Counting down to Christmas

I first read about advent calendars in Jostein Gaarder’s book The Christmas Mystery. In that novel, a boy named Joachim finds an advent calendar, and a bit of the story unfolds every day he opens a new window.

I remember I had to google what an advent calendar actually was, because they aren’t as popular here as they are in Europe. An advent calendar is a countdown to Christmas, usually a cardboard calendar with windows. As each day inches closer to Christmas (beginning December 1), each window opens to reveal a little surprise, such as a picture, a part of a story, a small gift, or a piece of chocolate.

I write about this because I found out my friend Iya (you may recognize her as she frequently comments here!) has some advent calendars at her store, Tie Me Up Buttercup! at Greenbelt 5 (and they have a Christmas kiosk at Greenbelt 3, too). I think they’re the only store here in the Philippines that sells advent calendars!

I spent a lovely morning with Iya and her son today, and found some bookish advent calendars in stock!

Here’s The Night Before Christmas:

And here’s a Cinderella advent calendar:

They’ve got over two dozen designs in stock, and the illustrations are so cute!

And they’ve got ones with chocolates, too!

It’s a great way to countdown to everyone’s favorite holiday (and perhaps a test of your EQ too… tee hee)!

These advent calendars are priced from P385 to P535. Advent calendars typically start on Dec. 1 (although I did see one 12 Days of Christmas calendar in there), so head on over to Tie Me Up Buttercup at the G/F Greenbelt 5 and Greenbelt 3 before the month ends!