Calendar With Holidays Excel Template

Ten of the Best Offbeat Advent and Holiday Gift Calendars

Sometimes giving just one gift on Christmas Day can feel a little anticlimactic. All that buildup for one moment of joy?! When you celebrate a holiday that gives just one gift on one morning, multi-night gift sets and advent calendars can stretch out the fun a little. Unlike other gifts, though, you don’t have until Christmas to get one: If you want the recipient to open one slot each night as intended, you’ll need to read on for our recommendations and start shopping ASAP.

Drop off your Advent calendar around Thanksgiving week as a pre-holiday treat. Most of these are for adults, but if you have a kid in your life living far away, this is a great way to make a nightly appearance from the heart. These are also perfectly suitable to buy for yourself. After all, you deserve a little festive treat, too.

A fidget Advent calendar

Got a Secret Santa  party and no idea what to get? Consider this fidget advent calendar. Some people don’t realize how satisfying “stimming” can be, even for neurotypicals. According to the product description, “These toys can relieve stress, reduce anxiety and keep children away from electronics.” They can do the same for grownups, too. This is a great gift for someone in HR, or yourself if you’re counting down the days until the inter-holiday shutdown. And, of course, kids will love it, too.

An Advent calendar for couples

If you’re trying to spice things up with your parter, you can let this advent calendar do the talking for you. Be warned, however: This calendar is not for the under-18 set, as some reviewers discovered. “I was aware that it had some explicit content,” one review reads, “but how much was highly underestimated.”

A mindfulness Advent calendar

If you’re giving to someone who has enough stuff in their lives, consider these Christmas-themed, thought-provoking mindfulness prompts. This could make all the difference for someone who is struggling to find meaning in their lives.

A gift set of different hot chocolate mixes

The treats must flow throughout the holiday season, and our capitalist overlords knew it when they made these adorably sized hot chocolates. They’re yet another perfect work gift, and would 100% get used up the first day if they got abandoned in the break room.

An Advent calendar for your cat

Those lovable jerks who keep us in check, try to trip us on the stairs, and sometimes even slap us into submission (when we’ve earned it) deserve little treats, too. And who knows: maybe if you give them a treat every day leading up to Christmas they won’t try to topple the tree? Miracles do happen.

A cannabis Advent calendar

You likely have someone in your life who’d deeply appreciate an opportunity to chill out in the lead-up to Christmas. Get this 420 Advent calendar tree that comes with 24 pre-roll tubes (you’ll have to fill them yourself!).

An Advent calendar full of cheese

This calendar is advertised as a “cheese lover’s dream come true.” Behind each door of the house-shaped Advent calendar, you’ll find an individually wrapped British cheese (with flavors that include Vintage Cheddar, Double Gloucester, and Aged Red Leicester) and anything from pairing suggestions to a “fascinating cheese fact.” This one’s perishable and requires expedited shipping, so don’t delay your order.

Twelve soups for the soup lover

Sometimes a beloved person in your life just loves soup. So why not give them these 12 artisanal, organic (and vegan) Italian soups? They’re a perfect lunch option in the days leading up to the Big Day.

Advent shower steamers

These are pricier than the soups, sure, but cheaper than a therapist, which we all seem to need now more than ever. These 24 shower steamers (with seasonally appropriate scents like peppermint, rosemary + fir, and orange + lavender) are made with essential oils. They’re highly rated, too. “Each scent is amazing (yet not overpowering),” reads one review, “turning my shower into a spa!”

Empty Advent calendar boxes

Don’t like the little treats on offer? Are you a bit of a control freak? No judgment. Pack up your own calendar! These festive little boxes are the perfect parking spots for baked goods, candy, toys, jewelry … whatever you see fit.