LEGO Friends 2014 Advent Calendar Reveal & Review!

It's that time of year again to reveal & review the 24 daily surprises of the LEGO Friends Advent Calendar!

 The front of the box has the familiar pink and purple ribbon banner, 

but we don't get any flanges on this box. (41040)

 The back of the box shows that the box opens up to reveal a home, 

giving a clue as to the general theme we can expect from this year's advent calendar.  

Day 1 starts with Mia. She is always cute as a button with her freckled cheeks, even if she is wearing Stephanie's shirt from last year's Advent Calendar (41016). The pants may also be familiar, as they are the same as Matthew was wearing in Jungle Bridge Rescue (41036).

Day 2 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a Sled featuring two of my favourite colours - pink and purple.
I automatically assumed that there would be a little trailer for it in one of the other days, but it doesn't have a hook or equivalent mechanism at the back. The highlight in terms of parts for me is the two 1x3 plates in Dark Purple which have only been released in two other sets (one of them being Olivia's Beach Buggy (41010)).

 Day 3 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a small Gift in a Medium Lavender Basket.

Day 4 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a vignette with Fawn and small tree.
It took a while for the fawn to grow on me when it was first released (in the Fawn's Forest (41023), but I became a fan of the super-cute fawn once I was able to get a closer look.

Day 5 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a Window scene with holiday trim. This is the first of the mini builds that extends the scene on the back of the set box and is also a neat little parts pack!

On Day 6 of the Friends Advent Calendar we are introduced to Ewa, who is a new character. While it's always nice to have a new character, Ewa is extra special as she has a torso pattern that we haven't seen before. It's a cute little red jacket with white faux fur trim and scarf.

Day 7 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a Table with a pink and red striped table cloth. By itself, the table is not so functional, but it suggests we will probably get some chairs and some food to put on the table!

Day 8 of the Friends Advent Calendar follows up immediately with two pink and red Chairs to go with the table from Day 7. Now we just need some crockery, cutlery, food and drinks, and Mia and Ewa will be set for a festive feast!

Day 9 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a Candle. Perhaps a centrepiece for the table?

Day 10 of the Friends Advent Calendar provides the Plates and Cutlery for the table as well as the Cooking Utensils Mia and Ewa will need to prepare the feast!

Day 11 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a Stove in a very Friendly dark purple and medium azure colour scheme.

Day 12 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a Saucepan and Food.

Day 13 of the Friends Advent Calendar provides a sideboard to extend the kitchen. The sideboard, with a cheese platter and salt and pepper shakers, looks great and makes for a nice parts pack too!

Day 14 of the Friends Advent Calendar brings more food and drink to the table. It looks like the girls are serving up pink soda, carrots, drumsticks and something else. Anyone want to take a guess at today's mystery food? Perhaps lettuce on an open bun?

Day 15 of the Friends Advent Calendar adds another module to the kitchen, this one being the kitchen sink complete with dishwashing liquid. I guess those dishes aren't going to clean themselves after the party is over!

Day 16 of the Friends Advent Calendar brings more food and drinks, this time what I assume is a pudding, a gingerbread cookie and mugs for hot chocolate. I'm not sure that's exactly what TLG had in mind, but as I've said before, that's the beauty of LEGO - you can make it be whatever you want it to be!

Day 17 moves us to a different part of the house, with a cosy fireplace for the lounge room.

Day 18 of the Friends Advent Calendar gets us started on the furniture for the lounge room with a small end table with a lamp and book. Now we just need a sofa to curl up on to read the book!

Day 19 of the Friends Advent Calendar gets us the comfy sofa we need for reading our book and letting our stomach settle after the massive feast.
The sofa comes with two 1x2 slopes in Medium Lavender. While this is not a new part, it is the first time it has been in this colour.

Day 20 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a cute white cat, sitting on a pet pillow. Not sure there's more to say than that really!

Day 21 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a cell phone and docking station. Music for those who still have enough energy at the end of the day to dance? Or maybe its playing carols for those who have found their way to the lounge?

Day 22 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a present - a Medium Azure bow - in a Bright Pink and Red gift box. While this is a relatively small and simple build, this is actually one of my favourites from this year's calendar. It looks good, is functional and can easily be adapted for a range of scenarios. It was also an instant winner with my daughter as it was another place to hide her gems!

Day 23 of the Friends Advent Calendar is the Christmas Tree. It is a nice, sturdy tree, topped off with one of the cute trans-dark pink hearts.
But who actually waits until the 23rd to put up the tree? I am going to make a plea to TLG - can we please have the tree earlier in next year's advent calendar?

Day 24 of the Friends Advent Calendar is a large gift box with a camera and ice skates. My set came with 5 skates, which suggests that the present is meant to have two pairs, and those fit neatly into the gift box. However, I couldn't make the camera fit into the box. I even tried by taking off the lens (i.e. the 1x1 round plates). I don't think the camera was ever meant to go in the box, but it seemed odd having it sitting outside of it.

 The set as a whole, including spares, to wrap up the review of Friends Advent Calendar 2014!

              ~ Enjoy the Season

  Review by Kristel
 The FriendsBricks community wishes to thank TLG’s CEE Team for generous support of this set to review and share with fans.  
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