Advent Calendars For Adults: Grown-Up Holiday Fun

Bring a smile to your friends’ faces this Christmas season by gifting them with an advent calendar for adults! Advent calendars aren’t just for kids anymore. It’s a fun, thoughtful way to surprise friends with something special each day. From gourmet treats to mini cocktails, or even self-care goodies, adult advent calendars add a daily dose of holiday cheer that keeps the season exciting. Read on for some of our favorites – your best friend, coworker, or partner will surely love them!

The Origin Of Advent Calendars For Adults

It’s unclear which company first thought up an advent calendar for adults. However, here is what is clear: marketers and retailers love the concept as a way of attracting new customers.

The history of the advent calendar describes how companies refer to them as anticipation calendars. Much like children look forward to opening a new window and getting a piece of chocolate, adults enjoy the activity, too.

Back in 2009, advertising agency Wieden and Kennedy set up a life-size advent calendar in a London shop window. Each day, they revealed a newly wrapped, life-sized gift, such as a bicycle or a waterproof snowman. Considering Wieden and Kennedy are the brains behind the Nike slogan “Just Do It,” it’s also possible they’re the inspiration behind the grown-up advent calendar.

Grown-Ups Love These Calendars

Perhaps one of the reasons that advent calendars for adults have caught on is because of the popularity of subscription boxes. With these boxes, you get a surprise in your mailbox or on your doorstep each month. It’s like being able to enjoy Christmas all year long.

Therefore, you could extrapolate that there is a similarly enjoyable feeling about having a special present for adults to open in December. These are excellent ideas for gifting to adult children.

“Why should the kids have all the fun in the countdown to the holiday? I get myself an advent calendar each year because I am still a kid at heart. I try to find one that is full of items I wouldn’t normally purchase for myself,” said Sarah Mock of Savoring the Good. “One year it was mini bottles of wine. Another year it was a LEGO calendar because who doesn’t love putting together LEGOs?”

Finally, because adult advent calendars tend to include more expensive or larger items, some may have only 12 windows to open versus the traditional 24 that you open between December 1 and December 24.

Alcoholic Advent Calendars

This past fall, my local Costco was selling two different kinds of boozy calendars for those of drinking age. They were:

• German beer advent calendar, with 24 different cans. Each of the windows contains a 16.9-ounce can of beer.
• Take a wine adventure advent calendar with 24 (375 ml) bottles of wine. All you need are wine glasses and you’re good to go.

I was impressed with the size and heft of each of these advent boxes. Each included a good serving of either beer or wine. Plus, they give you the opportunity to try a new vintage or brew on each of the 24 days in December.

None of these were from Kirkland, the Costco brand, but unique specialty brands instead. However, if you want to find them in your local Costco, you have to live in a state that allows Costco to carry alcohol. Not all states do.

Another alcoholic advent calendar comes from GiveThemBeer.com. The company sells advent calendars with beer, wine, hard seltzer, whiskey, bourbon and more.

We got the red wine advent calendar to try out. They include, among other vintages:

• Cabernet sauvignon
• Merlot
• Pinot noir

Each advent window contains a half bottle of wine. Be careful when opening them and pulling out the bottles, though. We didn’t realize that these would be twist-off wine tops. So, as we were pulling out the day one wine, we twisted off the cap of the first bottle and spilled it on the floor. Don’t worry — there was enough of the 2021 California pinot noir left to enjoy with dinner, which we did.

Hopefully, you’ll be prepared with a wine opener. But if you’re not, there are some great tips for opening a wine bottle without an opener. I’ve learned them the hard way so you don’t have to.

DIY Alcoholic Advent Calendar

On the other hand, you can always make your own adult beverage advent calendar like Susannah Brinkley Henry of Feast and West does.

“Each year I love putting together a boozy advent calendar for my husband and me. I stock up on a combination of mini bottles of brands we love and ones we haven’t tried yet,” she explained. “Sometimes, I add winter bar items like bottle stoppers or whiskey stones. It’s fun to try new things each day or save them up for weekend cocktails. At the end, we usually have a list of new favorites.”

DIY Gourmet Food Calendars

This is perfect for all your foodie friends! Start with a sturdy box or a decorative basket. You can also use small gift bags, jars, decorative boxes, or festive wrapping paper for each day of the countdown. 

Label each day with a fun number tag or a holiday-themed sticker. You can also include a small note explaining each item or offering a fun fact about it. For an extra touch, use twine or ribbon to tie everything together.

Think about your favorite charcuterie items and they can probably fill an advent calendar. You can fill the gourmet food calendar with:

• Treats: Fill each compartment with a different gourmet snack, such as artisanal chocolates, specialty cheeses, or flavored nuts.
• Recipes: Include a few recipe cards featuring holiday treats or meals that can be made with some of the gourmet items.
• Beverage pairings: Consider adding small samples of wine, craft beers, or gourmet coffee to complement the snacks.

DIY Beauty and Self-Care Calendars

Choose a beautiful container, such as a decorative box, clear jars, small gift bags, or a hanging organizer. Use a festive ribbon or string to tie them together, and attach a tag with the day’s number. Create a “self-care menu” for the calendar that details the items for each day, making it feel like a luxurious treat.

I like to put sample sizes of my homemade personal products like Christmas soap, lavender sugar scrub, bubble bath powder, and winter essential oil blends. For the men, I always add unscented beard balm, beard butter, and essential oil blends for men. Here are other fun additions:

• Mini products: Include trial-sized skincare items, face masks, bath bombs, scented candles, or lip balms.
• Pampering notes: Write personalized self-care tips or suggestions for a cozy night in, like “Take a bubble bath with your favorite candle” or “Treat yourself to a movie night with popcorn.”

DIY Hobby and Lifestyle Calendars

Select a container that fits the theme of the hobbies you’re focusing on – it could be a craft box, a tote bag, a drawer organizer, or clear bags for smaller items. Label each item with decorative tags indicating the day. 

Add a list of suggested activities to follow throughout the month. For a more interactive experience, include a little booklet with ideas for projects or goals related to the hobby. Here are some ideas:

• Supplies: Include items related to the recipient’s hobbies – art supplies, gardening tools, craft kits, cooking spices, or fitness accessories.
• Challenges: For each day, include a small challenge or activity related to the hobby, like “Try a new recipe,” “Sketch something you see,” or “Do a short workout.”

DIY Advent Calendars for Couples

You can also make an advent calendar for your couple friends! Use a romantic-themed container, such as a decorative box, a heart-shaped basket, or even a couple’s photo album that can hold the daily surprises. 

Attach a number to each item and perhaps a brief description of the activity or note. You can create a romantic atmosphere by adding some fairy lights around the calendar or using a holiday-themed tablecloth. Try these ideas:

• Couple activities: Fill each day with fun date night ideas, like “Watch a holiday movie together,” “Cook dinner together,” or “Have a game night.”
• Love notes: Include sweet notes expressing your feelings, reasons why you love your partner, or memories you cherish together.
• Small gifts: Add little tokens of affection, such as handmade coupons for massages, snacks for sharing, or personalized keychains.

Other Adult Advent Calendars

Beyond wine, beer and bar-oriented calendars, you can find plenty of different premade, store-bought, grown-up advent calendars online or in your favorite store. We treated ourselves to three of our favorite things: coffee, the TV show “Friends” and jam.

Keurig 24 Cups of Cheer

Normally, I like to use my refillable K-cup in my Keurig to cut down on waste. But this year, I splurged on the Keurig 24 Cups of Cheer coffee advent calendar — and I’m so glad I did.

Not only does the calendar include K-cup coffee from well-known brands like Newman’s Own and Caribou Coffee, but there are also Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa K-cups. Some of the flavored coffees include:

• McCafe Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
• Original Donut Shop Peppermint Bark
• Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Dark Chocolate Hazelnut

Friends 12 Days of Socks Calendar

We’re big “Friends” fans. I mean, when my husband and I text hello, we’ll often send, “How YOU doin’?” IYKYK.

I was stoked to discover the Friends 12 Days of Socks Calendar. The calendar includes 12 pairs of socks that say, among other catchphrases:

• “Oh. My. God!”
• “Pivot!”
• “We were on a break.”

Again, if you know, you know. Sizes are medium to large in women’s or small to medium in men’s, so it is practically unisex.

Bonne Maman Jam and Honey Advent Calendar

In this Bonne Maman Limited Edition Advent Calendar, you get 23 mini jars of fruit spread plus one jar of honey. The jars are 28 grams or about one ounce.

Along with the traditional flavors, you’ll get new variations, including raspberry chocolate and pineapple with ginger. My breakfast toast never tasted so wonderful.

Final thoughts on advent calendars for adults

We attempted to try some of these luxury advent calendars, too, like makeup calendars. However, the beauty retailers where we made our purchases just couldn’t compare to Amazon when it came to easy ordering and speedy delivery.

So, if you’re craving a beauty advent calendar, stick with the ones you can find on Amazon to ensure timely arrival.

Or get one in person at Trader Joe’s like Gen La Rocca of Two Cloves Kitchen did. “I received a beauty product advent calendar from Trader Joe’s last year that I just loved. It had samples of lotions, lip balms and facial products,” she recalled. “This was a great way to try several products without committing to the larger sizes.”

Portions of this article originally appeared on Food Drink Life.