Your plain old advent calendar tends to be an overpriced piece of card with fiddly doors that hide vaguely seasonal but often poorly drawn vignettes. If you’re especially unlucky you might find yourself having to stomach cheap chocolate from a plastic inlay (and no little pictures for you, if that’s the case). But thanks to @debmwhite, help is at hand, in the form of the musical advent calendar of mystery.

Say - what’s a musical advent calendar of mystery? Well, I’ll tell you. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Think of 24 Christmas songs - songs that remind you of Christmas, songs that you love or songs that move you and fill you with glad tidings of comfort and joy to hear them each day during this festive time.
  2. Write down the artists and song titles on 24 pieces of paper.
  3. Pop the 24 pieces of paper into 24 identical envelopes.
  4. Give them a good shuffle.
  5. Write the numbers 1-24 on your well shuffled identical envelopes.
  6. Decorate your envelopes with festive flourishes.
  7. Proudly display your work.

It’s as easy as that.

Or, if you prefer, you can be like Noakes, and make a hanging bauble fire hazard.

noakes advent