I don’t know what it is with me. Every year, I come up with new ways to make an easy DIY Advent Calendar. I don’t plan on it every year, but when the holidays start coming around and I start feeling inspired to create for it, an easy DIY Advent Calendar is always in the mix.
Last year, I made a DIY Advent Calendar from a frame I found on the side of the road. The year before, my DIY Advent Calendar was made from place cards holders I bought at a yard sale.
This year, when I was cleaning out my office for our fall yard sale, I came across this piece I bought at a yard sale for 25¢.
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Of course, I didn’t have plans for this board when I bought it, but I couldn’t pass it up for a quarter.
When I found it in my closet, it was next to the metal numbers I picked up at a yard sale. It was like they were in the closet together to make me think of an Advent Calendar. 🙂 The planning started and it turned out beautifully.
Supplies Needed To Make This Easy DIY Advent Calendar:
Small Metal Numbers
Wood Board
Small Nails or Hot Glue
Small Gold Cup Hooks
Gold Spray Paint
“Bayberry” Paint from Fusion Mineral Paint
Small Drawstring Bag
Initially, I was thinking a white Advent Calendar, but after I painted the board white, I wasn’t feeling it.
I pulled out “Bayberry” from Fusion Mineral Paint and knew this would be the answer to making this Advent Calendar stand out.
I painted the board with the green paint. So. Much. Better. Then, I politely begged Matt to put the numbers on the board. You see, he is a perfectionist with projects like this. When he does things like this, all of the numbers will line up perfectly. He will measure each one. If I were to do it, the Advent Calendar would have a more, shall we say, “whimsical” look and we would only be able to count down to 18 days in December because not all the numbers would fit. Just sayin’.
I wanted the numbers to be brighter, so I spray painted them with gold spray paint. Then, Matt did his magic and nailed them all to the board. The metal numbers are like tin so they are super light. You could definitely use hot glue if you didn’t want to nail them all in. The numbers we used had holes in each one and came with nails so we just did it that way. (And, since Matt was doing it, he preferred the nails. I would have used hot glue.)
After that, he measured for the gold cup hooks and we screwed them all in.
Viola! We have an easy DIY Advent Calendar!
I had a package of small linen bags in my gift closet. One of them became the marker for the calendar. I used the eraser end of a pencil and red paint to add polka dots to the bag.
Each day, I will write down a new activity that we will do as we count down the days until Christmas; Christmas movie night, Christmas Baking Day, buy toys for kids in need, etc.
I love Advent calendars now because it is not about little trinkets and candy for the kids. It is more about new ways we can celebrate the season, enjoy our family time and help others in need. Each day, we will open the little bag to find out what we will be doing that day to remember the reason for the season.
We just completed the arched window project in the entry and I don’t know that I am going to change it for Christmas. I think the “Thankful Sign” is great for the season and until I think of something different, I am going to leave it as is.
I put the Advent Calendar on the entry table. Since our kids are still young enough, I like to make the house fun for them during the holidays. Before we know it, they will be grown and out of the house. A homemade Rudolph sign and corn cob pipes are essential for this time of year with kids. 🙂
The entire entry table came together pretty easily and I love how it looks when you walk down the hallway.
Do you use an Advent Calendar during the holidays? What do you put inside each day?
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If you don’t have time to make an Advent Calendar, I found some beautiful options online:
If you liked this easy Advent Calendar project, you will love these other ideas:
Vintage Inspired Homemade Ornaments
90 Homemade Christmas Ornaments
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