Are you as excited as we are for the upcoming Christmas season? Well, in Germany we have a fun tradition, the Advent calendar. People buy or make advent calendars because they’re trying to extend the element of anticipation and surprise that comes with gift giving. So as you might’ve guessed from the title above, we have a little DIY idea for you! LET THE FUN BEGIN!
The first step will be to pick out a design for your Advent calendar. There’s numerous options out there to pick from, so don’t be shy to show off your creativity. We at HEYANNA decided to go for a minimalistic but still very christmassy version by picking out 24 simple paper bags that we decorated afterwards.
The next step will be to split up the number of bags depending on the size of your CoLiving crew. This step will assign each participant the same level of responsibility to stock each bag with a little surprise. Also, it will make this whole DIY even more exciting since each roommate won’t be able to know what the others have put into their assigned bags.
Before we will introduce some ideas on how to fill your Advent calendar, there’s another important step worth mentioning. BUDGET! It might be helpful to determine a certain budget for each roommate beforehand to avoid any tensions or confusion while opening each bag of your Advent calendar.
Okay, after setting the rules, it is time to reveal our personal, favorite surprises for your next Advent calendar. YAY! Just a little reminder on the side, keep in mind that if you’re living in a co-ed shared apartment, make sure that the each surprise can be used by all your roommates since you won’t be able to know who will be the lucky one.
1. Printable Coupons
Printable coupons are easy to make and are a great gift for your CoLiving Crew! Also, you can literally go in any direction with these and they will help you to get to know your crew a little bit better through making memories together! Here are a few options:
- Making a home cooked dinner for your crew
- Making cookies together
- Bar crawl & the first round will be on the person who crafted this coupon
- Visiting a Christmas market together
- Hot chocolate and movies
2. Candy
Okay let’s be honest, you can’t make an advent calendar without filling a couple of bags with candy! If you’re trying to impress your roomies, you may even consider some of the international candy options:
3. Gift items
If your crew decides on splurging some money, it’s always fun to include little gift items! Again, you can go in any direction with these. We tried to include different things for all kinds of interest groups:
Mini shower gels/lotions
Card games
Christmas Socks
Tea/Coffee options
4. Funny surprises
For all of you who appreciate a little laugh, definitely consider including some fun suprises! We picked a few ones that are funny but still useful!
5. Be creative and do something personal
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We from HEYANNA wish you a happy holiday season and some quiet and quality time with your family and loved ones :)
