Tag: JUMO

UPDATED for December 10th! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars in 2022

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

It’s that most wonderful time of the year! And I’m talking about the time where on-the-ball freebie fashionistas can scoop up dozens of free gifts from the many Second Life stores which have either an Advent calendar (running Dec. 1st to Dec. 24th or 25th) or a Twelve Days of Christmas calendar (usually running between Dec. 12th or 13th and Dec. 24th or 25th).

Lists of Stores with Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars

The Advent Calendar list by TeleportHub.com

If you’re looking for a list of such calendars, here are some that I have found useful (note that this list will be updated as I find new ones; many are not published until later in the day on December 1st, or even on December 2nd!):

  • TeleportHub.com’s Advent Calendar Store List 2022 is already up!
  • UPDATE 9:53 p.m.: December Advent Listing by Fabulously Free in SL.
  • UPDATE Dec. 2nd, 2022: Holiday Sales and Advent List from Seraphim.
  • UPDATE Dec. 6th, 2022: Dreamer’s 2022 Advent Calendar List, from the Dreamer’s Virtual World blog (there’s also a gallery on Flickr). Dreamer’s list also tells you which calendars allow you to collect the previous days’ presents, either for free (no group needed), free with group, or paid with group! Very handy info to have. What I like to do for those Advent calendars where I can pick up all the previous days’ gifts, is wait until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, teleport in, and then pick them all up at one time!
  • UPDATE Dec. 2nd, 2022: Second Life Syndicate has a Google spreadsheet with over 200 Advent and Twelve Days of Christmas calendars, which you can access here (scroll down and click on the link that says “Commenting Spreadsheet”, which can only accommodate up to 100 people at one time; a second spreadsheet, called “Published Spreadsheet”, will be published soon, but is not yet available).
  • Low Price Fashion in Second Life is a little-known Japanese blog which, last year, posted a daily roundup of that day’s Advent calendar gifts. I expect they will do the same this year.
  • Last year, the very hardworking folks over at the Russian-language VKontakte group Second Life – FREE posted a daily roundup of that day’s Advent calendar gifts, with pictures! And those Russian freebie fashionistas are doing it again for 2022. They even went so far as to create an alphabetical list of stores with links to pictures of each day’s Advent gift! Bookmark this list and check back daily; this is probably THE easiest way to actually see each day’s calendar gifts without teleporting all over the grid, collecting and unpacking items! (Please remember to use the Russian-to-English translator in your Chrome browser, or Google Translate, to read the posts in this Russian-language community. You do not need to set up an account on VKontakte; just click on the “Not Now!” link every time the nagging pop-up appears asking you to log in.)
  • UPDATE Dec. 10th, 2022: I don’t know how on Earth I could have missed this wonderful resource until today, but Second Life YouTuber Naria Panthar has a Discord server, which you can join here. And in that Discord server is an #advent-calendars channel, where somebody posts pictures of as many Advent calendar gifts as they can find! There’s much less clicking involved than with the VKontake group I mentioned above, all you have to do is scroll through each day’s listings! Even better, a direct SLURL to the gift is included. A big thank you to hupe, who makes these valuable posts! This might well be the best and easiest way yet to see what each SL store is offering, without having to teleport all over the grid, and then unpack and try on gifts.
A sample of hupe’s work from the #advent-calendars channel on Maria Panthar’s Discord

Ryan’s Picks: Stores I Will Be Visiting Every Day

This year, instead of wearing myself out trying to hit every single calendar on the grid, I will be focusing my energy on just a select few which, year after year, consistently offer the best gifts. Here are my top picks for 2022!

  • Firelight Hair has a Twelve Days of calendar running from December 13th to 24th (you do need to join the Firelight group for free). You have to pick up each gift on the day it is offered. The gifts are mostly women’s hairstyles, but there will also be a few unisex styles. All hair gifts usually come with a mini 2 or 3-colour HUD.
  • 7 Deadly s[K]ins always has an advent tree in their store, with generous gifts every single day from Dec. 1st through to the 31st! Please note that you do have to join the store group, called SEVEN – [7DS]; there is a group join fee (when I checked on Nov. 30th, it was L$500). To get each day’s present from the tree, simply pay the vendor L$1, and it will automatically be refunded. If you missed a day, you can buy previous days’ gifts for L$25 each. Apparently, they are also giving away gifts each weekend, so pop in!

In the room immediately to the left of the 7 Deadly S[k]ins Advent tree, you can purchase a fatpack of skins for L$1 from the Today’s Offer board, as well as pick up another free skin fatpack from the Giftboard, plus there are six Mini-Mania boards to try your luck for even more skins (see arrows in the picture below):

  • WOW Skins had extremely generous gifts of skin fatpacks every day in their Advent calendar, and I expect nothing less this year! (UPDATE Dec. 1st: Looks like this year it’s just single skins each day, no fatpacks!) You do have to be a member of their group (the group costs L$350).
  • Essenz has an Advent calendar running from Dec. 1st to 24th, where you can pick up a gift of high-quality women’s footwear every day (you must be a group member; the Essenz store group costs L$350 to join). If you missed a day, or you are not a group member, you can pick up previous days’ gifts for only L$50 each.
  • Every year, the Baby Monkey 12 Days of Christmas calendar (Dec. 13th to 24th) offers a free gift each day (women’s clothing and footwear). All the gifts together form a complete, colour-coordinated capsule wardrobe! You do have to show up each day to pick up that day’s gift (no group needed; just pay the vendor L$1, and it is automatically refunded).
An example (from 2 years ago) of the gifts from the 12 Days of Christmas calendar at Baby Monkey; every year, the gifts form a colour-coordinated capsule wardrobe in three colours!
  • JUMO will be giving away lovely gifts of women’s apparel and jewelry from Dec. 15th, 2022 to Jan. 1st, 2023 (no group required, and you can visit on New Year’s Day and pick up all the gifts at one time). This is the place to pick up some beautiful ballgowns and costume jewelry!
  • Last year, SOFIA had some absolutely gorgeous ballgowns and jewelry in their advent calendar. This year, their calendar will run over 20 days, from Dec. 5th to Christmas Day. You must join the SOFIA store group for free to pick up these presents!
  • ALB Dream Fashion will have a calendar again this year, stuffed with gifts for both male and female avatars (the first Advent gift is already available when I checked on Nov. 30th!). If interested, join the group now while it is still free (the name of the group to search for is “LAMU GROUP”). Per the notices, it will be L$500 to join beginning Dec 1st, 2022.

UPDATE Dec. 3rd, 2022: I just noticed that ALB Dream Fashion has provided a sneak preview of some of the presents from their Advent calendar! As you can see, they will have an assortment of wonderful gifts this season, for both male and female avatars.

  • UPDATE Dec. 2nd, 2022: Both Vagrant (womenswear) and its sister store Zerkalo (home decor) have Advent calendars running from Dec. 1st to 24th (both require a free group join).
  • UPDATE Dec. 2nd, 2022: Salt and Pepper will be offering clothing gifts on December 1st, on the weekends, and on Christmas Eve, and gift cards on weekdays, which can be applied to any merchandise in the store. The Salt & Pepper group costs L$300 to join.
  • UPDATE Dec. 2nd, 2022: Glitzz has an Advent tree encircled with 24 teddy bear-adorned giftboxes, where you can pick up each day’s present for free (no group required). Previous days’ gifts can be purchased for L$25 each.
  • UPDATE Dec. 2nd, 2022: Celestina’s was slightly delayed in setting out their Advent calendar gifts, but the first few are now out, in a row along the front counter of the store. If you act quickly, you can pick up the gifts from both Dec. 1st and Dec. 2nd today, a strapless violet ballgown and a salmon shrug. The gifts for the next few days have previews on the boxes, and they look very nice! You must join the Celestina’s group for free to pick up these presents. If you miss a day, you can buy that day’s gift for L$35.
  • UPDATE Dec. 2nd, 2022: Seniha (womenswear) has an Advent calendar located outside their store. You need to join their group for free to obtain each day’s gift.
  • UPDATE Dec. 3rd, 2022: The advent calendar at ALTER is giving away lovely gifts of women’s clothing (you must join the ALTER group for free to get these gifts). If you miss a day, you can buy the previous days’ presents for L$55 each.
  • UPDATE Dec. 3rd, 2022: If you’re looking for something a little bit naughtier in your fashion, why not visit the Advent calendar at Erotik? Join their free store group to pick up each day’s gift. Previous days’ gifts can be purchased for L$35 each.

A final note: I regret to say that, unlike previous years, I will not be doing a daily round-up of Advent calendar gifts each day, either here on the blog or in the RyanSchultz.com Steals, Deals, and Freebies Second Life group (although I will still post some fabulous freebies and bargains to the latter, as I come across them). I’m sorry, but it’s just too much for me this year.

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

Happy freebie shopping!

UPDATED AS OF DECEMBER 12th, 2021! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies—What Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars I’ll Be Hitting This December (2021 Edition)

TWO IMPORTANT NOTICES, PLEASE READ:

I am taking a vacation from blogging for the entire month of December. Between the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the recently concluded faculty strike at my university, I am utterly exhausted, and I need to take a break. I hope that you understand. I will be back in January 2022!

I will *NOT* be doing a daily blogpost of that day’s best Advent Calendar/12 Days of Christmas Calendar gifts this year; instead, I will be posting a notecard with all of my picks of the best gifts for that day (with store SLURLs) to my new Second Life group called RyanSchultz.com Steals, Deals & Freebies. The group costs L$50 to join.

Photo by David-Olivier Gascon on Unsplash

December is truly the most wonderful time of the year for freebie fashionistas in Second Life! Many stores have either an Advent calendar or a 12 Days of Christmas calendar, where you can pick up a free gift each day.

This year, instead of wearing myself out trying to hit every single calendar on the grid, I will be focusing my energy on just a select few which, year after year, consistently offer the best gifts. Here are my top picks for 2021!

Please note that I will be updating this blogpost regularly between now and Christmas, so bookmark this post and check back often for any changes or updates.

Lists of Advent Calendars for 2021

TeleportHub.com’s Advent Calendar listing is already up
  • The 2021 Advent list by SL Hunts
  • The Advent Calendar Store List 2021 by TeleportHub.com
  • The December Advent Listing by Fabulously Free in SL, which is the biggest list
  • UPDATE Dec. 1st, 2021, 2:13 p.m.: The 2021 Seraphim Gift List (which includes Advent calendars, holiday sales, and stores with giftable vendors and transferable items) has just been published!
  • UPDATE Dec. 1st, 2021, 10:25 p.m.: The Second Life Syndicate is taking a different approach! Instead of a list, they are maintaining a Google spreadsheet, which you can access here. The group-edited spreadsheet already has over 180 rows!
  • UPDATE Dec. 2nd, 2021, 1:40 p.m.: The hardworking folks over at the Russian-language VKontakte group Second Life – FREE are posting a daily roundup of that day’s Advent calendar gifts, with pictures! And they are actually building a list of stores with links to pictures of each day’s Advent gift! This is probably THE easiest way to actually see each day’s calendar gifts without teleporting all over the grid, collecting and unpacking items! (Please remember to use the Russian-to-English translator in your Chrome browser to read the posts in this Russian-language community. You do not need to set up an account on VKontakte; just click on the “Not Now!” link every time a pop-up appears asking you to log in.)
  • UPDATE Dec. 2nd, 2021, 2:13 p.m.: Low Price Fashion in Second Life is a little-known Japanese blog which usually posts a daily roundup of that day’s Advent calendar gifts (again, you will need to use the automatic Japanese-to-English translator in your Chrome web browser to read the posts).
  • UPDATE Dec. 3rd, 2021, 12:29 p.m.: Advent Calendars 2021 With Previews Updated Daily is a truly heroic attempt by Snarkness of the SugarSL blog to cover as many Advent calendar gifts as possible each day. Thank you, Snarkness!
The December Advent Listing from FabFree has the biggest list of Advent and 12/15 Days of Christmas calendars on the grid!

Five Advent Calendars I Will Be Visiting Every Day

The Advent calendar at Essenz women’s footwear store
  • Firelight Hair has an Advent calendar running from December 1st to 24th (you do need to join the Firelight group for free). You have to pick up each gift on the day it is offered. The gifts are mostly women’s hairstyles, but there will also be a few male/unisex styles. All hair gifts usually come with a mini 3-colour HUD.
  • 7 Deadly s[K]ins has an advent tree in their store, with generous gifts every day from Dec. 1st through to the 31st! Please note that you do have to join the new store group, called SEVEN – [7DS], to pick up these gifts; this group is free to join until Jan. 1st, 2022! So you have no excuse this year not to pick up some new skin for your avatar.
  • Virtue offers an Advent calendar with beautiful clothing gifts for women. The emphasis here is on classic, modest fashion. You do need to join the Virtue group for L$25 to pick up these gifts; you also need to show up each day to pick up that day’s gift.
  • Entice offers Advent calendar gifts of womenswear from December 1st to 25th (you do have to join the Entice group for free). Again, you do have to show up each day to pick up that day’s gift.
  • Essenz has an Advent calendar where you can pick up a gift of high-quality women’s footwear every day (the Essenz group costs L$350 to join). If you missed a day, or are not a group member, you can pick up previous days’ gifts for only L$50 each.

Three 12 Days of Christmas Calendars I Will Be Visiting Every Day

The 12 Days of Christmas calendar at Baby Monkey starts December 14th, 2021

Most of these calendars start on Dec. 12th, 13th, or 14th, and run until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (and a few stores are having a 15 Days of Christmas calendar starting Dec. 10th, so be sure to check!).

  • The Baby Monkey 12 Days of Christmas calendar offers a free gift each day. All the gifts together form a complete, colour-coordinated capsule wardrobe. You do have to show up each day to pick up that day’s gift.
  • JUMO usually gives away lovely gifts of women’s apparel and jewelry from Dec. 12th-Dec. 24th, as well as on New Year’s Eve (the JUMO group is free to join). This is the place to pick up some beautiful ballgowns and costume jewelry!
  • UPDATE Dec. 12th, 2021: It would appear that the eBENTO Event has been cancelled for December, according to chatter in the eBento group in Second Life. So that means that there will also be no Advent calendar from them this year! 🙁
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Advent Calendar Gifts for December 24th, 2020

Here’s my blogpost with links to four lists of Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars, plus my “Top Ten” Calendars you should not miss in 2020!

And if you want to learn how to pick up SIX HUNDRED AND SIX presents on Christmas Day, here’s your detailed plan of attack!

Please note that, if you want to get a sense of what each store’s Advent calendar gifts look like before you teleport in, you can peruse Andonia’s exhaustive list of 2020 Advent calendars, which she has published on her Kinky Fox Designs blog. Just press Ctrl-F on your keyboard and do a search for the store name, and you will pull up pictures of most of that calendar’s gifts, to help you decide if it’s worth the trip. Thank you for all your hard work, Andonia!

Now, before we get started, you might want to limber up a bit. You know, touch your toes, do a few deep knee bends. You don’t want to pull a hamstring or something… 😉

Better do some crunches before you embark on today’s virtual shopping marathon! (photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash)

OK, now that you’ve stretched those muscles, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today! While there are a few stores on the grid which will offer presents on Christmas Day (Petite Mort, Oubliette, Ari-Pari, Byrne, perhaps Entice, etc.), most Advent calendars and 12 Days of Christmas calendars give out their final gifts today, on December 24th.

Remember that the Advent calendar at 7 Deadly S[k]ins is unique, in that it gives out a present every single day in December, right up until New Year’s Day! Today’s gift is the Hope skin in the dew skin tone. (Hey, what kind of a colour name is “dew”, anyways? Isn’t dew supposed to be transparent?!??)

You will need to join the 7 Deadly S[k]ins group for L$1,000, or you can buy each of the previous days’ gifts for only L$25 each.

Once again, I have called upon Second Life supermodel Moesha Heartsong to show you the rest of today’s bounty of womenswear gifts. Why, Moesha is now so famous, she doesn’t get out of bed for less than L$10,000 a day!* 😉

The Christmas Eve present from JUMO is the Faline dress in red. There’s no need to join any group, just come and click on December 24th on their calendar. You can also pick up all the previous days’ gifts for free. Don’t forget that JUMO will have a present for you on Christmas Day, and a final end-of-year gift on New Year’s Eve!

The final gift from the Advent calendar at Virtue is this attractive deep red floral Selena dress (the Virtue group is free to join):

Now head over to EscalateD, and look for the green advent tree (not the red one, which requires a paid group join). Note that you only need to click on the green advent calendar ONCE, and you will receive a folder containing all 24 gifts! (If you do click on all 24 dates, you will land up with 24 copies of all 24 presents, and then you will need to spend some extra time cleaning up your inventory to remove all the duplicates!)

The December 24th gift from the EscalateD Advent calendar is this hair and Santa hat combination, which comes in a full fatpack of colours. Shown in the picture below is the hair styling HUD, which also allows you to change the colour of the Santa hat and the left and right scrunchies:

Today’s gift from Essenz are these Graz shoes in purple (the Essenz group costs L$350 to join, or you buy this pair, or any of the previous days’ gifts, for only L$50 each if you do not wish to join the group).

Now I am going to show you gifts from a few Advent calendars where you can make a single visit and pick up all 24 gifts at one time! Highly efficient freebie shopping!

First up is Blackbird Lace, where today’s gift is this festive minidress with an optional matching scarf! While you’re in store, be sure to pick up all the previous days’ presents.

Among the 24 Advent calendar gifts at Coveted is this royal blue winter outfit (no group is needed, just come slap the dates on the calendar; there’s also a patchwork version of this coat as a different day’s present):

The December 24th gift from DM Design is this lovely Lione ballgown, which includes a HUD with 10 different colours! Again, be sure to pick up all 24 gifts at once! A free group join is required to obtain all 24 gifts of womenswear.

Today’s present from Donni’s Dollies is this beautiful white and gold dress (the Donni’s Dollies group is free to join). On one trip you can pick up 24 gifts, and each day’s gift includes both men’s and women’s apparel!

The Christmas Eve gift from ROA Design is this lace Aealia dress, which comes in three different shades: blush as shown below, plus lilac and aqua. Again, you can pick up all 24 Advent calendar gifts at once! No group join is needed.

The Advent calendar at TrendZy has 24 lovely outfits for women! Among them are the two ballgowns pictured below (no group is needed, just come slap the numbers on the calendar).

Fashion Fantasy has two Advent calendars with 24 gifts each, one for women and one for men. Moesha models two of the women’s presents: a floral halter top from December 8th, and embroidered leather pants from December 19th (no group required; here’s the SLURL to take you directly to the Fashion Fantasy calendar):

And among the 24 gifts from the Fashion Fantasy for Men Advent calendar is this red hoodie (don’t forget to hit Donni’s Dollies for 24 menswear gifts, too!).

But I have saved what I think is the most generous Christmas Eve gift for last! Pop down to Celestina’s Weddings, join their store group for free, and snap up this glorious golden ballgown, which includes the gold and diamond Mon Amour earrings and necklace!

Happy freebie shopping!

*stolen from a well-known Linda Evangelista quote!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Advent Calendar Gifts for December 22nd, 2020

Here’s my blogpost with links to four lists of Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars, plus my “Top Ten” Calendars you should not miss in 2020!

If you want to know my plan of attack to pick up a whopping 629 free Christmas presents on Christmas Day, here it is!

The gift from the Advent calendar at 7 Deadly S[k]ins is not one but two fatpacks of the Nadine skin, which means you can pick up ten different skin tones of this skin today, available in both Bakes on Mesh/system skins and Omega skin appliers.

& Deadly S[k]ins Nadine skin in the caramel skin tone

Don’t forget that the 7 Deadly S[k]ins store group does cost L$1,000 to join during December, but I think it’s worth it. (Or, if you prefer, you can pick up all the previous days’ gifts for just L$25 each, using my daily Advent calendar blogposts as a guide.) Unlike other store calendars, the 7 Deadly S[k]ins Advent calendar has gifts every single day, including the days between Christmas and New Year’s!

Virtue‘s gift today is the Rosita dress in purple (the Virtue group is free to join):

Today’s gift from Essenz are these fun, strappy Amsterdam shoes in serenity blue. The HUD allows you to change the colour of the sole and the hearts, as well as change the metals. The Essenz group cost L$350 to join, or you can buy this pair for only L$50 if you are not a group member.

Today’s present from the 12 Days of Christmas calendar at Baby Monkey is the Darla skirt with side pockets (see red arrow), worn with two previous gifts from the same calendar, the shawl collar sweater and the slingback pumps. No group join is required, just pay L$1 for each gift and your Linden dollar will automatically be refunded.

I leave you with today’s gift from the 12 Days of Christmas calendar at JUMO, this lovely Barbara gown in green. You don’t need to join any group, just come and slap the December 22nd star and it’s yours!

That’s it for today…happy freebie shopping!