Your holiday countdown has never been so colourful thanks to this bright Advent calendar! You can easily create it using a wooden panel, clothes pins, paper bags and beautiful watercolour tags. Then add your favourite creative surprises in each bag to make artists of all ages happy throughout the month of December. Nothing beats a handmade calendar to get into the holiday spirit!
Psst! You can keep this project and proudly reuse it next year. Follow the steps!
Project developed in collaboration with Chloé Comte, artist and DIY blogger.
MATERIALS:
- 1 wooden panel (24 x 36 in)
- 24 wooden clothes pins (1 in)
- 24 kraft paper bags (3.5 x 5.5 in)
- White acrylic paint
- Foam roller
- Fabriano watercolour paper
- ShinHan watercolour
- Watercolour paintbrush (2/0, 1/0 or maximum 0)
- Glue gun
- Glue sticks
- Precision masking fluid marker
- Watercolour pencils
- Washi tape
- Folding device
- Wooden house
- LED light garland
- Wood garland, Christmas tree shapes
INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1 :
Cover the wooden panel with white acrylic paint using the foam roller. Apply at least 2 thin coats, letting each coat dry well.
Step 2 :
On the watercolour sheet, lightly draw 24 rectangles (2 x 3.5 in).
Step 3 :
Once all the rectangles have been drawn, wet the paper on both sides with a spray water bottle.
Step 4 :
Once the paper is wet, use the folding device to fold the rectangles on each pencil line. This will mark the paper.
Step 5 :
Gently tear the small rectangles. Wet the paper again if it has dried. Once the rectangles are torn, let them dry.
Step 6 :
Write the 24 numbers using the precision masking fluid marker. Let dry.
Step 7 :
Using Washi tape, stick the tags on a protected surface in order to frame them. Paint the inside of the tags with watercolour paint, creating a colour gradient. You can play with different colours to create different gradients.
Step 8 :
Remove the Washi tape and let the paint dry. Rub the masking fluid with your finger to remove the protective film and see the numbers appear. Outline the numbers with watercolour pencils.
Step 9 :
Evenly place the 24 clothes pins on the painted wooden panel. At the bottom, place the wooden house in which a LED garland has been added. Glue them.
Step 10 :
Decorate the top of the calendar by creating a garland with rope, wooden shapes or pompoms.
TIPS:
- Watercolour paper is very easy to tear when wet. This allows the paper fibre to appear and to create beautiful, imperfect cuts.
- In order to evenly place the clothes pins, indicate your measurements on the dry panel with masking tape. This will not leave any traces on your white panel. Once a line of pins has been glued, reposition the masking tape on the line below it and repeat.
