The advent calendar, explained
Everything worth knowing before you order one. If something is not here, ask me!
What is it?
A wooden calendar with 24 doors and one Disney enamel pin behind every single one. You open a door a day, and the calendar itself is yours to keep and fill again next year.
Do I pick the pins, or do you?
One or the other, and you choose which at the very start. Either you pick all 24 yourself, or you leave all 24 to me. There is no half and half, and that is on purpose: they are two different calendars and I put them together in completely different ways. The choice is set once you make it, so have a think before you pick!
What does it cost?
$375.00, and it is the same $375.00 whichever way you fill it. $300.00 of that is pins and $75.00 is the calendar itself, and shipping is free.
If I pick them myself, what if I go over?
That happens to nearly everybody and it is completely normal! $300.00 is yours to spend, and most of my pins are $14 and up, so 24 you really love usually comes to a bit more than that. I will tell you what a pin costs on top before you add it, and anything over your $300.00 goes on a running balance rather than being charged pin by pin. Settle it whenever you are ready, from your calendar page. Those pins are held for you until you do, and they are yours the moment it is paid.
Where do the pins I do not pick come from?
They come out of what arrives here between now and the day I pack your calendar, and they never go on the shop. When I unpack a lot and something matches your list, it goes straight into your calendar. It is not listed, it is not photographed, and nobody else gets the chance to buy it. A curated calendar is not the pins that did not sell. It is first refusal on everything coming through my hands, against what you told me you love.
What do you actually do with my list?
You give me up to 10 things you love, up to 5 things to leave out, and a note if there is anything else. One thing you love is enough to start, but the more you tell me the better your calendar gets. Then, in my own words:I will do my best on the loves. I cannot promise every single one turns up, because it depends on what comes through my hands between now and the day I pack it. The list above is the one I can promise.The loves are what I aim at. The avoid list is the one I guarantee.
Can I choose which pin goes behind which door?
No, and that is on purpose. I set the doors when I pack the box, and I do not tell you which ones hold the pins you picked. If you knew that, you would know which mornings were already spoiled. The whole point is opening a door not knowing!
When does it ship, and why am I paying now?
In good time for the first door, and I will tell you the moment yours is on its way. You pay when you order, and that is not just bookkeeping: every week between your order and the day I pack it is another week of pins coming through here that I can aim at your list. Ordering early genuinely gets you a better calendar.
Can I cancel?
Unfortunately not. These are made to order and I start setting pins aside for you straight away, so by the time you changed your mind your calendar would already be half built out of things I bought for you. I would rather say that plainly here than after you have paid.
What happens to the pins I pick?
They are yours the moment you pay, and they come off the shop immediately. Nobody else can buy them, they are not held or reserved or pending, they are bought. They then sit here with your name on them until the box goes out.
What if one of my pins gets damaged or lost?
You hear from me. I will tell you which pin, and I will replace it with something chosen against the same list, at the same price you paid. I am not going to quietly swap something in and hope you do not notice on the day.
That is everything. If you have a question this does not answer, it is probably a good question and I would like to hear it.
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