Large DIY advent calendar with clothespins

November 17, 2014

We spent most of the day cuddled inside yesterday and I worked on a project that I am SO pleased with! I told you I was going to to do it when I shared the advent calendar ideas a couple weeks ago.

This was the one that really got me:

img33c

I thought it was pretty cute, but what really got me was the price. It’s $150, on sale for $119 right now. For a piece of wood. Wood. And listen, if you aren’t a DIYer (or even if you are), I totally get it! Buy it! Sometimes I buy too – it’s nice not to do everything yourself. But I am a DIYer and that price hurt me a little because I knew I could make this for a fraction of that.

The bonus was that I had most of the supplies already – but even if you don’t this is easily a less than $25 project, probably less.

We have a TON of wood in our garage from the family room renovation. It’s a good thing I haven’t started Christmas decorating yet because I can’t even get to the bins. :) I need to get it all cleaned out but…COLD. That’s going to be a fun project. But anyway, when we took down the old fireplace I kept all the scraps – it was nice wood and it pains me to get rid of wood.

This long scrap used to be our mantel:

knock off pottery barn advent

Helpers…always helping.

I cleaned it up a bit – pulled some nails and scraped some caulk off, then painted it. The PB advent is white but I wanted to do something a little different:

chalkboard paint

Aww yeah. Chalkboard paint!

I did two coats and then “seasoned” the board:

seasoning chalkboard

You do this so the chalk (supposedly) will wipe off easier when you write on it. I only did it because I wanted that chalkboard look – not a perfect black. I won’t be writing on this, but we could!

I already had the clothespins for another project, but if you need them they’re cheap:

DIY advent Pottery Barn

I just used a bit of wood glue on the backs of each one. I thought I may have to nail them in as well to make them really secure but they aren’t going anywhere as they are.

For the numbers I totally lucked out and found these at Hobby Lobby:

advent calendar stickers

Hello…perfect! You’d probably have to stamp or stencil them if you can’t find a set like this. I was looking at other scrapbook numbers but you’d need a ton of 1’s and 2’s to make this work – that would get expensive. These were $5 and I got them for $3 with a coupon.

Next up was the part I was most excited about – the lettering. I found a tutorial online on how to do this SO easily:

transfering lettering onto wood

I’m going to share the how to tomorrow because I want to take better pics – this part was done at night. It’s worthy of it’s own post anyway. 

I thought it needed a little bit of Christmas color so I used the same technique to do the holly on each side:

DIY advent calendar Pottery Barn knock off chalkboard advent calendar

I just filled those in with green paint and then used some sparkly stickers for the berries.

I absolutely LOVE how it all came together!!knock off Pottery Barn advent calendar

It will actually hang in the mud room but this area has better light to show it off. ;)

I LOVE the chalkboard look – I think it’s a fun twist instead of the white advent like Pottery Barn: do it yourself pottery barn advent at @thriftydecorchick

I grabbed a couple of my holiday placemat pillows and the golds look great together: 

knock off Pottery Barn advent calendar

I loved the look of the little drawstring bags like on the original, but they were more than I wanted to spend. I found these simple brown paper bags instead and I actually love the look with the black:

knock off Pottery Barn advent calendar

I realized later (after I figured out how to do the letter transfer) that I could have just done the same with the letters – that would save a little bit of money as well. But I do love the gold accent. I think they add a little bling:

knock off Pottery Barn advent calendar

The bags are filled with little trinkets and some candy – I grab little things for the advent calendar after the holiday on clearance.

The Bub saw it without the bags so I can’t wait for him to get home and see it now. :) My total cost for this project was $8. A savings of more than $140 baby!:

Pottery barn wood advent knock off

I only had to buy the numbers and the bags (the bags came 24 to a pack so I had to buy two to get to 25, argh!). If you did this a pine board would be less than $10. Of course the color can be anything you want – that’s the fun of it. Red would be super cool too!

So there you go, yet again my wood hoarding pays off! :) I just love this – and I love that I saved so much money too! By the way, the Pottery Barn version is 10 inches by 67. Mine is 12 inches by 62. I think you could go long with this too – I almost did it vertical instead of horizontal since it’s so big. The point is to make it work for what you want – the best part of DIY!

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Comments

  1. Love this! I might do the same... use the chalkboard paint, but use ZIG Posterman waterproof markers for the lettering so you can repurpose after the holidays! Thanks for the ideas :)

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  2. Girl you outdid yourself on this one@! I am pinning this so when my grandbaby is big enough I can make her one, too cute!

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  3. I LURVE this!!! I am going to pin and do this one day.

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  4. Did you eyeball the placement of the clothespins or did you have to do the math?

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    1. I forgot to mention that -- I didn't do any math, just put the 13 right in the middle and then kind of spaced them out from that and found a good distance.

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  5. So FUN! What did you put in the bags?

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    1. I have little bitty toys that I get over the years for our other advent calendar. :) It's all stuff I find on clearance after the holidays.

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  6. So. Stinking. CUTE! I love high impact, low budget holiday decor - love how this turned out! I posted about mine today too, but I'm really digging yours. :-)
    http://evolutionofstyleblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/12-days-of-christmas-tour-of-homes-easy.html

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  7. Wow!! I think yours looks way more awesome than the Pottery Barn one!

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  8. I LOVE this idea! I will have to remember this for next year once my son is old enough :)

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  9. Great idea. I would love to see the clothes pins blinged out with some glitter.

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  10. I love this idea. If you use a chalk marker you could wipe it off after the holidays are over and use it in the laundry for lost socks. Just change out the wording to lost socks and you are ready to hang up all your socks that are missing their partners.

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    1. I love that idea! I couldn't get enough detail with just chalk for the lettering but I think that is a really great idea!

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  11. Just curious... how did you attach this to your wall? I hate putting extra nails holes in the wall! Thanks and love this post!

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    1. I attached hanging hardware on the back -- I just hung it on nails here but I have screws in the wall in the mud room where it will hang for the next month. :)

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  12. So so cute! Thanks for your always-inspiring projects!!

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  13. Bomb diggity. And waaay better price, good Lord.

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  14. We have never done a countdown...but yours is so cute! I would probably have painted or glittered the clothespins just to make it extra sparkly!

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  15. Your advent calendar looks perfect! You did an excellent job. And I love your little helpers! :) Julie

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  16. Very cute - and you can hang cards that you receive on the board.

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  17. This is BETTER than the Pottery Barn version! I love it!

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  18. Although the original served as inspiration, I like the knock-off version better and you've certainly created an advent board that will become a wonderful family keepsake to be treasured. Here in Europe, it's a delightful tradition and as I have a few happy participants, little pouches made from fabric is a better alternative logistically as I can hang more than one pouch from a single clothes pin. Also, by using the same fabric pattern or colour for a designated person, everyone will know which pouch is theirs. So what is a 'knock-off' of a 'knock-off' called ;-) ?

    By the way, I adore your pillows with that quote and I would keep it out all winter. Would you mind sharing where you found it?

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    1. Thank you! I made those from placemats, I link to that project in the post if you want to try it yourself. :)

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  19. Fab, cheap, seasonal what more could you ask for?💃

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  20. Sarah, your advent turned out adorable! I agree, those paper bags really look great against the chalkboard look. I am with you, sometimes I just don't want to DIY. I am either too tired or need something done asap. BUT, no stinkin way am I paying that much money for a piece of wood. Geesh! Besides, one could get free scrap wood from Home Depot or Lowes OR at a build site (ask permission first). We needed just a couple of pieces o 2x4's and my husband asked some framers (who are building a house down the street) if he could grab a two pieces of lumber they had thrown in the dumpster. No problem. :)

    Again, beautiful advent calendar. :D

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  21. Love it, much better then the P.B. one! Yours has more artsy feel to it!

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  22. That is so cute. I remember making advent calenders for our kids when they were little

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  23. this is so cute! we aren't in our house yet....maybe right before Christmas, but this will be an idea for next year. Also wondered where you purchased the cute bench? Thanks!

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    1. Yes, where have you been hiding this gorgeous bench in your foyer? Can you share with us the source?

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    2. The bench was from HomeGoods (of course). ;) I got it early this year but I see these almost every time I go in!

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  24. This is really fun! I love the brown bags it adds a bit of rustic-ness (is that a word?) It looks amazing and I love that you saved $140. That is my kind of savings!

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  25. You beat me to it! I was planning on putting together my Advent calendar next week! Mine is a Pottery Barn knock off as well, circa 2012 catalog. LOL. You did a great job, love it!
    ~Amanda

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  26. Over 100.00 for a piece of wood, little clothes pins that you can get at the dollar store and some numbers. Sometimes Pottery Barn is a joke. Yours is so much cuter. I am in love with it. So much so, that I am going to have to make one. Thanks for the tutorial.

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  27. That picture of your 'helpers' made me laugh so hard! Thank you, I really needed that!

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  28. Very cute!
    I, too, love the pillows on the bench and want to know where you got them. ;-)

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    1. Thank you Jessica! Those are pillows made from placemats, I linked to the project in the post if you want to check it out. Super easy project!

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  29. How long did this end up being? I wanted to buy the wood cut to size at Lowes.

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    1. April it was 64 inches long but I'd recommend a couple inches longer to make sure there's plenty of room.

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  30. Your ideas are the cutest! I especially loved this one! Such a fun advent calendar that is still adorable enough to hang on your wall!

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