Christmas crafting

With every year that passes, I find myself more and more drawn to allowing Thanksgiving to occupy my thoughts throughout the Autumn. Years ago I would have wanted to charge into decorating for Christmas as early as possible, but now I'm content to leave my house dressed for Thanksgiving until after that holiday is past.

Thanksgiving 2016 is a memory now, so I'm starting to deck these halls for Christmas. This year I'm determined to keep things simpler so that I can focus on what's truly important. Still, I want my house to look festive and inviting!

One of my favorite methods of decorating for Christmas is to use crafts I've created in years past. I'm blessed to have attic space so that I can store these things from year to year. This year I'll be using these items from crafty Christmases past.

If you visit my house this December, you'll be greeted by this large DIY Joy sign:

I made it from a 2' x 4' piece of plywood and 9 1/2" craft letters. All it took was some spray paint, glue, and a ruler! You can see the complete directions here.

Once again my kitchen window will wear this easy NOEL sign. Pottery Barn offered a similar sign a couple of years ago, but it was pretty pricey--so I created my own. Obviously it's modeled after the 1960's "LOVE" design--remember that tilted "O"?

Making your own version of the sign is a simple craft.  You'll need some kind of lightweight letters (I used pressboard letters from Hobby Lobby because the shape is so similar to the Pottery Barn sign), balsa wood strips, and spray paint, and glue. The back will look like this:

You can see step-by-step instructions for the sign here.

I love to burn candles at Christmastime, but it can be a challenge to find pretty ones that aren't heavily scented. So these easy-to-make Christmas candles are a favorite craft of mine:

Would you believe that's a just a pretty napkin Mod-Podged onto a plain pillar? These are fun to display and make nice gifts as well. The full directions are here.

And this next craft is so easy that it hardly even qualifies as a craft! Did you know you can make your own Christmas pillows from placemats?

Look for two-ply placemats. Just last week I bought a package of four at Home Goods for $9.99! Then simply open up the two layers of fabric with a seam ripper:

Fill with the stuffing of your choice, stitch or glue the opening back up, and you've got a cute pillow! If you need more explanation, you can see the complete instructions here.

How about you? Have you started your Christmas decorating yet? Have you finished? Made any Christmas crafts? I'd love to see!