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Hi, everyone!

I’m looking forward to spending Tuesday and Wednesday with you next week…You’re Home with Jill airs on both days! On Tuesday, I’ll see you at 2pm ET and on Wednesday, you’ll see me—and a whole audience full of people—for a two-hour YHJ special beginning at 6pm ET.

Since the holidays are creeping ever-closer, and decorating has been on my mind lately, I thought we’d focus on Christmas decor ideas for both shows this week. (It always takes longer than I anticipate to decorate for the holidays…don’t you agree?) So here this week's DIY projects. If you get started now (or in the next week or two) you’ll have that much done by the time December 25th arrives!

Our first project is Christmas Card Holders. Now you can keep all those greeting cards organized and prominently displayed!



I saw this idea on Pinterest, of course. (If you’re new or still getting the hand of Pinterest, it doesn’t matter what time of year it is. You can log on and find lots of Christmas ideas and recipes. And, this idea I actually found a few months ago.) Anyway, when I clicked on the photo, I was taken to Pens and Needles—a DIY blog by Amy, who, as far as I can tell, can do everything--from decorating cakes and taking professional photos to making adorable baby clothes!

In her blog, Amy cut pieces of festive fabric to size and carefully wrapped it around three foam boards she also cut to size. But, as I’ve confessed to you before, I’m not a big sewer—I don’t keep fabric on hand. So, I stopped at my local craft store and bought two 12” x 12” cork boards. And, that was it.

When I got home, I raided my holiday wrapping paper stash and grabbed tape and scissors. Then, I went to my craft drawer for my hot glue gun and a spool of covered twine, from which I cut two 2’L strands.

To assemble the boards, I simply wrapped the cork boards in the paper like a package. Next, on the side where I applied the tape, I put a big glob of hot glue in the center-top of the frame to secure the twine. (I happen to believe you can never have too much glue, so I also traced glue all along the curve of the twine just to be sure it held.) AND, I’M DONE! When Christmas is knocking at the door, I’ll remove some year-round wall hangings and replace them with these. And, every Christmas card we receive will be beautifully—and neatly—displayed.

When the season’s over, I think I’ll remove the paper and re-wrap them for next year. You might consider keeping these up all year and covering them with seasonal fabric or paper.

One project down, and one to go! Luckily this idea is almost as easy as the first!



I owe some credit to Jonie—blogger from Just Between Friends, who published a photo of her NOEL mantel art. But, Jonie actually used a kit to create hers, which you might find at a woodworking store. I just hit the craft store—and my craft drawer—and gathered the following:

Materials:
•    White, pre-cut, wooden “N,” “E,” and “L” letters
•    Red acrylic paint
•    Paintbrush
•    Floral wreath (for the “O”)
•    Star-shaped tree ornament
•    4 holiday-themed pieces of scrapbook paper
•    2” paper punch
•    Modge Podge
•    Sponge applicator

Directions:
1.    I put the “E” on an old tablecloth and painted it. (You’ll probably need to do two coats; I let the first coat dry overnight before adding a second.)
2.    Next, I punched about 12 2” circles in the paper—three circles from each page. Then, I Modge Podged the backs of the paper and stuck them to the “L.” When they dried, I applied two layers of Modge Podge on top to ensure all the circles were truly stuck.
3.    I considered painting the “N” green, but I kind of liked the plain white contrast with the decorative letters. So, I just wove the string for the ornament into the wreath, put the letters in order, and called it a day!

Feel free to do whatever you’d like with your letters. You needn’t Modge Podge paper on them, paint them, or even use the word “Noel.” This project is completely open to interpretation and I want you to have fun with it! Get the kids involved—there are no sharp tools required here and they’d love to make something that will be so prominently displayed in your home year after year. (By the way—if you don’t have a mantel, you can display these letters on a shelf or bookcase. You might even consider using a little 3M tape and hanging them on the wall.)

Are you feeling festive? And inspired? I hope so. And, I also hope you’ll join me this Tuesday at 2pm ET and Wednesday at 6pm ET for YHJ. In the meantime, have a terrific weekend. It’s supposed to be beautiful here in the Philadelphia area and we’re going to savor every minute!

From my home to yours,
—Jill