DIY Advent Calendar

Using wood glue and your nail gun (or drill and screws), attach the top and bottom pieces to the sides to form a square box. Then using glue and nails, attach the roof pieces to the top of the box.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

I decided to hang my Advent Calendar up, so I added some D Ring Hooks and picture hanging wire to the back.

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!