Hey friends! The holidays are fast approaching! Do you love the holidays? I absolutely do! This year I was challenged by some other bloggers to create a 30 minute project for a #halfhourholiday challenge! It’s been so much fun to see their teaser posts over the last week on Instagram, and today we get to show you our projects! My idea was to create a fast and easy rustic wooden advent calendar that would be totally customizable for any family!
Check out the other participants and their projects in this Half Hour Holiday Challenge!
Saws on Skates – Rustic DIY Christmas Village
Charleston Crafted – Adult Advent Calendar
Mother Daughter Projects – Mason Jar Floral Arranger
100 Things 2 Do – Christmas Card Display
Handmade with Ashley – DIY Wooden Snowman
Here are the steps to create this Customizable Rustic Wooden Advent Calendar!
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SUPPLIES:
– 8 boards of equal length, equaling whatever size you want your finished sign to be
– 2 support boards just shorter than the width of your sign
– White Chalk Paint, Matte finish
Full instructions found below, or you can watch the video!
Assembling the Boards:
The first thing you need to do for this project is line up your boards as you want them, then turn them all over so their backs are facing up. Take your support boards, lay them across all of the others and line them up where you want them. Use wood glue and finish nails to nail them onto the back, holding all your other boards together.
As you can see with mine, I used boards that I had in my shop that used to be pallets.
I disassembled them months ago and this was the perfect project to use them for. Keep in mind, you can use any type of board for this project! I just like the nails and beaten up character of pallet wood for something like this.
Painting:
Once your boards are assembled you can just flip the entire thing over and start painting. I used a dry brush technique on this because I love it but also because it dries quickly! Especially when using chalk paint. 
To dry brush, dip your brush into the paint, then dab it onto a paper towel or something so there is only a small amount of paint on the brush, then run it across the wood using a light to medium pressure. The paint will cover the parts of wood that are elevated just more than the others and you’ll get this gorgeous effect! Quick and easy, this took me about 5 minutes and I literally moved straight into the next step from here without worrying about dry time. Gotta love chalk paint!
Adding Hooks:
Alright, the final step is to insert all of the hooks. There are a couple tricks here to make it a lot faster! First, use a long level or straight edge of some sort to mark all of the spots you want the hooks. I spaced mine on a vertical plane just by eye-balling it and attempting to get it into the center of each of my boards. If you have new wood this may be a step you’ll want to spend a few more minutes on than I did. I did use a long level to make sure I got them even on a horizontal plane. I just used a small pencil mark.
The next step is to use a tiny drill bit to start a hole in each spot. This is a quick step if you have them all marked. You really just need enough to get the hook started.
I took each hook and twisted it one or two turns into the drilled hole. But next comes the real time-saving trick!
Use some sort of eyelet screw (Mine was tiny, I’d recommend a larger one) inside your drill to screw the hooks in.
This makes it SO fast and easy! Simply place the eyelet around the hook and SLOWLY run your drill until it is screwed in all the way.
Sometimes you may have to stop a bit short to make sure the hook is facing the correct direction. Do this for all 25 hooks, and then you’re done!
Now you have a completely customizable wooden advent calendar!
Details:
While not part of the 30 minute project, I wanted to give you a couple ideas for how you could complete this project so that it has special meaning to your family.
Here I added numbers and special ornaments to each hook so that each day of December we could talk about the ornament, where we got it, express thanks and appreciation if it was a gift, then add it to our Christmas tree. This would be a great way to take some time to slow down and focus on those we love during December.
My other idea, and the one I am keeping for this year, is to use a purchased 25 Days of Christ
ornament story set from New Traditions Crafts. As you can see I added numbers and a title with Cricut Adhesive Foil, then added each of the ornaments that come in the set to each hook!
There is a devotional book that comes with the ornament set so the shapes correlate with the scripture passage that you read about Christ each day of December leading up to Christmas. They have a non-denominational version and an LDS (Mormon) version.
These ornaments arrive as bare wood, so I stained them then used the fabrics and ribbons in the kit to add details to them, then we added them to this awesome DIY Customizable Wooden Advent Calendar I just built and now we have this amazing piece of decor that means so much to us and that we’ll be able to use and enjoy all December!
So what do you think? Will you build a customizable wooden advent calendar? If so, what would you add to it? I’d love to see!
Thanks so much for reading. Please share your thoughts, or if you like this idea, please share via social media! It makes all the difference for me. (Pin the next image!)
–Sheri
Here are other projects you may be interested in!
13 Days of a Woodworker Christmas: Day 5!
DIY Reclaimed Barn Wood Clock
Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it, you can be a
great author. I will remember to bookmark your blog and will come back someday.
I want to encourage continue your great work, have a nice holiday weekend!
Hi Sheri, Just popping by from Shoestring Elegance and the What to do Weekends party to let you know I am Featuring your sweet advent calendar now on the blog! Thanks so much for sharing with us! Pinned to the party board too!
~Theresa
Thank you so much! Made my day!
This is brilliant! What a great idea to create a customizable calendar. It’s beautiful, and you’ve made it look easy. Thanks for sharing your process. And may I just say that the tip of using a drill golding a small eyelet to screw in the hooks is absolutely fantastic? I would NEVER have thought of that!
Thanks so much for joining the Grace at Home party at Imparting Grace. I’m featuring you this week!
Amazing Richella! Thank you, thank you! See you next time!
This fun & beautiful post is a GARDEN feature on the November You’re the STAR blog hop: (on God’s Growing Garden dot com)
Thanks
Angie
Thank you!
Great project, but I absolutely love your tip about using eyelet screw to help screw in the cup hooks. This would have saved so much time in past projects, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind for future ones!
Makes it a breeze for sure! Thank you!
I love this! Thank you for sharing! You are one of the features at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Have a happy Holiday Season! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thank you so much Kathryn! Great news for me today. Thanks for hosting!
What a wonderful idea! It’s so nice to have an advent calendar with so much meaning behind it. Thank you so much for sharing. Featuring at the Hearth and Soul Link Party this week.
What a great idea. I like the 25 days of Christ ornament idea too! Thanks for sharing it with us over at the Homestead Blog Hop!
Thank you Ann!
Sheri it is always so much more fun when you can make something yourself. This original advent calendar shows us just how versatile it can be when you make it and what a pretty rustic piece it turned into.
I agree, obviously! Love making! Thank you for your kind words Mary!
This is so pretty! I’m not a crafty person, but my husband can make anything. I’m going to show him this and have him make us a countdown to Christmas one. Thanks so much for sharing and being so talented 🙂
I’d love to see photos if he makes one! Thank you! <3
That’s so lovely Sheri. We have loads of pallets that we can use to make one too and I can’t wait to try. Oh and I loved your tip on how to get those eyelets in. That’s a game changer for me 😉
Nice! Pallets are so fun for stuff like this. I made a flag from pallets too and still love it. https://hazelandgolddesigns.com/2017/06/20/diy-rustic-pallet-wood-flag/
Thank you so much for sharing on the Whisk It Wednesday Link Party. Tomorrow your post will be featured on this week’s party! Hope that you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Carrie @ Carrie’s Home Cooking
Wow, thank you so much!
This is so pretty! 🙂
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Thanks Jess! I’ll check it out. I have one too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/hazelandgoldDIYcommunity/
That is a lovely idea. It’s perfect because each day you have a different and special ornament for the tree. Thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party this week. Pinned!
Thank you Teresa!
I love your rustic Adcent calender! Thanks for sharing it at Sew It Cook It Craft It.
This is adorable! Pinned 🙂 I want to make one now!
Thanks for sharing this at the #HappyNowLinkUp
You should! Totally doable! Thanks!
What a unique and very beautiful idea, and totally customisable too. I love it.
#MMBC
Thank you Anne!
It’s really a beautiful creation. You’re very talented.
Thank you Carol. I’m learning new skills all of the time. 😉 Appreciate your comments!
That’s amazing. What a lovely feature for your room too. We made a wooden peg advent calendar for this year, which was a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing. #MMBC
Thank you Tara!
Such a darling idea for an advent calendar, I love that you can use the brass decorations. I can even see this being used throughout the year for other holidays or parties.
Thank you for sharing on Oh My Heartsie Girls WW last wee, look for your post to be featured this week!!
Hope you have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving!!
A few people have said use it throughout the year, and I hadn’t thought of that. but yes! Valentines, St Patricks Day, 4th of July…it would work for any of them. Truly appreciate your comment, thanks! Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
This is such a unique idea. I would be thrilled to get one as a present.
Thank you!
What a pretty project! I love how versatile it is and how it can be adapted for other times of the year, too. Thanks so much for sharing at the #happynowlinkup!
Good point! Thanks!
This rustic wooden advent calendar turned out so beautifully! The paint really adds another layer of charm on that rough wood exterior, too. Your instructions were also so easy to follow (especially for those of us not so comfortable with power tools!). Thanks for this DIY!
wow, thanks! I hope it was easy to follow…power tools are THE BEST. Don’t be scared! 😉
This is adorable! I love advent calendars, but I never know which one I want to get. This is a great option that would be great to have for years to come. I might try my hand at this! Thanks for sharing.
Best compliment ever, thanks!
You are so crafty and talented! This is such a great idea! I like the look of the paint how it just has a little bit of paint. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Natalie!
Very cute! I love advent calendars. Thanks for sharing with SYC. Not seeing a link back to the party. 🙁
hugs,
Jann
I’ll get that added to my list today. https://hazelandgolddesigns.com/2017/11/08/favorite-link-parties/ (I just started link parties and am updating this list. sorry for the delay.)
I love the look of this Advent calendar, Sherri. And thanks for the tip for the eye screws. Definitely remembering it next time 🙂
Thank you Ashley! It makes those dang little hooks so much easier to deal with!