Christmas Craft Project: Advent Calendar

I know what you’re thinking. It’s barely even Fall yet, why are you doing Christmas crafts?? Well every year I think of things I wish I had made for Christmas, but at that point it was far too late, so I thought I’d get a jump on things and get crafty on rainy days.

I’ve always wanted an advent calendar that I could reuse every year, so I used an idea I found online and added a picture frame and fancy numbers to it. It’s a super easy craft project and looks really great on the wall. I just replace a picture that’s hanging on the wall in our hallway with this and it had some fun holiday decor.

Supplies needed:

• A thrift store frame or discount frame
• White Spray Paint
• Acrylic paints in colours of your choice (I used red and white)
• Wooden clothes pegs
• Mod podge or white glue
• Printed numbers or you can paint them by hand

Here’s how the process went:

1. Take your thrifted frame and spray paint the frame and backing white.
2. While that’s drying spray paint or hand paint the clothes pegs white.
3. Then using a red or green or whatever colour paint you prefer, paint your designs onto the front of each clothes peg as shown in my photos.
4. When everything is dry, glue the clothes pegs onto the frame leaving space for the numbers you’ve printed out from my link in this post.
5. Once the pegs are in place you can glue down your numbers in order or randomly like I’ve chosen to do.
6. Finish the entire surface with a clear coat of Mod Podge glue.
7. Let everything dry overnight and enjoy for many seasons to come!

I’ve provided free printable numbers below, they are on a standard 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper so you can easily print them at home. Cut them out and glue them to your frame. Click the link below or the image below to download.

Download free printable advent calendar numbers here

Since making this project and using it for several years I’ve realised it would function better if you rotated the frame horizontally or even purchased a long piece of wood instead of a frame and placed the pegs horizontally on it, that way when you hang your advent it doesn’t clutter up the frame. Have fun crafting and customizing it to suit your style.