Surely you’ve had an advent calendar at least once in your life, a childhood activity in which you would countdown to Christmas, eating one chocolate a day from the window scrapped on that colourful box. Over time, we tend to forget how exciting and joyful the lead-up to Christmas can be. So here’s a proposal: an updated advent calendar with a distinctive touch… it’s not just Christmassy, but also queer!

Send this fun list to your friends and family so you can all do some amusing activities together this December. 

1. Decorate the Christmas tree
First things first. There’s no Christmas without a Christmas tree. So gather your old ornaments from last year and give them a queer twist. You can make queer pine cones by painting them as colourfully as you can. You can also add some rainbow decorations like flags, pins, etc.

2. Design queer Christmas sweaters
This advent calendar activity involves a bit of spend, but if you want it to be budget-friendly, you can design a painting and hang it on your wall instead.

Find a custom t-shirt printing webpage and send your best queer Christmas design to create a T-shirt or a sweater. This is a really fun activity to do with friends and you can even raffle your sweaters whenever you get them.

 

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3. Queer chocolates
Don’t use the typical heart chocolate mould… instead get some queer-shaped moulds and make delicious LGBTQ+ chocolates for all your friends and family.

4. Rainbow candle lighting
This is also a nice activity to do with friends or family. Everyone has to bring a candle in one of the colours of the rainbow. Then, all you have to do is align them in their correct order and light them up. You will have a beautiful queer flag made of candles.

5. Bake gingerbread queer people
A non-negotiable activity on your advent calendar: show off your chef skills and bake (or buy, nobody will know…) some gingerbread queer people. The decoration is part of what’s going to give them the queer vibe, so get as festive and gay as you wish! 

6. Queer Christmas film night
Choose a traditional (and even ‘cliché’ if you want) queer Christmas movie and get yourself cosy with some blankets. You can also invite your friends and family. Here’s a list of ideas about what you could watch.

7. Donate to an LGBTQ+ organisation or volunteer for charity
Charities always appreciate support, not just at Christmas. Remember, any gesture, no matter how small it might be, is always welcomed. Pick a cause you really believe in, queer or otherwise, and give the gift of giving this Christmas.

8. Spread the message: love coupon
Print some coupon templates and write a love message on them. Then go out into the street and hand them to strangers. 

For a queer touch, you can paint the queer flag on them, or you can even write a queer message. However, the point is to be relatable to everyone, because love has no labels. 

9. Letter to queer Santa
For this advent calendar activity, you won’t be writing a typical letter to Santa, rather a list of things you are happy about in relation to the LGBTQ+ community.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where negative news tends to be predominant. But there are many things to be grateful for, especially in our everyday lives. In the queer community, there is also a lot of progress and connections to celebrate. What are you happy about? What advances are you proud of? What past experiences or historical events are worth honouring? 

Write a letter about how all of that makes you feel, to remind yourself that we also live in a world full of inspiring things that deserve some credit. 

10. Queer hot chocolate
Sweet treats are the main character of all advent calendars: prepare yourself a steamy mug of hot chocolate with coloured sprinkles on top. 

11. Mug painting
This is another creative activity ideal for some family and friend bonding. Paint some Christmas mugs with a queer style. Many shops like Tiger have cheap DIY mugs.

12. Queer Christmas playlist
Time to confess your guilty pleasures. Create a playlist with your friends of the most cheesy and queer Christmas songs and play them all through the season. For some extra fun, try guessing who added which song to the list and see how well you know your friends. 

13. Book exchange
Together with friends or family, exchange your favourite queer books. After everyone’s finished reading, you can meet up again to share your thoughts and opinions. If you don’t have any remarkable books, exchange movies or magazine articles. The point of this activity is that the traded objects should have been impactful for you at some point in your life. 

14. Origami
This activity allows you to learn a new skill, by finding a tutorial for an origami piece (Christmas or queer-related). For an extra fun twist, set a timer to finish your figure. You can also create a contest with your friends or family and vote for the best one. 

15. Queer snow globe
Don’t throw away your old glass jars. Save them for a cute Christmas snow globe! You can either fill them with some water and glycerin and then add some glitter or fake snow (from any craft shop) or leave them empty. 

The inside figure can be whatever you want but, since this is Christmas and queer-themed advent calendar, get creative with it!

16. Queer pub crawl
Gather your friends and go on an after-work queer Christmas pub crawl. If you live in Dublin, you can start at Pantibar, before heading to Penny Lane, Street 66 and then finishing with a boogie in The George! Make sure to wear your finest Christmas jumper – maybe the one you designed earlier! 

17. New Year’s resolutions
Time to grab some paper and commit to a better future, for yourself and the community. What are the goals you would like to achieve for next year? Are there any queer-related goals, personal or communal?

Hang the list in a special place where you can read it when needed. You can also burn it and spread the ashes from the window. Just remember to put a lot of love and intention into this ritual to make it special. You can either do it alone or with your loved ones. 

18. Queer Christmas market
Another classic activity – go to a Christmas market! The mission here is to find queer-related things, so try hitting up Quirk Market or Nollaig Shona B*tch, for example. Here, you can bag some LGBTQ+ presents for a friend or yourself.

19. Queer Christmas makeup
If you don’t want to do makeup, choose a coloured Christmas outfit or detail. You can also paint your nails or your lips. The point is that it has to stand out. Maybe a rainbow Santa hat, a bow tie, big earloops… Get all festive – maybe with a rainbow twist! 

20. Hang your queer Christmas stocking
Simply get a typical Christmas stocking, but add a little queer touch (tie-die socks never disappoint). Of course, you then have to fill them with candy canes or your favourite Christmas treats.

21. Secret queer Santa
Turn the traditional Secret Santa into an LGBTQ+ one. Queer gifts for everyone!

22. Mistletoe kiss
The advent calendar is coming to an end and Christmas is just around the corner, but some traditions are still missing. Despite being such a stereotypical thing, how many times have you kissed under a mistletoe? It’s time to get yourself one and bring your loved ones underneath it. Then, just let the magic happen. 

23. Queer jokes game
This is another activity for families and friends. Each of you must grab a pen and paper and write down a queer or Christmas joke. Fold them and put them in a jar to mix them all up. Then, all you have to do is read them out loud one by one. The most fun one wins! 

24. Bring something queer to the Christmas dinner
Take your time to think about a queer item you can bring or add to the Christmas dinner. It can be anything! Handmade food, envelopes, bracelets, etc.

That’s it, 24 ideas for a queer advent calendar to get yourself and your loved ones in the spirit this festive season. Happy Queermas!