Our First Ever Highland Dancer® Advent Calendar 🎄

24 Days. 24 Little Surprises. A LOT of Work… and So Much Fun!

Well… we did it.

The Highland Dancer® has made its first ever Advent Calendar!

And, as with most things at HD, what started as a “Wouldn't it be fun if…” idea very quickly turned into sketches, lists, samples, tiny gifts, packaging, stickers, changing our minds, changing them back again — and hours and hours of making, designing and putting everything together.

But that's exactly what makes it special.

This isn't just an Advent calendar we picked from a catalogue and stuck an HD logo onto.

It's been created from scratch, especially for Highland dancers.

The Idea

We wanted to make something that captured that brilliant excitement of opening a little door every morning in December — but make it completely HD.

Something colourful.

Something fun.

Something dancers would actually enjoy opening.

And, most importantly, something that felt like The Highland Dancer®.

So began the challenge of creating 24 individual surprises for the countdown to Christmas.

And when you say 24 quickly, it doesn't sound like very many.

Trust us.

It is. 😂

Every little item had to be thought about individually.

What would a dancer like?

Would it fit?

Would it work with the other gifts?

Would it make someone smile when they opened it?

Could we make it?

Could we package it?

And, of course…

Could we make it look fabulous?

Hours of Making, Designing & Fiddling

There have been hours and hours of dedication behind this one product.

Designing the individual pieces.

Testing ideas.

Making samples.

Changing colours.

Working out packaging.

Printing.

Cutting.

Sorting.

Counting.

Packing.

Then counting everything again because somewhere along the way you've convinced yourself you've put 23 things in instead of 24. 😂

There are so many tiny decisions behind something like this that nobody ever really sees when the finished product appears online.

And that's actually part of the magic.

Behind every little Advent surprise is a much bigger story of creativity, problem solving and a fair amount of “Right… how are we going to make THIS work?”

Made With Highland Dancers in Mind

The best part has been imagining dancers opening their Advent Calendar each morning.

Before school.

Before dance class.

Before a competition.

Or perhaps with a hot chocolate while counting down the sleeps until Christmas.

Some surprises are useful.

Some are fun.

Some are just there to make you smile.

Because Christmas should have a little bit of silliness and magic in it too.

And we're definitely not telling you what's inside.

That would completely spoil the fun. 😉

From Our Little Island 🎄

Like everything at The Highland Dancer®, the idea began here on the Isle of Bute.

It's quite funny thinking about all these little HD Advent surprises being created and packed on our Scottish island before heading off to dancers in different parts of the world.

That's one of my favourite things about running The Highland Dancer.

An idea can begin at a desk on Bute and eventually end up in the hands of a Highland dancer hundreds — or even thousands — of miles away.

Our First One ❤️

There is something particularly lovely about being able to say:

This is our first ever Highland Dancer® Advent Calendar.

We've never made one before.

There has been a huge amount to learn, and probably a few moments when creating one big Christmas present seemed considerably easier than creating 24 tiny ones!

But we've loved doing it.

That's what HD has always been about — coming up with ideas, having a go, creating something different and having some fun along the way.

And after all the designing, making, experimenting, packing and hours of dedication, seeing the first completed Advent Calendar sitting there was a pretty special moment.

We made that.

Now we get to send them out into the world.

So here's to our first ever HD Advent.

Twenty-four days of surprises.

Twenty-four little bits of Highland Dancer fun.

And one very special countdown to Christmas.

We really hope you love opening it as much as we've loved creating it.

And when December arrives, we'd LOVE to see your Advent moments — tag The Highland Dancer® and let us see where in the world you're opening yours.

But remember…

NO SPOILERS! 😂❤️

Merry Christmas from our little island to Highland dancers everywhere.

The Highland Dancer®
Authentic. Scottish. Born & Bred.

24 days. 24 surprises. One very Highland Christmas. 🎄❤️