How To Deliver 12 Days of Advent Gifts Without The Headaches

Last year, I had an idea, and like all ideas that turn out to be good ones, in some respects, it bit me in the arse a little bit, because now I have to do it again. Luckily, I love buying presents as much as I like receiving them! 

The idea was this: instead of buying the standard chocolate advent calendar for my mum, dad and sister, I figured I’d embark on a twelve day countdown of Christmas gifting from December 13th to Christmas Eve instead.

You’re probably asking why right, because just buying a ready made advent calendar would be so much easier. And that’s true. But, my mum doesn’t really like chocolate, my dad loves it and a small square each day would never be enough and my sister (and I) already get a chocolate advent calendar from our mum and dad anyway. 

Don’t get me wrong, she wouldn’t say no to having two but why have two of the same thing when you can have two different things? On top of that, although we have a pretty big family, the main event is just the four of us, and I like to do what I can to make it extra special and for me a big build up is the perfect way to do that. In fact, I think I might like the run up to Christmas better than Christmas itself!

So that’s where it all started. 2023 was the first year I introduced the 12 days of gifting, and this year, due to popular demand, mostly from my sister, I'm doing it again. Now, 12 gifts for 3 people is (obviously) 36 different things, and that can get pretty expensive pretty quickly AND you can run out of ideas fast! That’s why, if you’re a gift-giving glutton like me, I’m sharing some of my favourite finds, top tips and lessons learned, so if you decide to do 12 days of gifting this advent, you can save yourself some of the headspace!

My Favourite Finds, Top Tips & Lessons Learned so You Can Deliver 12 Days of Advent Gifts Without The Headaches

My favourite finds for advent gifts

• Chocolate! It’s still advent after all. Some favourites include the traditional Terry’s Chocolate Orange, Cadbury’s Snowballs or Christmas Puds, Masteaser Reindeers, Quality Street Purple One bar or Lindt Christmas Reindeers. For non chocolate fiends like my mum, it really depends on personal preferences but fudge, licorice and turkish delight are all solid options in our household.

• Christmas tote bags, okay not for my dad, but definitely for my mum and sister. 

• Christmas socks, the perfect gift no matter the age, gender or style of the people you're buying for. There’s a Christmas sock for everyone, seriously. And the pair I’ve got for my sister this year are the best worst Christmas socks I’ve seen so far!

• Christmas craft kits are another lovely idea and this can come in many forms. This year I’ve gone for a paper wreath making kit from Sostrene Grene, but you can find all sorts of felting, sewing, baking and other kinds of crafting kits to suit any skill.

• Soaps and shower gels usually come in festive scents at this time of year or if you have family and friends like my Dad on your advent list, then a festive Lush bathbomb is always a great shout.

My top tips for keeping costs down and delight high

• Scandinavian brands are a lifesaver when you’re looking for lovely little gifts that don’t cost the earth. Head to Sostrene Grene, Flying Tiger Copenhagen and even Ikea which is always reliable for a reasonably priced festive candle

• Start early, and I mean early, like January sales early. If you can pick up bits throughout the year, especially in sales, then you can make your money go much further and spread it across lots of different pay days too

• If the people you’re buying for have similar tastes, look out for gift sets and multibuys you can buy once and split, again it’s usually more cost effective and it cuts down the shopping trips

• A TK Maxx rummage is never a bad idea. Again, it’s a great opportunity to pick up discounted items, sets you can split and frankly, super random things you’d never-have-thought-of-buying-but-when-you-see-it-you-know-it’s-perfect type things

Packing, wrapping and most importantly, numbering!

I like to start my 12 days of advent on the 13th December so it runs right up to Christmas Eve. So the numbering looks a little like this, 1 = 13th, 2 = 14th, 3 = 15th and so on and so forth until 12 = 24th. Sounds simple enough but believe me when you’re in it, it gets confusing, so I’d recommend writing it out on a scrap piece of paper to remind you of the right order.

Depending on how many people you end up doing this for, at best you have 12 things to wrap, or if you’re like me as many as 36 things or more. That’s why I use simple brown Kraft paper to wrap my advent gifts. For two reasons, it’s cost effective and it’s easy to write the numbers on. You can of course wrap in anything you like, and there are alternatives to writing the numbers on too, gift tags, number stickers and even dedicated advent kits are all amazing options, but they do all come at a cost.

To add a little bit of extra festive to cheer to my brown kraft paper advent parcels, I simply add a little ribbon, a christmas bow and a recent favourite find, a little christmas sticker courtesy of my favourite craft shop, Hobbycraft! This year it’s pugs, dinosaurs and santas, but last year I kept things more traditional with poinsettia, candy cane and mitten stickers.

Once everything is wrapped, decorated and numbered, it’s time to think about transport packaging. I’ve tried a few things here and for me, a simple box without a lid or a gift bag are the easiest, most cost effective options, but again you can buy baskets, sacks and allsorts if you want to do something grander.

Then all that’s left to do, is deliver it to the recipients - and of course, you need to remember to do that on the 12th December.

Good luck!