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Now that spooky season is officially in full swing, you might be thinking about ways to get creative with your Halloween decor without breaking the bank. One TikToker handcrafted her very own Halloween advent calendar using dollar-store finds and items already hanging around her house, and the end result is equal parts cool, chic, cute, and the perfect level of creepiness to suit the season.
Artist and crafter Lorilee Thomas snagged a few dollar-store wood trays, connecting them on the sides with wood glue to create a structure that looks like a house. She then used old Amazon boxes to create removable drawers for each of the 30 slots, applying watered-down wood glue to the outside of each mini box for more “rigidity,” as she says in the clip. She then uses other small wood pieces and some black and gold paint to give each mini box its own number for the corresponding day in October.
Thomas then got extra fancy, using a blowtorch on each numbered label to give it a spooky vibe, adhering each label and a wooden bead to the mini boxes for easy opening, which she painted gold and black, respectively. She glued pieces of wood to the bottom of the structure as well as the top to create a roof shape, spray-painting the entire thing black and then adding the perfect finishing touch: a hand-painted gold spider web on the inside of the roof.
She showed off the completed advent calendar, which is ready to hold a full month’s worth of treats for the whole family. In the caption of her clip, she wrote, “I am so stoked about this Halloween Advent. It’s extra great if you have more than one kiddo, so the boxes allow for more than one treat. October is going to be extra fun this year.”
Commenters loved the creative spin on a classic holiday tradition, with one person enthusiastically declaring that “day 13 has to have a special SPECIAL surprise bc it’s Friday the 13th!”
Thomas shared that she got the supplies at Canada-based dollar store Dollarama, but any local bargain or craft store should have similar items if you are inspired by this unique haunted house and want to recreate it at home. Plus, it will look stylish on display in any space, and your whole household will love discovering what kinds of tricks or treats await them each day before Halloween.
