Festive & Occasion Packaging · Made to order
A rigid outer case holding a grid of small drawers, one for each day of Advent. The drawer fronts carry the numbers in foil or print and are pulled by ribbon, finger hole or metal ring — and the case is worth keeping after December.
Structure illustration, not a photograph of a produced sample — this format is built to your drawer count and artwork. Send your layout and you get a 3D mockup of your own version back.
Overview
An advent calendar drawer box is the format people keep. The gift inside is gone by Boxing Day; the case with its twenty-four labelled drawers stays on a shelf, holding jewellery, tea, buttons or nothing at all. That changes the brief. You are not buying a decorated carton that gets thrown away, you are buying a small piece of furniture, and the two things that decide whether it feels like furniture are board weight and how cleanly the drawers run.
The grid is where the cost lives. Each drawer is its own die-cut board shell, wrapped and hand-assembled, and then the case has to be built around the block they form. Twenty-four drawers is a normal advent run; twenty-five is the same thing with one more row closed off, and twelve is a gift-with-purchase version that usually ships assembled rather than flat. Tell us the product going into the drawer — a chocolate, a mini jar, a folded bracelet — and the cavity follows from it. Tell us the count and we quote the structure.
A drawer array is quoted as a structure, not off a price list. The count, the cavity size, the board grade, the wrap, the foil coverage and the pulls all move the unit price, and they move it in different directions — more drawers means more board and far more hand assembly, a smaller cavity means the same board doing less work. Fix the structure first and the number that comes back is one you can hold us to.
Specification
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Structure | Rigid outer shell with a block of individual wrapped drawers inside |
| Drawer counts | 12, 24 or 25 as standard; other counts quoted on the layout |
| Drawer fronts | Numbered by hot foil stamping or printed; artwork supplied by you |
| Pulls | Satin ribbon, die-cut finger hole, or a small metal ring |
| Board | Greyboard shell with a printed or plain wrap; drawer board specified with the cavity size |
| Inserts | Paper or velvet-effect liners per drawer, quoted as their own line |
| Packing | Shipped assembled, or flat with the drawer block separate — flat trades assembly time for more cartons |
| MOQ | On request — confirmed once the drawer count and cavity are fixed |
| Lead time | 12–18 days after sample approval, before transit |
Variants
One per day from 1 December to Christmas Eve. The count most European and North American advent ranges run, and the one that needs no explanation on a shelf.
The same block with a final drawer for Christmas Day itself. Popular where the calendar is opened as a family ritual rather than by one person, and where the brand wants one drawer larger than the rest for a headline item.
A shortened count for a gift-with-purchase, a counter unit or a subscription in its first year. Cheaper per unit because there is less to assemble, and small enough to ship assembled without the carton growing.
Ribbon reads soft and costs a hand-tie; a die-cut finger hole costs almost nothing extra and never comes untied; a metal ring reads most premium but adds a fitting step per drawer, which is the one that changes the price most at volume.
Materials
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Greyboard shell | The structural layer of the case. Thickness is chosen with the overall size: a large cabinet on thin board racks out of square, and a drawer block that does not sit square will bind. |
| Wrapped drawer fronts | Each front is wrapped separately, which is why the printed artwork has to be imposed per drawer rather than run as one sheet. Supply the dieline and the numbering sequence together and we check them against each other. |
| Paper or velvet-effect liners | A liner inside the drawer is what stops a chocolate rattling and a bracelet scratching. Quoted per drawer as its own line, because twenty-four lined drawers is twenty-four inserts. |
| Ribbon and fittings | Satin ribbon, metal rings and magnets are bought-in parts. We will tell you when a fitting is adding more to the unit price than the finish it replaces. |
Best for
Twenty-four miniatures or sample sizes, one per drawer. The format that turns a sample programme into something a customer keeps on a dressing table.
Small chocolates, truffles and sweets. The heavy one: a filled drawer means the insert has to take weight and the case has to be built for the load.
A bracelet, earrings or a charm per day. Usually the version that keeps the case afterwards, because the drawers become storage.
A figure or part per drawer, with the twenty-fourth drawer closing the set. Needs the cavity sized off the largest part, not the average one.
Sizing
| Dimension | Guidance |
|---|---|
| Overall size | Set by the drawer count and cavity, in that order. A 4×6 block of 60×60mm drawers lands around 300×420mm overall; deeper cavities push the footprint out fast. |
| Drawer cavity | Size it off the largest item, plus liner. A cavity that fits the item with no clearance tears the liner; one with too much lets the item turn and rattle. |
| Drawer depth | Commonly 35–55mm. Deeper drawers on a wall-hung case pull the centre of gravity forward, which is why deeper versions usually ship as a floor or shelf unit rather than a hanging one. |
| Wall thickness | Rises with overall size, not with drawer count. Quote the overall size and we will specify the board with it. |
Free quote
Send the basics and you will get an itemised price plus a 3D mockup with your branding.
What you get
Reply within one business day. No obligation, and no design files needed to start.
FAQ
The count, the numbering and what goes in the drawer decide almost everything.
Keep looking
A rigid cabinet with two doors closing over a 24-drawer block. Closed, it photographs and shelves as one box; the drawer array is the reveal. Quiet magnet or ribbon-tied closure, printed door interiors, and a base compartment if the block does not fill the body. The doors add a panel and a hinge allowance, and both show up in the price.
A Ramadan countdown cabinet with an arched top over a thirty-drawer block, crescent and star foil on the arched panel. Thirty is the safe count: the month runs twenty-nine or thirty days depending on the sighting, so a thirty-drawer array is right in both years. The arch is a shaped wrap, which is what separates this from the rectangular version on price.
A rectangular Ramadan countdown cabinet with thirty drawers and a gold lantern frieze across the top band. Rectilinear means the board sheet is used almost entirely, the cartons nest properly and the unit ships without a shaped void filler. It is the version to build when the run is large, the channel is retail or marketplace, and the packing maths matters as much as the look.
Get a free quote
Tell us the product, the quantity and the destination. You will get an itemised factory-direct price, a recommended structure and a 3D mockup — no design files needed to start.
Free quote
Two minutes to fill in. No design files needed to start.