Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend!
I have The Plague. The throat swelling shut, head feels like it’s going to blow up, body aches that make you want to die … The Plague.
I started feeling it Friday and Saturday, but it was tolerable. I had my Holiday Open House at RELove All Things Shabby on Saturday, and around 9:00 that night it was in full force.
I had known in advance that this Knock Off Tour was coming up, but with last week being the unnamed child’s birthday and the open house, I was way behind (as usual) and, therefore, had to work all day yesterday when I felt like death. Yes, I know, learn to plan ahead. I would like to say lesson learned, but here in Shanna World … probably not.
A few weeks ago, I received the Pottery Barn catalog in the mail, and like normal I was drooling over just about everything. One thing that really caught my eye was the Gilt Galvanized Advent Calendar. I loved the way it looked, but the price tag of $159 was not in my budget.
I decided to make my own.
The first thing I needed was a frame. I didn’t want to go out and buy one, and I didn’t have time to make one. I went down to the basement to search through my hoard and found this old mirror that I had removed from an old dresser. It was already in good condition, and I didn’t even need to stain it. I just popped out the mirror and checked that box off.
Next, I cut out a piece of tempered hardboard (I normally have this around for my chalkboard my projects) to fit inside the mirror frame. I painted it brown using Plaster Paint in Espresso.
After that dried, Topher attached the board into the frame.
Next I needed the tiny buckets. I went all over town and couldn’t find any, and I didn’t have time to order any. I popped into Dollar Tree for one last-ditch effort, and I was shocked to find them in their wedding section.
I spray painted them with several coats of Rust-oleum Metallic Paint &Primer In One in Soft Iron and let them dry for an hour or two between coats.
Now they weren’t galvanized, but I liked the darker pewter color better, so I’m OK with that.
Topher then glued them onto the board with a hot glue gun after measuring off that they were spaced correctly.
Last came the labels. I couldn’t find any label paper that was that the brown-paper-bag color I wanted, so I decided to print the ovals with the numbers on brown scrapbook paper from Michael’s. The numbers were brown, and I wanted them to be white, so I used a Sharpie Paint Pen to fill them in. I had to go over them several times for the white to show up.
I then cut out my ovals and glued them onto my buckets with a glue stick.
I then added a few decorations from my Christmas stash as well as Michael’s dollar bins.
Here is the breakdown:
- $9 at Dollar Tree for the buckets
- The frame I already had
- The piece of wood I already had (about $9 for a 4×8 sheet at Lowes)
- $3 for Christmas decorations
- $1.60 for scrapbook paper
- $7.56 for the spray paint
Grand Total $21.16
Now that my budget can handle. I love that the frame and buckets are totally neutral, and I can update the little decorations anytime I change my Christmas decor.
Stay tuned over the next few weeks as I have some more knock off projects up my sleeve.
Head down below to see the other lovely ladies in the tour knock off projects!
Monday, November 10th:
Tuesday, November 11th:
Wednesday, November 12th:
Thursday, November 13:
Friday, November 14:
Parties I Link to:
The 36th Avenue – Adorned From Above – Be Different Act Normal – Boogieboard Cottage – Carolyn’s Homework – Cedar Hill Ranch – The Charm of Home – Chic on a Shoestring Decorating – Cindy’s Romantic Home – Common Ground – Cozy Little House – Craft-O-Maniac – Craftionary – The Crafty Blog Stalker – Cupcakes and Crinoline – Debbiedoo’s – The Dedicated House – A Delightsome Life– Design, Dining + Diapers – DIY by Design – DIY Showoff – Domestically Speaking – Elizabeth & Co. – Embracing Change – Flamingo Toes – Fluster Buster –French Country Cottage – The Frugal Girls – Funky Junk Interiors – Funky Polkadot Giraffe – Gingerly Made – Gingersnap Crafts – The Girl Creative: Project Inspire – A Glimpse Inside – Home Stories A2Z– Katherine’s Corner – Just Us Four – Live Laugh Rowe – Liz Marie Blog – Made in a Day – Making the World Cuter – Miss Mustard Seed – My Girlish Whims – My Uncommon Slice of Surburbia – Naptime Creations – Nifty Thrifty Things – Not Just a Housewife – Redoux Interiors – Romantic Home – Savvy Southern Style – Seven Thirty Three – The Shabby Nest – Simply Designing – Smart School House – Tatertots & Jello – Thirty Handmade Days – Three Mango Seeds – Today’s Creative Blog –Too Much Time on my Hands – Uncommon Designs – Under the Table and Dreaming– Whipperberry – White Lites On Wednesday –
Oh just love this, Shanna! That old mirror worked out perfectly…I like it better than the PB version! XO
Great job. Your knock off looks better than the original piece!
As all your knock offs, I like yours soooo much better! Great job! Jeanette
Your knockoff looks great and who knew that the dollar store has those tiny buckets!? Gotta run over and find me some! My daughter had the plague last week and I felt pretty awful a few of those days while caring for her so I am still working on mine for tomorrow – fingers crossed! We should really know better but I kind of enjoy the last minute adrenaline rush! Now go get some much needed rest and feel better!!!
~Tami
Your advent calendar knock-off is awesome! I’ve always loved that piece from Pottery Barn but couldn’t bear the price. You’ve inspired me!
Your mirror did work perfectly for this project and I’m like the others and like your version better.
Wow, I love it. So pretty, Shanna. I think you knocked this one right out of the park!
Wow!! That is awesome Shanna!! You knocked this one outta the park! 🙂
Nancy
Oh my, I love this!! You did an incredible job of duplicating it. I love the darker buckets too. I hope you feel better soon! Thanks for posting even though you are sick with the PLAGUE.
Great project! I’ve always loved advent calendars but as an adult, with adult children the little paper ones with chocolate behind the doors just won’t work anymore!
This turned out great! I love yours…so want to make one now. Thanks for the inspiration! ~Christy
This came out awesome Shanna! I’ve always wanted one of these I might have to make one now 🙂
You really rocked your knockoff, Shanna! I love this ~ it’s the perfect chocolate candy advent calendar alternative and you can use it year after year.
Great job Shanna, its beautiful! I saw this in the catalog last week and my first thought was, I need to do a “knock off”! Yours is great though!