Christmas Advent Calendar

& to finishing projects you started

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas - full of holiday cheer, time with family & friends, and relaxation!

This year, I finally completed a project that I started 2 years ago. I had this idea that I wanted to create a custom, handmade advent calendar of our house for my daughter, and this year she is the perfect age to enjoy it.

2022

In November 2022, I got the idea and began drawing the house ~ to scale ~ in CAD. It took me about 8 hours of measuring and drawing to get it just right.

I took an overall photo, counted bricks, and took detailed photos and measurements to refer to when drawing.

Eventually, I got to this!

Then I found someone in my area who laser cuts plywood, and I sent him a few files that had different colors - one for cutting and one for scoring. I had the top layer scored with the design above, and then I had each window cut out for all layers except the back, with the second layer having a lip to catch the door in the front. My theory was that 6 window openings could be used for the 12 days of Christmas, or for a full 24 days, depending on how I wanted to use it. And instead of breaking it up at the sashes, I chose the full window so I had more room for a bigger surprise inside.

Once it was cut, I went to pick it up and it looked like this:

Bringing it home and standing it up to assess.

I was so excited to see it in physical form. The next day, I started feeling sick….and ended up with back to back illnesses for about 2 months straight. The project would have to wait until 2023…

2023

Around November, I started to get back into the Christmas spirit. This was the year - it was time to paint it! I used oil paints, which took much longer to dry but blended well so that I could really control the result.

I painted the brick first, and then let it dry. Then came the roof, the window sills, and the stairs. At this point I started painting the windows separately, and I wanted them to glow from candles in the windows. Next I painted the wooden door. Lastly, I added the brick mortar, which was quite tedious. I probably spent about 40 hours painting!

After it was dry, it was time to put all the pieces together. I ordered hinges, but it was very last minute. With the holidays underway, I didn’t end up finishing in time for Christmas in 2023.

It sat in our living room for a full year until…

2024

I ended up putting it off for most of 2024. But this year, I finally got it done. Adam sanded all the edges flat, and I painted them. He glued the knobs and hinges on all of the doors. He built a base, and I painted it. I glued the wreaths on with a glue gun. Voila! Just in time for 6 little presents this year, and my daughter loved opening them each day. Success!

Close-ups of the doors open and closed with wreaths on them.

Our house decorated for Christmas this year.

The finished product! Next year I will likely add some snow…maybe some lights…

I think for me the big success is in finishing a project. I always have lots of ideas and am more excited to start something new than to finish the last bit of a project (especially that last 10%). When I force myself to though, I’m always super proud of the end result. And I got to experience this magic!

Happy Holidays to you and yours,

Anna