For years my sister and I have admired wooden advent calendars. Not only are they reusable year after year, but you have the added fun of putting personalised Christmas treats in the cute little drawers! However, they always seem to be rather expensive and we’ve never found quite the right design.
Then last year I read a brilliant post on Swoon Worthy, one of my favourite interiors blogs and the home of eclectic boho glam. Kimberly gives a step by step guide to creating what she describes as a “very glam, very pink, very ME advent calendar”. Perfect! Following Kimberly’s example I purchased a 25 drawer cabinet from The Works and started planning my own reusable DIY advent calendar.
Planning your design
My first step when planning my advent calendar design was to look at the furniture and craft paint I had remaining from previous projects. I had quite a bit leftover from my Sister’s hen do and wedding, and since my first advent calendar was intended as a gift for her, I decided to continue the rustic cream and gold theme. This also inspired last year’s Christmas decor.
The paints I used are Rust-Oleum clotted cream and Rust-Oleum antique gold (see below for full list of materials).
TIP: If you don’t have any leftover paint, then tester pots from your local DIY store are great to use for smaller projects like this. Alternatively, Rust-Oleum’s Painter’s Touch range is ideal.
Next I raided my existing craft stash and gift wrap cupboard. I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to anything which might be useful for future crafting or upcycling projects and therefore have a huge collection of paper, ribbons and embellishments. I picked out the white and gold items. I’ve included a full list of materials used below.
TIP: If you don’t have anything to hand that can be used to embellish your DIY advent calendar then get creative! Look at any gift wrap you have to see if it can be adapted. Re-use the ribbons and bows that come with fancy chocolates. Print some Christmas designs from free-to-use design websites such as Canva onto blank paper. Alternatively Etsy or The Range are a great source of budget-friendly craft items.
Finally, no advent calendar would be complete without its numbers! Adhesive numbers are available in a wide variety of designs and materials, but I wanted to use the same font as my Sister’s wedding. I simply printed the numbers myself onto brown paper, cut them out and attached them with glue.
This year, when I came to create advent calendars for other family members, I splashed out on some lovely Papierdrachen advent calendar stickers.
All that’s left is to fill your advent calendar with your favourite festive treats. So what do you think? Do you fancy making your own personalised DIY advent calendar? I love them. They’re so much fun to do and just about everyone I know wants one!
Materials List
Rustic cream and gold advent calendar:
- 25 drawer cabinet The Works
- Rust-Oleum Furniture Paint (clotted cream)
- Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch (antique gold)
- Sharpie metallic markers
- Christmas paper stack
- Pom pom trim
- Gold star trim
- Wooden snowflakes
- Felt snowflakes
Festive characters advent calendar:
- 25 drawer cabinet The Works
- Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch (antique gold)
- GoodHome Furniture Paint (antibes)
- Papierdrachen advent calendar stickers (teddy bear postage stamp design)
- Pom pom trim
Black, white and silver advent calendar:
- 25 drawer cabinet The Works
- Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch (black)
- Sharpie metallic markers
- Docrafts Papermania metallic paper pad
- Papierdrachen advent calendar stickers (blackboard-effect bauble design)
- Pom pom trim
- Felt snowflakes
TIP: If you are ordering from The Works online then my favourite cashback site TopCashback often have great cashback offers. When shopping with a particular merchant, they simply give you back a percentage of your spend at no extra cost to you.
For more Christmas inspiration check out:
- My top 5 fabulous Christmas decorating ideas
- 25 best novelty Christmas tree decorations
- How to add wow factor to your Christmas table this year
- How I decorated my Christmas mantelpiece
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