DIY Christmas Series / Blogger Stylin Christmas Home Tour

Today its my day for the DIY Christmas Series which also lines up with my day for the Christmas Bloggin Stylin Home Tours. Worked out well right? I really enjoyed being a part of the bloggin stylin home tours this fall so when Lindsay emailed me about being a part of the Christmas tour I was all in. There are some amazing bloggers taking part so make sure you check them all out, the Hunted Interior and Retro Ranch Reno are just some of the great tours going live today! All the links are at the end of the post :-)

I had a few fun DIY's up my sleeve for this Christmas and by far my favorite is this DIY LOVE marquee sign. I have had this DIY on my mind and the Christmas tour was the perfect opportunity to try it!

It makes such a fun holiday mantel and was easy to make and under $30! You interested?

I started out with these mdf letters from Hobby Lobby, they were about 12" high for $3.50 each.

The outdoor globe lights from Target were PERFECT.

Mark on the letters where you want the bulbs to be. I didn't measure just sort of eyeballed center on each one. We only wanted to use one package of bulbs which had 25 bulbs so we planned accordingly in how many holes we drilled.
Also keep in mind that your letters will need to connect with the cord so try to line up the last hole on one letter and the first hole on another letter. Does that make sense? So in the picture above, the bottom right bulb on the L is the last on the L and then connects to the bottom left hole on the O, which is the first on the O.

Get your drill and drill out holes big enough for the bulbs to fit through. Side note: those are Luke's man hands.

The biggest drill bit we had wasn't big enough for the lights to pull through so we used a razer blade to trim out each center. This took some time. Don't cut yourself!

Paint the letters. If your letters are mdf like ours were you will need to spray prime them first. I used an ivory gloss spray paint.
Then run the lights through, connecting each letter. We weren't really worried if some of the cord showed in between each letter because we knew there would be a garland that would hide it.

Ready to go!
Prop up on the mantle. Ours stood up easily with the garland and after the holidays are over I might mount them on a board.

It is the first thing you see when you walk in our front door and I love it. It might stay up all year long :-)

I also DIY'd this fun peace banner for our front door. Its such a good reminder during this busy holiday season to slow down and remember the real reason for the season, that Jesus came to earth so we could have peace in him. I love seeing this reminder when I walk in the door. I'll share the DIY instructions next week! Bonus points to whoever sees the crazy girl in the reflection standing on a chair taking a picture of her front door who is creeping out her neighbors.

One of my other favorite moments in our house is the dining room table vignette. I wanted something simple that wouldn't take away from our Christmas tree which is in the corner and this gold star was perfect. I just hung it from the pendant light and I love the way the light comes through it.

Can you tell I have a thing for simple and clean? I know, I'm so predictable :)

One of the last things I did was this DIY tree topper. Our old tree topper was on its last leg... it was time for a change.

I used the same letters from Hobby Lobby and painted it then taped out some uneven stripes and went over with my favorite copper spray paint from this post. Oh and its totally just propped up in the branches of the tree. I know, I cheated. Its such a fun shot of color and I'm thinking it makes a good Christmas gift so act surprised if I give you one for Christmas.

I hope you enjoyed all the past two weeks of the DIY Christmas Series, I added a button on the right if you want to peek back through the projects. Its chock full of ideas for your handmade Christmas!

And make sure you check out all the great Christmas home tours from the Blogger Stylin' Home Tours if you want tons of Christmas inspriration. Lindsay really worked hard putting this all together and its kinda amazing she coordinated over 50 bloggers for it! Thanks girl :)
Overall these blogging home tours are a lot of work to get ready for but I've really enjoyed it because it makes me get my house ready and now I'm just sitting and enjoying it!

Disclaimer: I am not an electrician, this way just worked for us. AKA don't burn your house down.

Monday:

Lindsay - The White Buffalo Styling Co.

Roeshel - DIY Showoff

Jess and Monica - East Coast Creative

Laura - Finding Home

Jesse - Scout and Nimble

Sarah - Sarah M. Dorsey Designs

Angela - Number Fifty-three

Gwen - The Makerista

Brittany - Brittany Makes

Tuesday:

Ashley - The Handmade Home