Handmade Wooden Advent Calendar

Last year I picked up one of Starbuck's truffle-filled advent calendars, but I usually get my daily holiday chocolate fix from one of the inexpensive advents sold at Trader Joe's. Each day, you open up a little door on the calendar to reveal a chocolate treat and count down the days until Christmas. It's definitely not a luxury item, but the little Swiss milk chocolates are satisfying all the same. More traditional advents don't necessarily have chocolates, but little figurines or toys instead, like this Handmade Wooden Advent Calendar from FAO Schwartz. Crafted in Germany, the calendar is solid wood and is of heirloom quality. Each numbered window reveals little figurines inside the hand-painted house. Granted - it's not chocolate, but it certainly is far more decorative and even at $1,125, it won't prevent you from spending $2 on one of the chocolate ones at TJ's.