Kmart shopper's brilliant Christmas hack using $7.50 item: 'Absolutely loving this'

You might be sick of people reminding you that Christmas is just around the corner but I am here to pique your anxiety further by telling you that they are correct. Sorry.

The silly season will be here before we know it, which means that for many of us, we'll be staring at a long list of things we should have done and gifts we should have bought back in April when people first started saying that Christmas would soon be here. Live and learn, I guess. Or not as it seems like I, personally never do.

Anyway, for those of you who are both organised AND creative - one Kmart shopper has come up with a pretty freaking cool way to score an advent calendar that is both unique AND cost-effective.

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The plucky customer shared a photo of Kmart's 24-compartment storage box to a Facebook group and asked her fellow shoppers, "Has anyone tried turning one of these into an advent calendar? I’m going to give a crack this year for my 10 yo daughter and 12 yo son."

Advent calendar idea wows shoppers

The post was inundated with comments from people telling the mum she had "saved Christmas" and that she was a "literal angel who deserved to be atop many a Christmas tree." Ok, no one said that but they were all super chuffed with the idea.

"Umm no but BRILLIANT! Absolutely loving this idea!" one enthusiastic person wrote.

"Love this idea I'm going to pinch it, I will wrap individual mini toys. Or paper folded with an outing for each day," another said.

"What an amazing idea!! I might have to try this," a third said.

Other group members made suggestions about what the mum could place in the box and how she could make it more of a surprise for her kids.

"If you have the time could paint each one a different colour so they can't see in but it all depends on what you want to put inside, if you put candy (lollies) paint may not be the best option, or even coloured paper could work," one shopper said. "Once again if you have time to do it that way and as your children are of age they could also help in picking what they would like to do as this will make it special to them."

"You could put numbers on the top of each compartment and wrap each item in tissue paper," was another suggestion.

"Lego! Buy a Lego set and fill each compartment with pieces. At the end, they get the completed item. But can do lots with the pieces along the way!," another (absolutely genius) person said.

"I haven’t [tried it] but you could try a tissue paper or thin paper that completely covers it and put a small slit so they can reach in and grab it?" someone else wrote. "And maybe paint the outside and seal it? This is such a good idea."

How to make the advent calendar

Someone else came prepared with a TikTok video of a woman in America who had made her own advent calendar using the box and, I have to say, I think I am going to have to try this myself.

In the video, creator Emma Carriveau shows her followers how to make the Christmas item, explaining that you can put whatever you fancy in the individual compartments - like Nespresso pods, chocolate or even money. Her post received more than 30k likes and hundreds of comments from impressed TikTok users.

"I did this for teachers as a survival countdown," one person said. "I added things like Advil, chapstick and lots of chocolate."

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"Such a great idea for a gift, not just an advent calendar," another follower gushed.

"Well, everyone I know is getting one of these!" someone else said.

And with that, I'm off to Kmart!

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