DIY Wooden Advent Calendar with a Vintage Look

This DIY wooden advent calendar is easy to create and has a vintage feel with barn wood slats and colorful wooden ornaments.

Today I'm sharing this fun and colorful rustic looking advent tree calendar. The funny thing is that I came up with this idea after coming across another fun paint medium.

If you have been following me you know how much I love playing with alcohol inks. Recently I found distress oxide spray inks that many people use for card making and I had to find a project to use them on.

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I learned that the inks work on porous surfaces so I decided to make a wooden advent calendar and use the inks to create colorful vintage looking ornaments.

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How to Make a Wooden Tree Advent Calendar

Supplies

• Barn wood slats bundle
• Wood Round Ornaments
• Paper Mache Star Ornament
• Distress Oxide Sprays
• Black chalkboard paint
• White Chalk Marker
• 1-inch nails to create the tree
• Small decorative nails to hang ornaments approx. .5 inch
• Sawtooth hanger for back approx. 1.5 inches

Here's an example of the measurements I used to create the wood tree base. It all started with a bundle of barn wood I purchased at Hobby Lobby. My husband helped me cut them down to size.

We used two 1-inch nails to attach the slats to the base wood in the middle creating a tree frame.

Then I used smaller decorative .5 inch nails to hang each ornament. This tree was a 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 ornament setup. For the odd rows, I found the middle and placed the first nail there, and moved out on each side. On the even rows, I started on the ends, about 1.25 inches from each edge, and worked my way in using the ornaments as a guide. Not very scientific but it worked for me.

We used a simple sawtooth hanger nailed center of the tree trunk on the back.

Painting the Wooden Ornaments 

You can any use kind of paint to create your ornaments. However, as I mentioned earlier, I created this wooden advent calendar because the ornaments gave me an opportunity to use distress oxide spray inks. 

See this Tim Holtz video using distress oxide spray on card stock for ideas on how to use this fun product.

Okay, it's another messy one. If you choose to try the distress ink spray make sure you cover your work surface. This is a picture I took with my phone. It's the backside of the ornaments after I sprayed them. You can see that the ink worked it's way onto the back. 

Once the color side is dry flip them over and paint the back with black chalkboard paint.

I also added a little bit of gold metallic paint for the top. 

Here are the distressed spray ink ornaments laid out on the table. Aren't they festive looking? I think they look a little like vintage glass ornaments.

You don't have to do this next step but I wanted to arrange the colored sides in the same placement they would be on the tree. Then I stacked them in order before painting the numbers on the back.

For the number side, I printed out a set of basic numbers from the computer. Feel free to use this same set if you like. Just click on the image and you will get a PDF of the same numbers.

Trace the numbers onto the wood ornament. To do this cover the back of the paper with a piece of white chalk. Place the number onto the ornament and then use a pencil to trace the number onto the wood. Finish by filling in the number with a paint marker.

You can use a black sharpie to clean up any messy edges.

Hang the ornaments on the display nails to complete the look.

For a finishing touch, I painted a paper mache star with more metallic gold paint and glued it to the top of the tree.

Starting on December 1st and every day going forward turn an ornament to the colored side.

By Christmas Day you will have a beautiful Christmas tree full of colorful ornaments.

Print

DIY Wooden Advent Calendar with a Vintage Look

Create a unique and fun chalkboard advent calendar using this simple DIY tutorial. You can use this year after year!

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Active Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Christmas

Yield: 1 Advent Calendar

Author: Patti Estep

Cost: $20

Equipment

• Small Round Head Nails Multi-Purpose, Linwood Decorative Small Antique Nails for Miniature Household Accessories or DIY Projects 200pcs (1.5×15mm/0.06×0.6inch, Bronze)
• 2 X Uni Posca Extra Fine Marker, White (PC1M.1)
• DIY Shop Chalkboard Paint by American Crafts | 16.2 ounces, Black (366867)
• Sun Forever 30 Pieces Christmas Wood Bauble Discs Unfinished Wood Round Ornaments Slices Wood Embellishment with 30 Pieces Strings for Christmas Craft Hanging Decoration

Materials

• Barn wood slats bundle
• Wood Round Ornaments
• Paper Mache Star Ornament
• Distress Oxide Sprays
• Black chalkboard paint
• White Chalk Marker
• 1- inch nails to create the tree
• Small decorative nails to hang ornaments approx. .5 inch
• Sawtooth hanger for back approx. 1.5 inches

Instructions

Create the wood tree base using the barn wood cut into the following lengths:

• 10.25, 13.25, 16.5, 19.25, 28"   
• Use two 1-inch nails to attach the slats to the base wood in the middle creating a tree frame.
• Use smaller decorative .5 inch nails to hang each ornament.
• This tree was a 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 ornament setup.
• For the odd rows, find the middle and place the first nail there and move out on each side.
• On the even rows, start on the ends, about 1.25 inches from each edge.
• Work your way in using the ornaments as a guide.
• Add a sawtooth hanger to the center of the tree trunk on the back.
• Use any kind of paint to create your ornaments. I used distress oxide spray inks.  
• Let dry.
• Paint the back with black chalkboard paint.
• Add a little bit of gold metallic paint to the top. Print out a set of basic numbers from the computer.
• Trace the numbers onto the wood ornament by covering the back of the paper with a piece of white chalk.
• Place the number onto the ornament.
• Use a pencil to trace the number onto the wood.
• Finish by filling in the number with a paint marker.