Christmas celebration continues on here in the Bower household.  And nothing says “Jesus is Born!” like a little countdown to his birthday arrival.  That’s right people.  I am talking about the advent 3-2-1 CHEER! kinda thing minus the pompoms.  So when I spotted a post by Emily featuring this fabulous Pottery Barn advent calendar, I had to change my shirt because of all the drool.  Check out the inspiration:

Seriously awesome.

And my favorite part is that the linen pinboard is totally reusable in tons of different and fun ways.  

That’s when I shouted, “Henceforth, the linen pinboard must be mine!”

Yup.  Right there in front of my computer.

Just like a crazy Renaissance woman.

But I am not about to spend $149 on a pinboard.  Nor would Jeremy let me with bambino #1 on the way.  It’s marginally outta our price range for a piece that holds tacks.  (NOTE THE SARCASM in regards to the word “marginally”.)

That’s when I remembered a pinboard I had stashed in the closet.

The last time I used it was for collecting dust bunnies in the back of the closet.  And the time before that was for a ladies luncheon I organized at church.  Although I knew that the closet would very much miss it’s clutter friend, I also knew that it would be just perfect for using to make my beloved advent calendar.

I convinced my boyfriend to trek out to the shed (that lives in our scary horror-movie-style backyard) and snag some old wood to beef up the corkboard.

Then he cut it to fit on the back using a mitersaw.  Oh how I love our Dewalt saw.  It gives me goosebumps.  The good kind.

After cutting them to the correct size, he attached the corners with a few heavy-duty staples,

and then flipped the boards over so that the cork was on top.

This way, he could use some screws to drive through the cork and into the wood.

Low & behold, it worked.

Baby Jesus wants me to have this corkboard.  I can just tell.

Then it was time to cover the sucker with yummy linen fabric so that it could resemble the beloved PB version.

Using spray adhesive, some leftover fabric (from making a mattress cover for my daybed) and my electric staple gun, I went to work covering the corkboard.

First I sprayed the front of the corkboard and laid the fabric on top, making sure to smooth any wrinkles.  Then I allowed the sucker a few minutes to dry.  Then I flipped the entire thing over and worked around each side, folding over the frayed edges and stapling away.  It helped me to do one side and then do the opposite, mitering my corners (like a present) so that it would look as clean and crisp as possible.

 

After it was fully stapled and dried, I got to work thinking about the perfect place to put it.  I figured the dining room would work.  The color scheme was neutral enough and the space needed a bigger piece to balance out our teapot cabinet.

Cutting the little paper tags and punching holes was the easy part.  Collecting all 25 of the different ornaments proved to be a little more challenging.  It really forced me to think outside the box.  But in the end, I love it.

I found that some of the ornaments were perfect straight outta the box.  But others needed a little help.  Take for instance the glittery apple.  It was originally a wreath pick.  I just yanked out the stick and attached a little ribbon with a couple silver straightpins.  Not only is it right up my disco-meets-hoedown alley but it is also super cheap coming in at 50 cent.  Let’s leave that singular just in case some googles ’50 cent’, shall we? 🙂

The bells are actually less than that – coming in at one cent a piece, I just strung them together using a bit of twine for a very cute (and musical) ornament.

  

So there you have it folks – one cheap linen covered pinboard.  Looks pretty similar, right?  pretty please say yes.

And the best part about this project is that I know I can use this pinboard over and over….like for reminders or photos or even birthday cards.  And the best part of all?  the pricetag.

$6.

I spent only six little squirts on the sucker…just enough to cover the cost of the spray adhesive.

Pretty awesome, huh?  So – now tell me, do you have an advent calendar?  I must admit – this is my first one.  And I do get a bit giddy coming home after work so that I can hang up the ornament of the day.  It’s kinda like Christmas….just everyday!  It totally is getting me in the holiday spirit (and reminding me that I have limited time to buy gifts!)  And for those of you cursing me out in front of your computer for not posting this sooner – it’s not too late, you can make one for yourself and only do 12 days…the 12 days of Christmas.  Do that right after you wash your mouth out.  After all, I am the only one around here that is allowed to have a potty mouth 🙂