[smudgie]

When my kids were little, my sister in law lived in Austria and would go to all the German markets in Germany, she brought back the most amazing advent calendar made up of little hessian sacks on a rope, with the dates on the front with Xmas trees etc, full of sweets and goodies, we used it every year until our daughter took it home with her a couple of years ago.
I have seen poor imitations that have caught on over here but they aren't a patch on ours.