Do you feel it too? The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. Especially at home in front of the crackling fireplace, where I feel very comfortable in the evenings. Wrapped in a cosy blanket, it occurs to me that Christmas and Advent are just around the corner. I think I could surprise my girlfriend this year with a very special Advent calendar with products and activities from the Salzburger Sportwelt, couldn’t I? That’s a good idea, she’ll be delighted! 😊.

So I set off right away to buy regional products and get some crafting inspiration. After shopping and browsing for crafting instructions, I immediately have an idea of what my homemade Advent calendar should look like.

Before I start crafting, I make myself a hot cup of punch. Mhhmmhh, the smell of apples, cinnamon and cloves makes me look forward to Advent. But now it’s time to get started with the handicrafts.

You don’t really need much to make the individual rolls for the Advent calendar. You just need a few empty toilet rolls, some tissue paper and Christmas paper to wrap around the toilet roll. Then you just need to cut the tissue paper so that you can wrap it around the toilet rolls. Tie the tissue paper together on the left and right sides like a candy. Wrap your finished “candy” in Christmas wrapping paper and you’re done. Of course, you can also think about how you want to write the numbers for the Advent calendar on the individual rolls. In this case, I printed out a template from the internet 😉.

Before I close the roll, of course, I put the little gifts and surprises inside. Wow, my girlfriend will be really surprised when she sees this special Advent calendar.

Of course, you can fill your calendar individually. Here we have summarised a few suggestions for you, which gifts can be found in the 24 rolls and where in the region you can find the products and ideas. Let’s go:

I purchase an arnica lemon lip balm at the Dorfalm in Flachau for the advent calendar. In winter, you are bound to have dry lips from the many activities in the snow that await you. In the village shop you will also find many other homemade products, from cheese and meat products to jams and honey, as well as many other gift ideas. In our case the arnica lemon lip balm originates from the Mandlberggut. At the Mandlberggut in Radstadt, local natural products such as mountain pine, stone pine, etc. are processed into care products for the skin as well as exquisite schnapps and much more. You can find more information about the Mandlberggut here.

My shopping tour continues on to Altenmarkt to Grübl‘s Naturgartl. In the organic shop, the nicely packaged bath bombs immediately appeal to me. After a winter walk with my girlfriend or a visit to an Advent market, she definitely needs a hot bath when her feet are cold. The handmade bath bombs with high-quality essential oils and a great smell are just perfect.

In order for the skin to regenerate well after the extensive bath, use, for example, the calendula ointment from the Vielseifig company in Altenmarkt. In addition to regeneration, calendula ointment promotes our blood circulation and thus also works against muscle complaints. You can buy the calendula ointment at the Pongauer Bauernladen in St. Johann im Pongau, amongst other places or directly from the Vielseifig company.

As I’m already in St. Johann im Pongau, a few sweet treats for the regional Advent calendar in the form of chocolates from the Berger company are an absolute must. The Berger company lovingly handcrafts pralines, chocolate and confectionery. Mhmmhhm, I’m going to taste my way through them a bit so that I find the right one for the Advent calendar. The smell of the wonderful chocolate and the look of the chocolates alone are stunning. And what can I say: chocolate is always good and perfect for an Advent calendar anyway😊.

So, now we have something for a warming bath after the Advent market, a good ointment for aching legs after a day of skiing in winter and of course chocolate, which, as I said, is always good. But to make sure we don’t get cold feet during our winter walk or at the Advent market, the alpaca products from the Königshof in Eben should help us keep toasty warm. Whether warm socks, shoe inserts or much more, alpaca wool is just so fluffy and warms us perfectly. If you feel like it, you are welcome to visit our “woolly” friends in Eben and take an alpaca hike.

Last but not least, sufficient relaxation in winter is an absolute must. For this purpose, we have received the massage oil “Sensual for the soul” from the FNL (Friends of Natural Living) herbal expert from Filzmoos Elisabeth Katharina Laubichler. The massage oil contains among other things various herbs from the garden of Elisabeth such as mugwort as well as almond oil, cinnamon oil and rose hydrolate. The herbal oil is available directly from Mrs. Laubichler. Find out more here.

In addition to the regional products, I thought of filling my Advent calendar for my girlfriend with lots of “time” together. In the 7 holiday resorts of the Salzburger Sportwelt there is a lot to discover in the pre-Christmas period and throughout the winter season, so I immediately thought of a “voucher” for an activity for each resort to fill the Advent calendar with.

For Saturday, 18th December, I have thought of a special activity together with my girlfriend. When she opens this door, she will be treated to a musical Advent treat in the form of the Advent Singing at Schloss Höch, that much we can already reveal :). You can find all the information here.

A visit to the Silent Night Museum in Wagrain-Kleinarl is a must during Advent. Wherever “Silent Night, Holy Night” resounds, it makes time stand still for a moment – be it at mass, at home under the Christmas tree or sounding from the radio. The “Silent Night Museum” in the Pflegerschlössl is dedicated not only to the life and work of the poet, Joseph Mohr, who spent the last eleven years of his life in Wagrain, but also to the global spread and impact of the song. You can find out all the other details about the museum here.

After the completed office work, my friend and I are already allowed to treat ourselves to a Christmas baked apple cinnamon punch at the St. Johanner Lichtadvent. The various light installations and color plays with the glittering snow inspire me every year again. This voucher for the drink also goes in my Advent calendar of course. Here you can find more information about the “Lichtadvent”.

The next Advent activity I would like to fill my regional Advent calendar with is the Christmas hike in Radstadt. The hike, romantically decorated with torches, starts at the Loreto Church and runs along the “Kaiserpromenade” through the snow-covered winter forest via the “Bräuleiten” to Radstadt’s town square, where the Advent market takes place. As a very special surprise, the “longest Advent calendar in Europe” awaits us there. You can find all further information about the Radstadt Christmas hike here.

I have a special secret tip in store for my girlfriend and me. At the Zauchensee Bergsee Advent, I would like to enjoy the local culinary delicacies and homemade mulled wine with her. Especially the atmosphere, evoked by the wind instruments, the impressively shimmering lake with light installations, simply top :). What else there is to discover there and on which dates the Zauchensee Bergsee Advent takes place, you can read here. 

After our adventurous time together, a little action is now called for. In the monte popolo ski area in Eben we carve down the slopes until our thighs really burn. After the action-packed morning, I treat my girlfriend to a delicious yeast dumpling with vanilla sauce at the Reitlehenalm. A delicious sweet refreshment that should not be missed, especially during the ski season.

One roll of my Advent calendar is filled with a horse-drawn sleigh ride to the Hofalm in Filzmoos, followed by a visit to the Christmas idyll at the Hofalm. Especially during the horse-drawn sleigh ride in the silent and breathtaking winter landscape, we are sure to get into the Christmas spirit.

Even while making the Advent calendar, I feel the anticipation of Christmas and the Christ Child. I imagine how my girlfriend will be able to open a door every day during Advent and how a smile will cross her lips when she gets to unwrap these wonderful products and experiences.

Finally, I would like to say that there are of course many more regional producers and products in the Salzburger Sportwelt region than I have mentioned here. You can be completely creative and put all kinds of things into your self-made Advent calendar.

I wish you lots of fun and a wonderful Advent season!

PS: If you want to know more about our regional Advent calendar and the pre-Christmas season in the Salzburg Sportwelt, you should also follow us on Facebook. (https://www.facebook.com/salzburgersportwelt) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/bloghuette.at/). Of course, we also look forward to receiving a photo of your Advent calendar.

photo credits: TVB Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, TVB St. Johann in Salzburg, Sportalpen Marketing, Kulturverein Blaues Fenster, TVB Radstadt, TVB Eben, TVB Flachau, CoenWeesjes, Dorfalm Flachau, Königshof Alpaca, Mandlberggut Radstadt, Salzburger Sportwelt