If it’s good enough for Mariah Carey, it’s good enough for us, so we have decided to begin the annual process of displaying gaudy festive trinkets around the place early. Now, in fact. While scrolling for new knick-knacks to buy, we saw these affordable and easy-to-code things and thought of you.

12 Projects of Codemas Maker Advent Calendar 

First things first, let’s get Advent sorted. This twelve-window calendar from The Pi Hut is perfect for makers. It includes a Raspberry Pi Pico H (that’s in box number one, sorry for the spoiler), and each day you’ll find more bits and pieces to complete a new coding project on your Pico H. The accompanying daily online box guides (to be published on 1 December) are there to hold beginners’ hands as they get to grips with the surprises behind each window. That’s way more satisfying than a tiny piece of not-quite-right-tasting chocolate.

Price: £40 (inc VAT)

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Twinkling 3D RGB Christmas tree

Why waste the festive season surrounded by tasteful decorations when you could have a flashing LED Christmas tree instead? It’s compatible with any 40-pin Raspberry Pi, can change between several colours, and is super easy to code. It is, in fact, the very first thing I ever coded, and it was awesome. Despite it being June at the time.

Price: £18 (inc VAT)

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Shimmering snowflake

This pre-assembled snowflake’s LEDs shimmer through eleven different patterns. All you need to do is power it up and display it wherever you need a festive decor injection. Tiny 0402 LEDs smaller than the tip of a pencil provide the perfect delicate sparkle effect.

Price: £8.70 (inc VAT)

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Christmas Tree PCB for Raspberry Pi Pico

Father-daughter tinkering team the Geeky Alpacas have successfully hit their Kickstarter pledge goal and are ready to ship these custom PCBs. There are two variations: Snow PCB, which is a white Christmas tree shape, and Magical, which is your classic green affair.

For a £7 pledge, you’ll be shipped a Christmas tree PCB. And if you pledge a little more, a raft of kits that include the PCB, Raspberry Pi Pico, and various other gubbins are on the table. We particularly like the sound of the “Giagantic Alpaca Supporter” kit.

Price: Pledge packages start at £7

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