I can’t move. Seriously. Anyone else still feeling like the Goodyear blimp after stuffing themselves on Thanksgiving leftovers?
I’m trying to channel this urge to eat into the urge to craft and shaweet! It seems to be working.
Now that Olivia is 3 years old, somehow the magic of Christmas has intensified around here. I think Robert and I are even more excited about it than she is. So one of the ways we decided to make it extra special this year was make a simple DIY clothespin advent calendar.
Supplies Used: (Affiliate links are provided below for convenience. For more info, see my full disclosure here.)
- 1x10x8 whitewood or pine board
- Minwax walnut stain wipes
- White chalk paint (I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.)
- Chip brush
- Medium grit sandpaper
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Super glue (I used this kind.)
- 24 or 25 mini red clothespins (Or you can paint plain ones red.)
- 9 foot length of twine (optional)
- 24 or 25 metal rim key tags
- 24 or 25 mini paper gift bags
- Sharpie marker
When I was in Target the other week, I stopped in at the Dollar Spot (a.k.a. the usual stomping grounds) and found this cute card display kit that instantly made the light bulb in my head light up. Bam! Advent calendar inspiration! So I grabbed two kits (along with an embarrassingly large Dollar Spot haul).
Each card kit with miniature red clothespins and twine only had 12 clothespins each, but I figured it would be totally fine to only have 24 countdown days with goodies. Day 25 has all the big goodies from Santa anyway.
To make the calendar, I used all materials already in my craft stash, so for me, the whole thing only cost $6 for the card kits plus the previous project leftovers. This one is so easy to improvise and create using materials already lying around.
I raided our scrap wood pile in our garage and pulled out a 1×10 wood board to use. I usually keep these Minwax wood finishing cloths on hand for quick staining projects or touch-ups here and there, so I stained the entire board with one of the cloths.
Once the stain was dry, I gave the board a coat of ASCP Old White I had. Then, I distressed it with a square of the medium grit sandpaper.
Using my tape measure, I placed it level where I wanted to position my clothespins, and decided to put the clothespins every 4 inches. I taped down the tape measure and marked every 4 inches with a pencil.
Then, I attached each clothespin on the marks I made with a dab of super glue and let dry.
Robert and I filled up each of the 24 mini paper bags with 3 Hershey Kisses (one for each of us) and a Christmas Bible verse for Olivia to open each day for the countdown and attached them to the clothespins. I wrote the numbers for each day on key tags to attach with them too.
We had a blank space above our hallway board and batten that ended up being the perfect spot for our new calendar.
It works so perfectly in our makeshift entryway spot! Now this once completely boring and blank hallway has hit festive overload.
I thought about painting “Countdown to Christmas” or the days’ numbers on the actual board, but I decided to leave it blank in case I decide to leave it up after Christmas and do something fun with it for Valentine’s.
I’m so excited to kick off this new tradition with Olivia tomorrow for December 1st!
You’ll be seeing more of all of the Christmas decorating happening in our little casa on Friday for the Cherished Christmas Home Tours with Country Living Magazine (pinch me, I’m dreaming)! For now, you can see Day 1 of the tours starting at Cherished Bliss, Maison de Pax, Live Laugh Rowe, Dandelion Patina, Anderson and Grant, and Craftberry Bush.
We still have ALL of our Christmas shopping to do and lights to put up on the exterior of our house, but it’s nice to cross off a bunch of the holiday tasks on the ol’ to-do list, enjoy the sweet little moments with our daughter, and thank God for everything He’s given us.
Have you had your fill of the Thanksgiving leftovers by now? Or started on your to-do list already? Do you celebrate with an advent calendar with your family too? I’d love to hear your traditions!
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Love your idea, Lauren! What a fun way for Olivia to celebrate the Advent season and look forward to Christmas! We’ve done a variety of things over the years as our boys were growing up. We used to make a Christmas chain for their bedrooms and each day they would remove a link of the chain. I’ve also put together a basket of Christmas books and we’d read one each night before they went to bed. Now that they are in college and high school, we usually do a “real” Advent candle and read the Scriptures and light the candles each week. I love all of the different traditions! Looking forward to your home tour!
Blessings,
Lanita
Aw those are sweet ideas, Lanita! I hope to do the “real” Advent candles when she’s older and can understand it better. I have an old red suitcase that I’m going to wrap up her Christmas books to put inside too and pick a book to read every night. I like that chain idea too!
You clever woman, you. I love this advent calendar idea. In fact, I love it so much I’ve asked my husband if we wants to take a trip to the local dollar store this week to see what we can find. I’m excited that you guys have a brand new energy about Christmas to share with Miss Olivia. Happy Holidays, Ardith
Yay! I’d love to see it if you make it! Hope you have a happy holiday too, Ardith. 🙂
Adorable idea! I love the idea of creating family traditions for little ones.
Me too! I know growing up, it was always the traditions I remember the most. Can’t wait to start a whole bunch of them with our little one.
Oh,my!! This is the cutest little DIY Advent Calendar ever!! I love it Lauren… and the whole entry hall looks amazing!
Thank you so much, Krista!
Such a great idea!!!
Thanks, Summer!
So pretty! I love the bright red against the crisp white board, too. Pinned!
Thank you, Amy! I think I’ll be leaving it up to do something cute with for Valentine’s too.
Super cute! It looks great in your space!
Thank you, Alexis!!!
My children’s favorite tradition and the one they have carried to their families involved three holidays in one we take the day after Thanksgiving and make a gingerbread house a large one.. and then we decorate it using the leftover Halloween candy from Halloween that way I clear out the sugar stash that the children have had since Halloween and get ready for the new holiday then we decorate our house with the gingerbread house I guess it actually. I guess it actually takes on for holidays because we wait until New Years Eve and then the L’s have magically sealed the gingerbread house with candies and goodies and things to have for the new year and they use a mini bat and take and use it like a pinata each child getting it until the house is open
That is an AWESOME tradition!!! I might have to steal that one!
I just love what you did. You have given me an idea for my spouse. A small gift in each bag for 24 days will give him something to look forward to each day before Christmas. What a lovely way to say I Love you and it’s all thanks to you. Thank you so very much. LB