This rustic Christmas advent calendar fits right in with the farmhouse style and it is simple to create! You’re going to love this easy Christmas advent calendar idea.
This post is brought to you by Walnut Hollow and contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend anyway! Read my full disclosure here.
If you are joining from the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop, welcome!! I’m really excited about today of the Handmade Holidays because it’s all about Holiday Decor…and decor is kind of my thing! I’ve been thinking about my Christmas DIYs for months and I’m really excited that it’s finally socially acceptable to least start talking about Christmas (at least in the blog world…where we always need to be one step ahead of you in real life).
Today’s tutorial is simple and easy to create, but turns out awesome and will add so much farmhouse charm to your Christmas decor! I was so excited when I saw that Walnut Hollow was a sponsor of the Handmade Holidays. I knew their products would be perfect for my rustic Christmas advent calendar idea.
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below for your change to WIN BIG and then continue the blog hop at the bottom of the post so you don’t miss out on an awesome Christmas decor project!
Supplies Needed for Rustic Christmas Advent Calendar
- Walnut Hollow Rustic Angled Tray
- Walnut Hollow 2 Birch Value Bags (20-Pc)
- Dark Wood Stain
- White Chalk Paint
- Foam Paint Brush
- Sandpaper
- Nails (3D 1 1/4” finish nails to be exact)
- Hammer
- Drill or Drill Press
- Permanent Marker
- Spray Sealant
Step 1. Arrange birch rounds in tree shape.
Started by unpacking the birch rounds from the value bags and arranging 25 of them in a general tree shape on the tray.
Step 2. Drill holes in birch rounds.
Next, use a drill press or a drill to drill 1/8” holes in the top center of the birch rounds. These holes will allow the nails to go through so the rounds can hang on the tray.
Step 3. Stain tray.
Stain tray with a dark wood stain. This is to create a dark base underneath the painted surface, which makes it really easy to create the farmhouse distressed look.
Step 4. Paint tray.
I used a foam brush to apply one coat of white chalk paint. I did paint it on roughly so that it was thinner in some areas and let the darker wood peak through a bit. This helped so I didn’t have to as much distressing.
Step 5. Distress tray.
Distress the tray with sandpaper to your liking. Since I did such a light coat of paint, I really didn’t have to do much sanding. I just focused mostly on the edges of the tray.
Step 6. Hammer nails for birch rounds.
Arrange your birch rounds in the tree shape again and start nailing. Try to keep the nails as straight as possible and put them in the same depth in the wood tray.
Step 7. Number birch rounds.
Number your rounds with a permanent marker (or you could use a paint pen too!) from 1 to 25.
Step 8. Seal rustic Christmas advent calendar.
Remove the birch rounds from the tray and spray the tray with sealant. Then add the rounds back and spray it again. This should seal everything so that it lasts for years to come.
I love how this rustic Christmas advent calendar turned out. I’m glad that I decided to stick with my gut and go with neutral tones. Now even if I change up my Christmas decor in the future, this DIY advent calendar will always fit right in.
The way you use the rustic Christmas advent calendar is really up to you. We’re going to start from the bottom of the tree and turn the wood rounds over so the numbers are revealed everyday as we get closer to Christmas. So…this is what will look like with 8 days to go ’til Christmas.
Alternatively, you could also start at the top of the tree and flip the days over starting with 1 on the 1st of December.
This calendar looks great up on a shelf or you could even hang it on the wall! Whatever little way your heart desires, you’ll be loving this rustic Christmas advent calendar all season long!
Don’t forget to hop around to the other bloggers of the 7th Annual Handmade Holidays Blog Hop 2017 & enter the amazing giveaway!
Smart Fun DIY – Scrapbook Adhesives – HomeRight – Walnut Hollow
Here’s a replay of my live video demonstrating how to make this Christmas advent calendar on Facebook. If you love videos, be sure to check out my video page for more!
I really love this! Super creative idea!
Thanks Dana, I love how it turned out. Can’t wait to use it at Christmas.
This is so beautiful! I love it. I really want to make one of these for my home now because I’m always on the lookout for cute advent calendar ideas. Ahhh I’m getting so excited for the holidays.
Thanks for sharing this DIY
>> Christene
Keys to Inspiration
Thanks friend! I can’t believe how long it took me to finally make an advent calendar. I have been saying I was going to for years.
Cute idea! I have grand plans to make a new Advent calendar this year. December 1st is coming way too fast! Visiting from Handmade Holidays.
I know, I’m glad I got mine done early….every other year I say I’m going to make one and never do! Haha.
Oh what a neat idea! I love this!
Wow I love this! It’s just darling. Simple and rustic!
Oh my goodness, I love this idea! The finished product is so neat! Definitely pinning and sharing. Thanks for the tutorial!
Love this idea!
This is brilliant! I love it that you can turn them around to count down the days. It would be fun to color the backs of the wood slices like a tree and with little “ornaments” to see the tree come to life as you get closer and closer to Christmas Day. Love it! Merry Christmas 🙂
WOW! I’d love to have this!!
Super cute! Simple, and perfect.
One more item for my to-do list. 😉 <3
What a fabulous idea!! So creative and cute and rustic 🙂
Best,
Kelly
This is fabulous!! I’ve been searching for a DIY advent calendar idea and I think yours is perfect!! Definitely going to try something similar. It looks so good!
Love this advent calendar!