Christmas Advent Calendar from a Vintage Printer’s Tray

Christmas Advent Calendar from Printers Tray

I can’t imagine a better place to spend Christmas than at home, with my family.  This event is sure to be one of my favorites, as there are over one hundred amazing bloggers sharing just how they bring the holidays into their homes as well.  Hosted by Hometalk.com and CountryLiving.com, two powerhouses in home decor, I hope you’ll be able to gain some inspiration for bringing the holidays into your home decor as well.

Home for Christmas

This project is one that I’ve been scheming up for over a year.  Growing up, I loved advent calendars.  One of my favorites was a wooden Christmas tree that had small holes and ornament hooks.  Each day, we’d add one tiny wooden ornament to the tree.  I remembering always being jealous of my sisters when it wasn’t my day to put up the ornament, and always hoping they’d leave my favorite ornaments.

diy kids advent calendar

Don’t get me wrong, there is value in sharing, and my girls do share the advent calendar duties on a family calendar, but I wanted to create a calendar that each of them could pick out their own ornament each day.

christmas countdown diy

I love all things re-purposed, rescued, and reused, so this vintage printer’s tray (I found it at a garage sale for $5!) was the perfect frame for my advent calendar.

rustic vintage advent calendar

I used my Silhouette to cut out the rectangles with the numbers cut out of them with coordinating card stock designs.  If you don’t have a cutting machine, you could cut the rectangles out, and use stickers or just hand write the numbers on the cards.

diy christmas countdown calendar for kids

I found a lot of these little knick-knacks at the craft store – some in the Christmas section and others in the doll house area.

diy advent calendar with vintage printing block tray

My girls love picking out a new little toy to put in the frame every day.  The best part of this calendar?  At the end of the season, I’ll be able to take out the cards, pack them up, and use the printer’s tray somewhere else in my home!

DIY advent calendar for kids

advent calendar from a vintage printer's tray

A few more DIY holiday crafts you might enjoy:

Jenny at Refresh Living (dev.refreshliving.com)

Post by Jenny Leads

Jenny is the voice behind Refresh Living. She has a passion for helping people to create a home they love without spending a lot of money.

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23 Comments

    1. Thank you so much, ladies. Advent calendars were one of my favorite Christmas decorations growing up, so I hope my girls like theirs, too!

  1. This is such a cute project, Jenny! Love that you used a vintage printers tray for this advent calendar. I’ll need to look out for something like that the next time I go thrifting. 🙂

  2. Jenny, this is a beautiful Advent Calendar! I really like the different kinds of card stock you used and the little knick knacks are so cute. The vintage printers tray is gorgeous to use for this!

    1. I know, Cat, there was no way I was going to pass that price up, even if I orinally wanted one that had much more random sized slots. Thanks for pinning!!

  3. SO creative!!! I can’t believe you got those trays for $5. That was the find of the century! And it’s so smart how you did that so you can use them elsewhere after the Christmas season. I’m sure these will be a special memory for your kids as they grow older!

  4. What a great idea for an advent calendar! I love them and have three around my house every year, one for me, my son and my husband. I may try this for next year as I already have the printers drawer. I got a deal on mine too…$4!