| Project by cheller | posted 2238 days ago | 2159 views | 4 times favorited | 12 comments |  |
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When my sister and I were children our grandparents sent us advent calendars each year. When we got to be adults she continued the tradition – sending me advent calendars each year. When her son was 2 I sent him a door sized advent calendar. At the same time I found myself going back to a magazine article (American Woodworker, I think) about a Pennsylvania spice cabinet. Inspired by that I decided to make my nephew a permanent advent calendar based on the spice cabinet. This is the result.
The design on the door came from a craft magazine. I painted it but it’s not original. Wish I could locate the magazine so I could give the artist credit.
The cabinet design is original. It’s mahogany with a baltic birch panel in the door. The drawers sides and bottom are also plywood (1/8”). I built a router jig to make the rabbets for the drawer joints. A rare earth magnet serves as the door catch. The finish is wipe on polyurethane.
The calendar has survived 3 Christmases with a pre-schooler (he’s now 5). He loves to take the drawers out and put them back in.
-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com
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12 comments so far
Lou
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178 posts in 2247 days
#1 posted 2238 days ago
very nice! great family heirloom! it’ll be around for hundreds of years! great work!
-- "What one can make with good tools is limited only by one's talent" (lucius-hill@comcast.net)
MsDebbieP
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18320 posts in 2325 days
#2 posted 2238 days ago
oh my goodness—this is amazing.
A truly, truly special gift.
Bravo
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
CharlieM1958
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14832 posts in 2383 days
#3 posted 2237 days ago
Very well done! What are the approx. dimensions? It’s kinda hard to tell from the photos.
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
cheller
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254 posts in 2274 days
#4 posted 2237 days ago
I’ll have to find the plans and let you know for sure but it’s about 20 inches tall and 14 wide. The drawers are about 2 inches deep (just a little too short for a matchbox car) and just over an inch wide.
-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com
Don
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2592 posts in 2342 days
#5 posted 2123 days ago
Very interesting, Chelle.
-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hillsbiblechurch.org/
mot
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4912 posts in 2201 days
#6 posted 2123 days ago
Ha! What a great idea! My daughter is an advent calendar-a-holic! This is a perfect project to do with her in the shop! Thanks for sharing it. I’m glad it came back around!
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
cheller
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254 posts in 2274 days
#7 posted 2109 days ago
Thanks, Mot. I’ve actually begun work on another for my almost 4 year old nephew. I’ll be blogging about it soon.
-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com
rooster
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110 posts in 2102 days
#8 posted 2102 days ago
Great job! I’ve been trying to design a plan for an advent calendar myself. Do you still have the plans and can you share them?
Karson
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#9 posted 2102 days ago
That is a great idea. Nice job
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
cheller
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254 posts in 2274 days
#10 posted 2102 days ago
Rooster – I do have the plans. For this one they are mostly rough sketches. I’ll dig them up, which may take a while. I’ve also got the plans for the one I’m working on now which I can share as well. They are old school drafting documents, so I’ll have to figure out the best way to get them online. I’ll get back to you on both of those.
-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com
mot
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4912 posts in 2201 days
#11 posted 2004 days ago
Hey Cheller,
I was just revisiting this project gearing up for Christmas. Pretty cool. Are you still planning on blogging the construction of one?
Thanks!
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
cheller
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254 posts in 2274 days
#12 posted 2004 days ago
I am still planning on blogging the construction. Unfortunately, my progress on it has been delayed. It’s definitely not going to be done by December 1st. I will blog in detail when I get to it.
-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com
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