Pottery Barn Inspired: Advent Calender

I love the Christmas season, and I want to create a fun, loving, and giving season for my children. One of my favorite memories as a child was our advent calender. I loved waking up each December morning, running into the kitchen and putting that day's marker on the calender. Since David's & my first Christmas married (and Dmitri on the way), I have been looking for the perfect advent calender for my own family. But each year, none have been perfect.

Until this year, when I fell in love with this advent calender from Pottery Barn:

But the $299 price tag? Outrageous!!! So, I decided to make my own. And for less than $20 I have my own bucket and branch advent calender...

I'm in love. And Dmitri thinks it's fun too. 

Here is a short tutorial:

Supplies

-25 buckets (mine are from Dollar Tree in the wedding section. I got 27 for $9)

-Natural jute (or other string to tie it all together)

-5 sticks, branches, or dowels (I just painted wooden dowels white that I already had).

-Oil rubbed bronze spray paint

-Number stickers

-Little trinkets to fill the buckets (a lot of mine are cut up Christmas tree picks or mini ornaments)

-Floral foam or something else to fill buckets

1. I started with these little white buckets. I removed the handles from them. 

2. I put sticker numbers on them from a scrapbook pack. I re-used a few, but it works best when you only use the sticker once. Make sure they are on very securely.

3. These got a good spray from some oil rubbed bronze spray paint. (I flipped them upside down and sprayed too!)

 4. Peel the numbers away...A few of mine had a little residue. I used a little scraper tool to clean off some of the paint that seeped in. Also, you can use a Mr. Clean magic eraser very carefully (it will remove all of the paint if not careful!)

Here are my supplies pre-assembly.

5. Tie it all together. Measure out the jute pieces for the buckets so that they are all the same length. I put the buckets on the "branch" by putting it through a loop around the branch, if that makes sense.

6. It took a little bit of time to put all of the buckets on the sticks. And then to tie all of the sticks together. It's nice if you have a helper. Some of it takes a little trial and error...

7. Fill with goodies!

 

Happy Adventing!

Let me know if you have any questions! This was an easy project, but a little time consuming! 

I linked up @ Thrifty Decor Chick, The Holiday Home Linky Party, & Get Your Craft On!