A Note From The Home Depot
Get crafting this holiday season with the help of The Home Depot. Follow along as Abby of Making it with Abby teaches us how to make a DIY advent calendar!
One of my kids’ favorite things to do during the holiday season is to retrieve their daily treat from the advent calendar. The one we had been using for years broke last year, and I thought it would be such a fun project to do together. The project is relatively simple and fun so there are a lot of opportunities for the kids to get in on the fun and help! We headed to Home Depot to grab our supplies. The Home Depot has everything you need to get crafty with your loved ones this holiday season!
Cut List:
- 1x4 Pine
- 2 @ 21” (top and bottom)
- 2 @ 19.5” (sides)
- 2 @ 14 ⅞” long end to long end, both ends cut at 45-degree bevel (roof pieces)
- ¼” x 4 Poplar
- 25 @ 3.5” (doors)
- 20 @ 3 ⅝” (vertical cubby separators)
- 4 @ 19.5” (horizontal cubby pieces)
Step 1: Assemble the House
Step 2: Assemble the Cubby Grid
Using wood glue, space four vertical short pieces along the bottom of each of the horizontal pieces so each one has five spaces. Use a spare vertical cubby separator turned on its side as a spacer to equally space the four separators. Once you have made four of these, you can stack them and attach them with wood glue. Let the glue dry for a bit and then insert the grid into your house and add the remaining four vertical separators to the top, again using wood glue. Then, clamp it together to make sure the glue holds tight.
You could stop here, and you would have a really nice and simple Advent Calendar, but we really wanted to make ours extra cute by adding doors and decorating it to look like a Candyland house.
Step 3: Decorate!
I chose to paint the doors and frame at this point because I thought it would be easier than trying to do it when all the hinges were on. I also cut out a bunch of holiday shapes with my scroll saw for the kids to paint and decorate. We picked out a bunch of colors and got Behr Color Samples. When you are decorating the doors, remember that they will be spaced apart due to the cubby frames!
Step 4: Attach the Doors and Doorstops
To make sure the doors wouldn’t sink into the cubbies, I cut a bunch of my scraps to about ⅜” wide and glued them to the right side of each cubby using a scrap door as a spacer. This way, the doors close, and they will sit perfectly flush with the frame.
Since the wood I used for the doors is only ¼” in thickness, attaching the doors with the provided screws wasn’t going to work. So instead, I used DAP super glue and it worked like a charm. First, I glued each 1” hinge to the door and once it dried, I glued the other half of the hinge to the frame. Each door only needs one hinge, so I just attached it to the center of the door. The only tricky part is orienting the hinge correctly on the door.
Step 5: Cutting and Attaching the Back (Optional)
If you are planning to set this on a table or counter, I would recommend adding a back, otherwise your treats will fall out! If you are going to hang it on the wall like I did, you probably don’t need one. I set my house on top of my ¼” plywood and traced it. Then I used my circular saw to cut along the lines. Then I attached it to the back with my staple gun, but you could also just glue it or use a hammer and nails.
Step 6: Adding the Frosting! (Optional)
Did you know that lightweight spackle looks a lot like frosting? Well, that makes it the perfect decorative accent for this gingerbread house. I scooped it into a grout bag and then piped it onto the roof. I used a cake decorating tip inside the grout bag, but this really isn’t necessary. In fact, the texture from the tip settled as the spackling dried so just using the grout bag without a tip would have looked just as nice.
Step 7: Adding Hanging Hardware (Optional)
I decided to hang my Advent Calendar up, so I added some D Ring Hooks and picture hanging wire to the back.
Step 8: Finishing Touches
I added all my scroll saw figures that the kids painted to the “attic” of the house to create a cute scene. Lastly, I added some twinkle lights, because everything is better with twinkle lights!
I hope you liked this project and that you can follow along to build one of your own with your loved ones! Head on over to The Home Depot to grab your supplies, and let’s build some new memories that will last a lifetime!
