts sounds like little until you start counting what it costs, how many boxes you need, and where to put them until December 1st.
Whoever starts in October has peace of mind. Whoever starts in the last week of November buys expensively and hastily. Below is how to set it up, what can fit into a small box, and how to store everything without it becoming a mess.
First, calculate: budget, quantity, and average
Put your total budget at the top and divide by 24. For €60, you have an average of €2.50 per day. That seems little, but it's an average: you can certainly plan three or four more expensive days if the rest are cheap.
A workable distribution for 24 days:
16 small days — €1 to €3 each. Candy, a sticker, a deck of cards, a small accessory.
5 medium days — €4 to €8. Something that remains on the desk or in the bag.
3 large days — €10 to €20. Day 6, Day 12, and of course Day 24.
With this distribution, you'll have a calendar for €60 to €80 that doesn't collapse halfway through. Write down the distribution before you start buying, otherwise, you'll spend most of it in the first week.
First choose the boxes, then the contents
This is the step most people reverse, and that's where the hassle comes from: you buy 24 gifts and discover that six don't fit. So, first choose one box size and then let the contents conform to it.
Three useful formats:
Flat, for cards and small flat items. The black flat gift box with window of 12.5x8.5x1.5 cm (€1.99) is 1.5 cm high — enough for a deck of cards, a sticker, or a chocolate bar, but too little for anything bulky.
Measure once before ordering: place the largest gift you already have at home on a ruler and see if it stays under 3 cm high. If not, then the block-shaped box will be your standard.
What really fits
The contents are easier than they seem once you know the size. Think in categories instead of isolated ideas:
Something edible. Distribute candy over four or five days, no more. Choose packaged candy and check the expiration date: you pack in October, but day 24 will only be opened two months later.
Numbering, filling, and hanging
Numbering is fastest with colored stickers. A roll of price stickers in 6 colors, 500 pieces (€2.95) is meant for shops but works excellently: write the number on it with a fine marker and stick it on top of the box. Six colors also mean you can keep one color per week.
Loose small gifts rattle in a box. A handful of decorative stones (€2.95 per 400-gram tube) or pink foam hearts (€4.99) fills the space. Stones are heavy; use them in flat boxes and foam in large ones.
Seal with a tape you can't see: Scotch Crystal Tape, 2 pieces (€6.00) is transparent and doesn't tear the cardboard when opened. Do you want to hang the calendar on the wall? With self-adhesive hooks, 10 pieces (€5.95), you can hang the boxes with handles without drilling.
Planning: when to do what
Mid-October: divide budget, choose box size, order boxes and filling material.
End of October to mid-November: buy the contents. Spread it over three or four times, so it's less noticeable financially.
Last week of November: fill, number, seal. Count on two hours for 24 boxes.
November 30: hang up or place in a basket. Add candy only at the very end.
Making two at once, for example, for two children? Then buy double of everything at once. Differences between the two calendars are guaranteed to cause discussion on day 9.
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