Empty Advent Calendar Boxes to Fill Yourself: 12, 24 and 25 Days

Empty advent calendar boxes are numbered boxes, bags or envelopes you fill. Folding cardboard boxes hold more: one set measures about 3.1 inches square, more than twice the width of one listed wooden drawer. Bags suit soft gifts, envelopes suit notes. Buy 24 to end on Christmas Eve, 25 for Christmas Day, or 12 for a short countdown.

Which empty calendar suits your fillers?

Pick the format by what you plan to put inside, not by how it looks on the shelf.

Folding cardboard boxes for chunkier gifts

Cardboard sets come as cubes, house shapes or numbered lids, and most arrive flat. To give a sense of size, one set with published measurements is the Bow & Hummingbird set, listed by the German retailer Manufactum. It has 24 folding boxes made of recycled paper in Germany, each 7.8 x 7.8 x 5.8 cm when built, which is about 3.1 x 3.1 x 2.3 inches. The set includes number stickers from 1 to 24 in red or copper and a roll of cotton yarn for hanging the boxes up. The boxes fold flat again for storage. Similar folding sets are widely sold, so use these numbers as a guide and check the listed size of any set before you buy.

Compare that with a wooden drawer calendar. Brubaker lists 1.3 x 1.5 x 2.1 inches inside each drawer of its DIY house calendar, so a box of this size takes items a drawer cannot, such as a mini candle, a small ornament or a pair of rolled socks.

Gift bags and envelopes

Gift bag sets suit soft or oddly shaped gifts that would not fit a box. For a sense of sizes, the Bowtiful Christmas set from the Berlin craft store Modulor has 24 food-safe paper bags in six designs and three sizes, from 10 x 5.5 x 18.2 cm up to 14 x 7 x 24.8 cm, about 3.9 x 2.2 x 7.2 inches to 5.5 x 2.75 x 9.8 inches. It comes with 24 number stickers and 24 wooden clothespins for hanging. Those bags are much taller than the folding boxes above but shallower, so they take a rolled pair of socks or a bath bomb more easily than a boxed ornament. Fold the tops over before pegging them so nothing slips out.

Envelope sets are the flattest option, for notes, activity coupons, gift cards and sticker sheets. If the plan is a sticker a day, a ready-made sticker advent calendar saves the sorting. Our DIY advent calendar ideas show how to hang bags and envelopes, and how to make your own if you would rather not buy a set.

Drawer units you keep for years

Plastic drawer cabinets sold for hardware and craft storage double as a refillable calendar once you add number stickers to the fronts. Akro-Mils makes a 24-drawer cabinet, which matches a standard countdown with no spare drawers. Its large drawers measure 6 x 4-9/16 x 2-3/16 inches, and the cabinet is 20 inches wide and about 15.8 inches tall. It stacks, or hangs on a wall from keyhole slots, and comes with dividers. That 2-3/16 inch depth suits jewelry, notes and small wrapped candy more than toys, so check the drawer depth of any cabinet before buying. For a fabric option, Pockets of Learning lists 2.75 inch gusseted pockets on its canvas calendar. Our reusable advent calendar guide compares wooden and fabric frames.

12, 24 or 25 days?

Most calendars, and most empty sets, have 24 openings that run from December 1 to Christmas Eve. A 25th box adds Christmas Day. A 12-day set is a good fit for a shorter countdown or a smaller budget. Our when to start an advent calendar guide gives start dates for each length, including December 13 for a 12-day calendar that ends on Christmas Eve.

Bigger gifts need bigger boxes

Standard empty sets will not hold a drink can or a jar. For those, look for a large box calendar with 12 or 24 open cubbies. Our energy drink advent calendar guide covers can calendars, and the food advent calendar guide covers jam, cheese and snack calendars.

Filling your boxes

Once you know the size of each opening, choose the gifts. Our small gifts for advent calendars guide sorts fillers by the size they need, and the advent calendar filler ideas are grouped by who is opening the calendar.

For every way to build, fill and reuse a calendar, see our reusable and DIY advent calendars section.