DIY Clothespin Advent Calendar

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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