So this day, the last day of the advent calendar, annoyed the most out of any advent calendar day I’ve ever built. And here’s why.

This is what it looks like. It’s got two pairs of ice skates and a camera inside. The problem is that there isn’t enough real estate inside the box to keep it all together without sticking out the top, so it’s impossible to keep the lid closed.

Here it is without the lid on it. See? Just not enough space. Here’s what the contents look like and how the box is constructed:

It uses the same panels as the gift box from a few days ago and uses two 1×1 bricks in two corners to hold the lid down. This was done presumably to maximize the amount of space inside the gift box since there wouldn’t be the studs from the top of the lid protruding down into the interior space. Kind of futile though since there was no way the lid would have fit with everything inside the box anyway. For those of you without a calendar who may doubt that this was supposed to be done this way, unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the door flap to prove that this is the way it’s supposed to be done. But I assure you it is. This is how I think it should have been presented instead:

The two pairs of ice skates can fit inside the box just fine. The camera could have been just an extra item that accompanies the gift box. It would have been a nice way to end the calendar, but instead we’re given an impossibly stupid build. Ugh.

Fin!

And that’s that. Another advent calendar in the books.

I know I’ve let the site completely lapse since the end of last year’s calendar, but I promise to try and fix that for this upcoming year. With Disney Princesses getting some new sets and a whole new theme of Elves being made, it’s hard not to get excited. There’s a LOT to look forward to.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Finally, a tree. For a second there I thought we may not be getting one. Similar to last year in terms of build, but different enough to be new for everyone. Comes with a pink tree topper that’s, what else, a heart, and a few trans-pink 1×1 round plates for ornaments or lights. Finally, something to point all of the previous builds at.

One more day and we’re done. What can it be?

Today’s build is a gift box. And it’s an actual gift box with a gift inside. Last year’s gift boxes were simply a stack of plates and/or bricks so this is a rather nice upgrade. You build the box with a series of panels and then flip the top plate upside down to create the top of the box. It’s not a secure connection by any means as the lid will pop right off if you look at it wrong, but that aside it’s nice to have an actual box. The gift that’s inside is a bow which can adorn either of the girls’ head or even the cat from two days ago.

At first I thought it was just an MP3 player, but the phone icon gave it away as a smart phone. And there’s what I can only assume is a Bluetooth portable speaker, ’cause it ain’t no headset that’s for sure. Plus, you’re supposed to mount the phone on an inverse slope brick as a stand. It’s kind of an odd build but I’ll take it. The smartphone print on the 1×2 tile is pretty sweet.

And here it is: the pet. Specifically, a white cat. The print is nice with some touches of grey for detail. The face, ears, and collar are also printed. I especially like the dab of gray at the tip of the tail. It’s a nice touch.

Last year’s pet, and I’m pretty sure with the year before, we would just get the animal piece, and nothing else. This year, I guess too many people complained about getting something you don’t even build so they threw us all a bone and included two plates to slap together so that the cat has something to perch on. Better than nothing I suppose and definitely an improvement from last year.

Thanks, LEGO.

Sofa, Divan, Loveseat, Daybed, whatever you call it, it goes perfectly with yesterday’s end table build. Our interior is almost complete now and with just a few more days left in the calendar, I bet we can get a complete interior by the time this whole thing is over. We’re still missing a tree, so there’s that… and I’m pretty sure we’ve always gotten a pet of some kind, though the fawn from Day 4 may have already covered that. We’ll see. Anyways, cute couch. Now the girls have a thing to sit on in front of the fireplace.

We continue to be gifted with more interior design elements. Today we get a Christmas-colored end table with a nice bubble lamp and a coffee table book. That book is massive, even by minidoll standards but there’s no other book-type of element so we’re stuck. I think it’s a holdover from the Belleville days and it was used extensively in the Harry Potter line for spellbooks and tomes.

I’m sort of enjoying collecting all of these little builds. What else can we fill our imaginary house with from tomorrow’s build? I can’t wait to find out.

Well that’s one way to continue with the interior design meta theme we have going on here: by including some other household construct. In this case, we have a fireplace. Probably one of the more elaborate builds thus far, but that’s not saying much considering how many snoozer days we’ve had so far. So it’s nice to actually build something.

The cups were obvious. The cake… not so much. The muffin? Complete guess. I don’t know about you, but I usually don’t have star-shaped foods. It could be some sort of fancy coaster for one of the cups. And the cake? Could be a giant wheel of brie garnished with a slice of pink grapefruit. I don’t know. This is just another one of those phone in days.

I think we’re building a kitchen.

Stove. Counter. Now a sink. And you know, there’s a window. A table. Chairs. Is this a holiday advent calendar or an interior design advent calendar?

I sound like I’m complaining, but I assure you I am not. While there is an inherent relationship between the days as all being part of an advent calendar experience, it is nice to get builds that are interconnected in a more practical way. Unless we start getting more appliances like a refridgerator, this may be the end of the kitchen. We’ll just have to wait and see what the rest of the days bring us.