Kaisercraft advent calendar: part 1

When I saw this new advent calendar from Kaisercraft, I was sold! I loved the the sturdy base, the drawers and the blank middle area for decoration.

Silly me forgot to take a photo of the package BEFORE I opened it and started the first stage of construction. Doh! But basically it comes flat packed, wrapped in plastic. There is the large base piece, and 6 other 'wood' pieces that need to be cut apart to form walls that slot into the base and form the shell for the drawers to be inserted into. The package also includes 25 flat packed chipboard drawers that require assembly, and a sheet of plain chipboard numbers.

So far I have managed to assemble the shell only, and that took me about 30 minutes with my husband helping. Thoughts so far...

PROS

• I really like the design with the drawers on the outside and the center area left blank for decoration.
• The shell is sturdy, not just chipboard.
• Reasonable cost- I bought mine at a LSS for less than $30.
• The inclusion of the numbers sheet. Of course you might choose to use a faster method (like stickers) but it is nice that they include it.
  

CONS

• Weight and size may be a problem for those who don't have an option of picking this up at their LSS. You'll be paying a heavy item surchage for this one I'd imagine.
• No instructions! At all! I know it isn't a combustion engine, but I think some sort of explanation of the different pieces isn't too much to ask for.
• Assembly time required. Working alone it would take 45-60 mins to get all the individual pieces of the shell assembled, and there are still all the drawers to do before you even get to the decorating part.

My other tip is to make sure you really cut or file off all the connecting tabs from the drawer walls. Even part of a millimeter left behind can cause the outside wall to bow out a little and then the outside corners of the calendar don't meet up as precisely as they should.

For anyone interested, the depth of the drawer (inside measurement) is 48mm.

I'll be back with some assembled drawers and more thoughts (hopefully) soon.
Have you had any experience with this Kaisercraft advent calendar? Got any thoughts or tips to share? Just leave me a comment, I really appreciate it.