Every year, one of my favorite things to do with Don during the holidays is an advent calendar. He gets a piece of chocolate and a mini toy and he loves it and it’s such a fun way to count down to the big day. This year, I thought it’d be fun to make a bunch of houses to go on our colorful shelves. Here’s how I made my DIY village advent calendar.
how to make a DIY village advent calendar
SUPPLIES
Craft paint or latex paint. Here’s the colors I used-
- First Light 2102-70
- Honey Hut 2102-60
- Rose Bisque 2102-50
- Mannequin Cream 2152-60
- Golden Straw – 2152-50
- Golden Tan 2152-40
- Crystalline AF-485
- Tranquility AF-490
- White Satin – 2067-70
- Windmill Wings 2067-60
- Summer Blue – 2067-50
Bottle Brush Trees from Target. Most of the ones I got are out of stock, but there’s still some cute ones. I bought colorful ones that match the colors I used. Then I bought extra white ones to paint with the same latex paint above.
Mini Wreaths (I replaced the red bows. I bought pink 1/8″ ribbon and made my own bows)
Glitter– I only used pink, yellow, green and blue
Mini Gold Balls. These mini snowballs would also work
step 1
Start by punching out the cardboard windows outside in the house. Then, use a thin coat of latex paint to paint the white side of the houses. Some of my houses needed a second coat of paint, but most were fine with just one. I didn’t paint the roofs. I wanted them white since I knew I’d cover those in snow.
Painting all 24 houses took awhile. I painted 2 houses each color so I could create a rainbow of cute little houses!
step 2
Next, paint the white bottle brush trees. It’s really easy to do. I use latex paint and then smoosh it between all of the branches. I let that dry and then have trees any color I want!
step 3
And now, it’s time to assemble the houses. I used hot glue. The house kit came with instructions that I found easy to follow. The brown side of each house is labeled with what number house it is. Then I just glued where instructed.
The assembly was slow, but it was exciting to see the village beginning to form!
step 4
Finally, to finish off the houses, we embellished them!
I used fake snow, mini wreaths, glittery gold balls, and glitter.
I used my Cricut to cut 24 numbers out on gold vinyl to be 1/2″ tall. Numbered stickers could also be bought from a craft store. I added a number to each house so that we could count down to the big day!
My son and I put on a movie and had a great time decorating! I let him do glue and add glitter. He did a great job! Is every house perfect? No. But that’s part of the beauty. The glitter lightens and smooths up as it dries so I really don’t think you can tell between the ones he glittered and the ones I did.
Side note, someone on social media asked where my husband when my son and I do projects like this. Well, he was watching the movie with us! He isn’t into small crafts, so he let us do our thing. My husband doesn’t like his picture on social media so I respect that. He’s behind the scenes on all my projects and is the best supporter. I’m so lucky to have him by my side!
I had a different plate for each color of glitter to try and contain the mess. And so clean up would be smoother. I tried to have each window and door have a type of fun trim- garland, glitter, or gold balls.
after
Ta da! When I was done decorating all 24 houses (long after my son went to sleep), I put them onto my colorful shelves. And stared at them forever. I am proud of these cuties! Each shelf has a different color of decor, trees, and houses. My eye loves the soft gradation!
It was fun to embellish each house a little differently. Like gluing little gold balls all over the roof line and around the door! I had 16 wreaths so I added those to most of the houses.
Here’s close-ups of my favorites! I finished the embleshing by adding fake snow to the top. I put a little big of Elmer’s glue on the roof and then used a little paint brush to smooth the glue so the whole roof would be covered. Then I sprinkled on the snow!
For our advent, we put in a little toy (one day from the Lego advent calendar). The bottom of the houses are empty so they’re perfect for a mini toy. They’d also work nicely for listing activities to do each night like decorating the tree or driving around to see Christmas lights.
Someone also sent me the idea to put little faux tea light candles in each house- that’d be so cute! Maybe you could turn on a new one every night until the whole thing is lit up?! That’s be magical!
My original inspiration image for these houses was a bunch of houses grouped together. I love the image, but I think a bunch of houses on the shelves looks so adorable. I was more inspired to use houses for advent. For me, it was a fresh look that I loved!
Do you have an advent calendar? What do you put inside each day?
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