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News: secret.gift Launches Advent Calendars You Fill Yourself

Nick Sleighman
Nick SleighmanGift Strategist
3 min read

New on secret.gift: an online advent calendar. You fill the doors for one person, send them one link, and they open one door a day.

Free, no signup, no app — for you or for them.

From an empty calendar to the link you send, and what they see when a door opens — on screen, with narration.Watch on YouTube

What it is

  • Up to 31 doors. Classic advent from December 1 to 24, a countdown to New Year from December 1 to 31, or your own dates — say, the last week before you meet.
  • Behind a door: a message, a photo, a task, a hint to where the real present is hidden, a coupon (breakfast in bed counts), a gift card with its code, or a booking — “Saturday, 7 pm, a table for two”.
  • Music and video inside the door. Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, Apple Music, SoundCloud and Vimeo links play right there.
  • Ready ideas. 24-door sets for a partner, kids, parents and grandparents, a friend, a class and a team at work — keep what fits, rewrite the rest. For long distance, set the recipient's time zone so doors open at their midnight.
  • Three styles: Gift Pop, Silent Night and Paper & Twine. Switch any time, even after sending.
  • Change anything later, from any device. Names, sign-off, dates and even the number of doors stay editable after you send the link. Keep the secret edit link or connect Telegram, and the calendar opens for editing on your phone or laptop. A ready invitation with the start date is one tap to copy.

No peeking, and nothing gets lost

  • Closed doors cannot be opened early: the date is checked on the server, in the calendar's time zone.
  • Started late? Doors from days that already passed are simply open; the rest go on one a day.
  • The recipient can get a morning reminder from our Telegram bot, @YourSecretGiftBot, or add a daily reminder to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook.
  • They can answer you, too. Under every door they open there is a heart, a laugh and a tear to tap, and a field for a short reply. You see it on your calendar page right away, and if you connect @YourSecretGiftBot from that page, each reaction also arrives as a message. The same bot nudges you the evening before a door that is still empty.

Try it

See what the recipient sees in the live example — it also comes in Silent Night and Paper & Twine. Then make your own; it takes about five minutes.

Need ideas for 24 doors? Our guide to advent calendar ideas has lists for a partner, kids, parents, a friend and long distance. Writing one calendar together with friends is coming soon.

Nick Sleighman. Claims to have never given a bad gift since 2011. Tests gift ideas on his own family every December and ranks everything by price, wow-factor and 'will they actually use it'.

Keep reading

One person, 24 doors, one link. Start from ready ideas.

Make an advent calendar