Hobby Thread - November 29, 2025 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. A spin of the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies (TM) landed on advent calendars.

Are you thinking "I'm not into advent calendars and I can barely count, but I am eager to learn more. I can't wait to get into the content!" I knew it. Enjoy.

What are you hobbying?

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. However, politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Pants are optional. Puns are welcome and encouraged.

Play nice. Don't be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent. The time for preparation and anticipation of Christmas is upon us. If only there was a fun and clever way to track the countdown...

Where did Advent Calendars come from? Here's the explanation, thanks to a German Girl in America:

In literature, the earliest mention of a countdown Calendar comes in a 1851 Children's Book by Elise Averdieck. Thomas Mann also mentions the Advent Calendar in his novel Buddenbrooks. By 1902, the first "Christmas Clock" was sold in Hamburg. It counted the days, much like a clock counts the hours with a movable dial and hands.

More history:

It was German lithographer Gerhard Lang, however, who came to be known as the "inventor" of the modern Advent calendar in the years that followed. When he was a boy, Lang's mother would help him count down to Christmas by fixing 24 cookies to a makeshift calendar.

After World War I, Lang released his first Advent calendar with pieces of chocolate inside, paving the way for the modern versions.

In the U.S., Advent calendars saw a massive boost in popularity after World War II.

"President Dwight Eisenhower's grandkids had a picture in Newsweek magazine of them opening an advent calendar, because at that point, Advent calendars were still sort of a new thing in the United States, even though they had been produced in Germany for 50 years," Landau said.

Has an advent calendar been part of your Christmas tradition?

Do you have a favorite in your house? Did you have one as a child?

Have you made a calendar of your own?

What fun treats have you put in an advent calendar? (Disclosure: interweb searching for "advent calendar" yields way too many expensive examples with high dollar goodies each day rather than simple and fun treats. I guess fools and their money are soon parted...)

Are there advent calendars out there you think would be particularly well suited for the Horde?

Any other favorite advent traditions?

Do you have three purple candles and one pink candle ready for your advent wreath? Do you use blue instead of purple?

Are you among the early birds bringing home a fresh Christmas tree before November ends? Are you already setting up an artificial tree?

DIY Craft Beer Advent Calendar

Steps:

1) Decide on a design (square, rectangular, or triangular)
2) Cut shipping tubes or dividers
3) Glue shipping tubes or dividers together
4) Fill each tube with a craft beer bottle or can
5) Decorate
6) Enjoy

This looks like a fun little craft project. Click the photo for instructions:

Cardboard tube (aka toilet paper roll) DIY calendar.

From the Ore Mountains of Germany, known as Erzgebirge.

For Doggo (and doggos):

Fortum and Mason building in London:

Mercedes-Benz in Munich:

Get a part each day and assemble them into a finished product. From the Germans (naturally):

Presume everyone already has this one:

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did an boating theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, contribute something from your personal hobbying. We will feature a different theme next time. What are you hobbying? We love showing off Horde hobbying. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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