Advent calendar filler ideas for adults
Ideas for gifts to fill a DIY advent calendar for adults
At the start, you will find our suggestions for making your own advent calendar, then towards the end there is a section for 25th of December. You can find more ideas on our Advent calendar filler ideas for women page and Advent calendar filler ideas for men page.

The Truck – Red Advent Calendar is a wooden lorry-themed advent calendar with 24 doors for festive treats. It can be filled with candies or small toys and reused annually for the holiday countdown.
£ 16,99 via therange.co.uk

The Personalized Christmas Ornaments Advent Calendar 2023 features 24 uniquely designed hook-and-loop pockets measuring 90 x 40 cm, with personalization options to match your holiday decor.
£ 105,35 £ 52,67 via etsy.com*
Christmas Advent Calendar, Fabric Advent Calendar, Personalised Advent Calendar

The Personalised House Advent Box Advent Calendar 2023 features 24 wooden houses, green trees, and white reindeer figures for daily surprises. Made from 3mm plywood, each house is 5cm high and 4cm wide, with overall dimensions of 37.5cm in height, 30cm in width, and 3.5cm deep.
£ 37,95 via etsy.com*
Personalised Advent Calendar, Wooden Advent Calendar, Fillers Advent Calendar

The Personalized House Advent Calendar 2023 features a hand-painted design with 24 drawers, including a distinctive chimney piece. It measures 16″ x 10″ and is reusable each year by changing its contents.
£ 46,00 via etsy.com*

The Custom Refillable Wooden Advent Calendar 2023 has 24 compartments with a Plaid Stag Head Block Font Merry Christmas Design, which can be personalized with text. It measures 14″ tall, 16 1/4″ wide when open, and 9″ wide when closed, with each drawer at 1.5″.
£ 59,20 £ 47,43 via etsy.com*

The Countdown to Christmas Advent Bags – Advent Calendar 2023 has 24 merchandise bags with four patterns and matching round stickers. Each bag measures 5 1/8″ x 6 3/8″ and can be decorated with optional clothespins and twine.
£ 7,16 via etsy.com*
Christmas Advent Calendar, Advents calendar filler ideas for children
The Argos Home Fabric Advent Calendar 2023 is 66x35cm containing 24 gusseted pockets. It features a sophisticated linen-style design, foil date marks, and built-in sticks for easy hanging. It is designed to be filled with treats and surprises yearly.
£ 12,00 via argos.co.uk
Argos Advent Calendar, Fabric Advent Calendar, Advents calendar filler ideas for children

The Etsy UK Fabric Handmade Advent Calendar 2023 is a reusable item. Containing 24 sewn-on pockets, it’s perfect for storing goodies. With a printed front, sewn-on pockets, and easy hanging, it’s a thoughtful gift for all ages. Each calendar features wadding inside and a plain fabric panel on the back.
£ 25,00 via etsy.com*
Fillers Advent Calendar, Advent calendar filler ideas for teenager

The Black, White and Gold Advent Calendar 2023 contains 25 drawers. This is a reusable wooden calendar intended to track the days leading up to Christmas. Unlike usual chocolate-based calendars, it can be filled with small objects like sweets or toys.
£ 14,99 via therange.co.uk

The Plain Gonk Advent Calendar 2023 is a reusable item with numerous compartments for small gifts, ideal for amusing children during Christmas countdown. Made for personalisation, it can be embellished with arts and crafts supplies like pens, or glitter.
£ 14,99 via therange.co.uk

The Fill Your Own 12 Day Maroon Advent Calendar 2023 comprises 12 reusable drawers that you can fill with your custom treats you like such as your Favourite chocolates, sweets, fidget toys, and the list goes on…
£ 12,99 via therange.co.uk


The Christmas DIY Bags and Stickers Advent Calendar 2023 includes 24 bags, allowing you to create a personalised surprises to Christmas. Made from card, each pack comes with numbered stickers for organizing your unique calendar.
£ 6,99 via therange.co.uk
DIY Advent Calendar, Advent calendar filler ideas for teenager

The Quilted House Fabric Advent Calendar 2023 contains 24 handcrafted pockets designed meticulously using quilted fabric. Pockets of varying designs hold small gifts or sweets, helping to foster festive spirit.
£ 60,00 via etsy.com*

The Scandi Christmas Advent Calendar 2023 comes with 24 printed pockets in scandi fabric. It measures 53.5 cm in height and 35.5 cm in width. The designs on each pocket are festive and can be filled with personal treats.
£ 14,95 via etsy.com*
Making your own advent calendar
Here we have a selection of ideas on how to make an advent calendar which you can then fill yourself:

- make your own or print some off for free:

- Get some festive paper bags to fill with advent calendar treats:

- you can then use the number stickers to seal them shut once they are all full
- Decorate and fill a festive wooden crate, such as this one:

- You can find sets of festive houses for filling:

- or print off templates and make your own which you can colour in:

- Use little bags for each day of advent:

- or these jute pouches with cute Christmas characters on:

- Little stockings are a great option:

- You can sew your own with a free pattern:

- or even decorate some old socks!
- If you are someone who collects old jars, you could decorate these and fill them with advent treats
- Or, if you are not a fan of arts and crafts, you can also buy a ready-made advent calendar for filling, such as this one:

The first of December
Why not put a mini advent calendar for travelling or for the office inside the first day of the advent calendar?
- Follow our free instructions to DIY a bubble wrap advent calendar
- You could make your own paper chain advent calendar and put a joke or festive quote on each day:

- or you can buy A5 paper advent calendar cards such as these:

- Make your own little advent book where you write a love note, stick a photo in or attach a voucher to each page – you could use a little scrapbook like this one:



- Follow our instructions to make a ‘reasons why I love you’ glass – fill it for one reason for each day of advent
- Get a small chocolate advent calendar from your local supermarket or buy one on Amazon:

- Make your own advent candle:

- or buy one like this:

Vouchers
We have made some PDF vouchers for you to print off:
- Cinema voucher
- Theatre voucher
- R&R voucher
- TV control voucher
- Vacuum cleaning voucher
- Washing up voucher
- Sunday brunch voucher
- Spa day voucher
- Massage voucher
- Concert voucher
- Garden centre voucher
- Mulled wine voucher
- Cooking voucher
- Breakfast in bed voucher
- Mulled cider voucher
- Ice off the car voucher
- Making the bed voucher
- Tea voucher
- TV night voucher
- Homemade popcorn voucher
- Favourite sweet voucher
- Favourite cake voucher
- Favourite food voucher
- Movie night voucher
- Cocktail voucher
- Candle light dinner voucher
- Monopoly voucher
- Ice skating voucher
- Hot chocolate voucher
- Roasted chestnuts voucher
- Mince pie voucher
- Crêpe at the Christmas markets
- Baking cookies voucher
- Baking gingerbread men voucher
- Baking a cake voucher
- Homemade dinner voucher
- Car washing voucher
Here are some cute ways to package your vouchers:
- Simply roll them up and tie them with a pretty ribbon
- Attach them to a suitable gift, for example attach the manicure voucher to a nail polish and attach the massage voucher to a small bottle of massage oil
- Roll them up and put them in little glass bottles, such as these:

- Stick them on the back of a postcard
- Place them in decorated matchboxes
- Slide them into Christmas crackers or make your own:

- Put them inside balloons
- Put them in voucher capsules like these:

- Carefully unwrap a Kinder Surprise egg and put the voucher inside – follow our instructions on how to do this
You can also buy voucher books:
- Book of love tokens:



- Floral blank coupon book:


Personalised gifts
Give them a gift that is entirely unique – here are our personalised advent calendar filler suggestions:
- Follow our tea light bases instructions to create some unique candles
- You can make personalised mugs, aprons, bags and t-shirts at moonpig.com
- You can make personalised calendars, diaries, wall art, wine glasses, books, jewellery, cushions and more at gettingpersonal.co.uk (they even sell personalised cheese boards!)
- Etsy has a large range of personalised gifts, such as this pretty ring dish:

- or this personalised star map:

- Check out snapfish.co.uk for personalised fridge magnets, coasters, Christmas ornaments, blankets and more
- Make a personalised puzzle with your photo at myphotopuzzle.co.uk
- Personalised Thornton’s chocolate:

- Personalised Nutella label to stick on a jar of Nutella:

- Personalise your own Cadbury’s chocolate bar:


For those who love to travel
Here are some advent calendar filler ideas for those who love to travel or are often away on business trips:
- Ear plugs
- A map of their next travel destination or dream holiday setting
- A small transparent liquids bag to go in their hand luggage
- Print out some top tips for their next trip or list of things to do at their dream holiday destination
- Power bank:

- Microfibre towel – these dry quickly and can be rolled up very small, making them perfect for travelling with:

- Toothbrush protector
- Lens kit for their iPhone so they can take great photos without having to carry a heavy and expensive camera:

- Universal adapter plug
- Mini first aid kit
- Luggage scales
- Mini dictionary for the language of their next travel destination
- A book of phrases in the language of their dream holiday destination:

- Travel guide for their next holiday
- Travel cushion
- Travel journal:

- Sleeping mask
- Scratch map:

- Travel-size toiletry containers
- Luggage tag and passport cover set:

Keyrings
Don’t let them lose their keys! Keyrings are a great gift to go in an advent calendar:
- Small knife
- Light
- Keyring strap
- Keyring with an attraction from their favourite holiday destination:

- Mini lighter
- Heart-shaped keyring:

- DIY a keyring
- A crystal keyring:


- Alarm
- Mini tools, e.g. this beard comb keyring:

For those who love to solve puzzles
Advent calendar fillers for those who love to solve puzzles and mysteries:
- Print off a crossword puzzle or make your own
- Escape from the grand hotel puzzle game:

- The big puzzle test:


- You can often find Sudoku and crossword puzzles at the back of newspapers, which you can cut out
- 3D wooden puzzle:

- Sudoku book
- Online puzzles – just write down the website on some festive note paper
Fans
- Lord of the Rings – Middle Earth map heat changing mug:

- Star Wars – Yoda face mask:





Poems and songs
We have found a selection of the best Christmas and advent poems and songs for you to read and print off:
- ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ by Clement Clarke Moore
- ‘Talking Turkeys’ by Benjamin Zephaniah
- ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ by Roger Whittaker
- ‘Little Tree’ by E. E. Cummings
- ‘I Saw Three Ships’ by William Sandys
- ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ by Dr. Seuss
- ‘The First Noel’
- ‘The Dreaded Christmas Fruitcake’ by Kelly Roper
We have also found a few Christmas poem books which are available to buy:



Books and stories
Here you will find links to Christmas stories that you can print off and read for free:
- ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’ by Margery Williams
- ‘The Little Match Girl’ by Hans Christian Anderson
- ‘Some Christmas Stories’ by Charles Dickens
- Personalise a Christmas story with your name
We have also selected a few books which you could buy to go in the advent calendar:



Coffee lovers
Here are our suggestions for all coffee lovers:
- Voucher for your local coffee shop
- Their favourite coffee
- Cafetiere:

- A special coffee
- Coffee tasting set
- A nice mug:

- Espresso mug
- Espresso spoon
- Chocolate espresso beans:

- A funny mug:



- Iced coffee (have a look here for how to make):

- Coffee cake
- Milk frother:

Sweets
Here are some sweet advent calendar filler suggestions:
- Take a look at our DIY hot chocolate page for free instructions
- Fill a Kinder Surprise Egg with a small gift of your own – check out our DIY instructions
- Speciality chocolates, like this bag of strawberry dreams:

- Cookies
- Make your own gingerbread men with an online recipe and these cookie cutters:

- Haribo
- Lindt heart:

- Chocolate coins
- Chocolate Santa
- Chocolate coated raisins or nuts
- Bake a Christmas cake – this can be done well in advance and you can use a free online recipe such as this one:

- Christmas pudding
- Mince pies
- A selection of hot chocolates (these can be spread out over a few days):

- Sweet popcorn
- Mini Nutella
- Get some fudge from your local market
- Jelly babies
- Ferrero Rochers:

For those who love to snack
Here are some salty alternatives to the abundance of sweet treats that surround us at Christmas time:
- A small packet of crisps
- Pretzel crisps:

- Twiglets
- A bag of Doritos
- A mini tube of Pringles
- Crackers:


- Breadsticks with hummus (you may wish to keep the hummus in the fridge and just leave a note with the breadsticks to say it’s there)
- A jar of olives or some fresh ones from the market
- Bombay mix:

- A jar of pickles
- Salted peanuts
- Salted popcorn
- Cheese balls
- Wasabi peas:

Cooking and eating
These are our advent calendar filler suggestions for all foodies and culinary masters:
- Download and print off our free recipe for roasted chestnuts
- Put together a small collection of ingredients, such as honey, olive oil, soy sauce, chutney and more
- Nutella fans will love this customised Nutella spoon:

- or this Nutella t-shirt:

- Some special pasta
- Ingredients for homemade pizza and a printed off recipe
- A vegan recipe book for the vegans in your life:

- A selection of herbs and spices, such as thyme, cumin and nutmeg
- A recipe for mince pies:


- A recipe for a chocolate Yule log:

- Spices for mulled wine
- A selection of nuts
- A citrus sprayer:

25th December
The best gift is always the one on Christmas day! Here are our suggestions for the final advent calendar filler:
- A pair of cosy Christmas socks:

- or these mince pie socks:

- Some Christmas pyjamas
- A Christmas jumper
- A Christmas game for the family to play – you can print out and make your own festive bingo game here:

- or buy a game such as this one:

- A box of Christmas crackers
- A Christmas hat, like this knitted Santa hat:

- Some Christmas slippers
- A funny or cute bauble for the Christmas tree
- Some fairy lights, such as these ones:

Where to go to get the perfect little gifts
Here are our suggestions for places to go where you will find the best small presents to fit in an advent calendar:
- Supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and ASDA always have a large selection and they have websites which offer delivery
- Poundland is great for small and inexpensive gifts
- Wilko is great too, especially if you are looking for craft items
- Paperchase has a great selection
- Shops like Boots and Superdrug are great for travel-size toiletries which fit perfectly in an advent calendar