Welcome to week one of Pinterest Christmas!

Greg and I have been searching for the perfect advent calendar since last Christmas. I couldn’t break down to spend a lot of money on the one I really loved and it eventually sold out. We searched this year for one that we could do ourselves and I am so happy we did! Our inspiration came from Our Vintage Home Love and her inspiration came from Pottery Barn, so of course it was right up our alley.

Four 1×3 boards, 6 feet long
One 1×2 board for the trim
Stain
Maze nails, 2 1/2 inches
Two 12 pack mini metal buckets
Chalkboard stickers

The long 1×3 boards were cut down to make seven 34 inch smaller boards. Greg used the Kreg jig and made pocket holes to join the boards. He used the 1×2 as the trim and used the nail gun to attach the trim.

Before we stained the boards, we measured where to hang the nails for the buckets, which was the hardest part of the whole project. We tried to make it as accurate as possible by laying out the buckets to get a general idea where the nails would be. Once we had the buckets laid out, we marked the board with a pencil. Greg pre-drilled the holes to make the nails fit easier and to ensure the boards did not split when we hammered in the nails. Once the holes were drilled, it was on to the stain. We already had a can of stain from previous projects that we used to stain the boards.

After the stain was dry, we hammered in the nails. I added the chalkboard stickers to the buckets and wrote the numbers, then it was time to hang the buckets!

I am so happy with how it turned out. It has a great rustic feel to it and I know it will be used for many years to come. I wasn’t sure where we would put it once it was done, but we have the perfect spot for it in our entry way.

I am also thrilled and so thankful that the advent calendar is featured in the holiday issue of The Moms Magazine that came out last week! I shared the list of the fun, family friendly activities that we are using  to fill the buckets over on Orlando Moms Blog, so be sure to check that out too!

For more projects and inspiration, check out the other blogs in the A Pinterest Christmas series [Emerald City Diaries | Greg & Maggi |  The Gilbertson Family | The Pena Family | This Grey House | Without A Doubt]. Share your Pinterest Christmas projects with us! Comment on one of our blogs, link back to a post, or use #PinterestChristmas2014 on Instagram!