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How To Make A Holiday Window Banner From Felt Ornaments

There are a few more holiday projects going on (aka: getting crossed off the list – woot!) so let’s get right into it. Last year I grabbed four of these 3-packs of white felt tree ornaments from Target. I picked them up about a week after Christmas when they were marked down to ten cents per set instead of a dollar, which meant that in total I had 12 mini felt trees for 40 cents. They seemed kinda perfect to make a casual little banner that looks like hand-cut paper but is actually felt that I didn’t have to cut (which is win/win). Sidenote: this is my hand but it looks so much like John’s that it’s scary. Are we becoming one person? Can that happen? Should the person that we’re morphing into be called Shon or Jerry?

Banner1

Anyway, next I grabbed a random ribbon remnant from the box of leftover ribbon in the closet that I recycle for gift wrapping and laid it out on the floor with my little trees under it to see the spacing. You can see that they had little gold strings around the top of them for hanging, so I just clipped those off.

Banner2

Then I grabbed 12 paperclips from the office supply drawer. Bada bing, bada boom. Sure, I could’ve sewed them each in place or used smaller/cuter clips (like mini clothespins or something) but I didn’t want to be fussy about it and just wanted to make the window look festive using things we already had around the house. Call me crazy but there’s something deliciously casual and sweet about white felt trees, navy ribbon, and little silver paperclips. But if you’re feeling fancy you could get cute binder clips or teeny tiny clothespins instead.

Banner3

Behold… another mini tree!

Tree Far Away

Yup, our tabletop tree is ba-aaack! You can check out last year’s mini tree here (and the 38 homemade ornaments that I whipped up for last year’s Pinterest Challenge). Or you can just feast your eyes on this year’s beauty. Oh but don’t mind that mangled little gray pashmina I tossed under it for the time being (I think using some sort of silver faux fur could be awesome).

Tree Closer

As for the ornaments the only theme is: meaningful, sweet, handmade, and treasured. Basically in the words of Clara, it’s full of our “special special favorites.”

Tree Closer Again Again

We piled on a ton of ornaments that we love love love – whether they were from a local craft fair – like the Virginia ornament below – or even from a few amazingly crafty readers at book tour stops, like this sweet one with Clara’s baby silhouette…

Ornament Detail

Look at this fun felt YHL one that someone else made for us at another book tour stop. So cute, right? And in the background above it you can see John’s bike ornament that I got him last year and an old disco ball from Target over five years ago (along with a small brass french horn, which is what John played in high school band – mah man).

Yhl Ornament

This odd little moose-related ornament might be our favorite. It’s two freshly wedded moose snuggling up to each other. We picked it up on Alaska on our honeymoon. Cue the collective moose aww.

Wedding Detail

Another favorite is this burger one that we bought in honor of none other than the Burg-meister a few years back. And check out that cute felt owl above it (another reader-made ornament from one of our tour stops- have I mentioned how crafty you guys are?!).

Burger Ornament

Basically it’s a tree full of awesomely mismatched and meaningful treasures. You can see that our homemade antlers, spray painted animals, & glass bulbs full of brightly colored paint still have a spot up there, they just get to be surrounded by everything from preserved gingerbread cookies to an old empire state building ornament that reminds us of our time spent in NY where we met back in 2005.

Ornament Detail1

And of course we had to bring our new DIYed chalkboard into the festivities, so John faced his chalk-is-screechy fears and made a little Starbucks-ish drawing, complete with a snowman (he dipped the chalk in water before writing, which you guys suggested for vibrant colors and less chill-inducing screechiness – which seemed to work well, especially with the colored chalk). You might have seen it on instagram last week. I added some snowflakes and then Clara got to work drawing “a pretty rainbow for Santa.” The family that chalks together stays together.

Chalkboard1

Now this formerly un-festive corner makes me straight up jolly.

Chalkboard Tree

Oh and in the spirit of holiday updates, here’s how the little ornaments that I glued to magnets are now faring with three holidays cards up there to keep them company. I’m happy to report that they still look just as cute as they did without cards. And since we snapped this pic yesterday afternoon three more cards came. Woot! I love finding them in the mailbox. #cardnerd

Kitchen Magnets

Oh and check out this amaaazing advent calendar we got from our friends the Pohls in Germany (their three year old daughter named Clara is our Clara’s penpal – more on that here). They sent this traditional German advent calendar where you unwrap each envelope or box to find little treats like a tiny doll, candy, stickers, even a small package of colorful tissues. So far Clara has been having a blast opening one thing per day.

Advent

So there you have our holiday updates.

  • set up the big tree (gradient, baby!)
  • get a live tabletop tree again (like we did last year)
  • decorate the mantel, the built-ins, and the entryway console
  • hang our outside lights & decorate the front porch
  • shoot a Christmas picture of Clara & Burger for our annual holiday card 
  • make an advent calendar for Clara? Ahh I’m behind already!
  • shop for slash make all the gifts on our Christmas list (I’m about 90% done, can’t wait to cross this sucker off!)

We still haven’t hung any lights out front (ack!) or finished all of our Christmas shopping/wrapping, but maybe this weekend we’ll get there. What’s left on your Christmas to-do list? What have you euphorically crossed off already? Is it not amazing to drag a pen across things that you’ve completed? Maybe I need List-Crossers Anonymous. Anyone else having fun with a tabletop tree, homemade banners, or anything else that feels sweetly handmade? Spill the holiday beans.

Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15! 

Comments

  2. Meredith says

    How crazy! I bought the exact same ornaments in red on clearance last year, except I went nuts and bought 15 packs of 3. I strung them up on twine in our bay window last week. Eerily similar. When I take a picture, I’ll link it to this post!

    Reply

  3. Petra says

    Too funny about the look alike thing! I’ve gotten similiar comments about my husband and me that we could be “siblings”

    Reply

  4. Alison says

    Oh, I’m all about a mangled pashmina (that wanted to correct to pastrami fyi) under the tree! We’re rocking green under ours. :) Don’t apologize! What would Linus use? Blankie. Use what ya got.

    Reply

  5. Kim Wethe Rily says

    Since this is my year to get a real tree (every other year or so I get to get a REAL tree) we are actually having two trees this year. Kids are doing a kids tree in the kitchen. Everything except the lights are going to be made by them. So far we have a paper chain, and made from cardboard gingerbread men. and a drawing from school. I’m trying to do more every day when there isn’t homework. :)

    Reply

  7. Christina @ Homemade Ocean says

    Oh. my. gosh…..you just reminded me of the funniest story!

    When we were on our way to see you guys in Chicago I kept messing up and calling you Shon and Jerry and I was seriously so paranoid that I was going to say it in front of you!!!! I did think it was so awesome that your names were so interchangable though.

    Ohhhh I am having flashbacks of the paranoia haha :)

    Reply

  8. lisa riley says

    We do the German advent calendar in our house except I narrowed it down to 1 box a week with three different treats in it for my husband, step daughter and my 2 yr old son. i also hide it in the house each week so they have to hunt for it. its fun!

    Reply

  9. Kiki says

    I bought those same felted Christmas trees last year, too! They were too cute (and a great price) not to snag at Target. I’ve been trying to think of how I’ll use them and I love how you made them into a garland. I just might have to do that, too!

    Reply

  10. Caitlin says

    Looks great and now you can reuse the white tree ornaments next year if you are so inclined… in a totally different way! I love seeing how you guys repurpose stuff.

    What a lovely advent calendar for Clara from Clara! Lucky girl!

    Reply

  11. Skittle says

    I too am a crazy list lady. I have different little notebooks that hold lists for different reasons. I LOVE crossing things off my list. For the past few years, I have had to have an Excel spreadsheet to keep up with my Christmas lists though because on paper it just got too crazy, even for the Crazy List Lady. :)

    Reply

  12. Sam Frank says

    Love the little tree! Our big tree at my parents house is almost full of nothing but ‘special’ ornaments – we always used to get a new one each year as kids(usually having to do with whatever we were into that year, i.e. Toy Story, Power Rangers, etc) and I’m 27 now, so we’ve collected LOTS of them! I should try and photographically document them all!

    Reply

  13. Anna Portman says

    Adorable! I love love love that Kentucky State ornament. Iwas born, raised and am currently still living in Lexington. My mom’s side of the family is from Olive Hill which is where I think John’s family is from, too! I <3 Kentucky. Do you remember where you got the ornament?

    Reply

  14. julie s says

    from reading these posts it appears i am not the only YHL reader to have nabbed a ton of those little felt trees from target last year….thanks for the banner inspiration
    (and reassurance that there are others like me out there)
    haha

    Reply

  15. Sarah says

    I love all the sentimental ornaments! … Sometimes I get kinda jealous of all the glitzy matching trees but nothing compares to homemade and personal… I get so excited to take them out each year :-)

    Reply

  18. Nita says

    Whoa – is Clara drawing lefty? I’m left-handed so I’m always secretly rooting for any children in our family or of our friends to write lefty too… :)

    Reply

  19. Erica says

    I’m loving the mini-tree and Clarabean’s (that’s not her name?!) awesome advent gifts.

    I am a little disappointed, though, to see that my Sabot at Stony Point wedding save the date didn’t make the fridge. Maybe it’s by your desk where you reminisce about the great people you met in DC. ;)

    You guys are the best. Thanks for sharing your holiday cheer!

    Reply

  21. Christi says

    John, I share the fear of chalk board noise!

    I also love mini trees! Since we have always had giant dogs our trees have been small and on tables.

    Also, your book was featured on the homepage of azcentral.com as a gift idea, and I felt very proud of you guys!

    Reply

  23. Lucy says

    Looks good! We are doing a mini tree this year and I decided to put it in a galvanized steel bucket for a shabby-shic look, instead of using a tree skirt. We bought gravel to keep the tree straight up and are going to try it out tonight. Fingers crossed that it works!

    Reply

  24. Carly says

    Can I vote instead for a video called “Shon & Jerry” in which you both run around your house while miming your emotions and getting into all kinds of hijinks?

    Reply

  26. Renee says

    Hi from Australia! Love love love your blog, i read it daily (but this is my first comment!) Just a quick question- sorry if I have missed it, but have you done a post about your full size Christmas tree/ decor? I have loved seeing your tree in all it’s different ‘themes’ every year!

    Reply

  27. Veronica says

    I love the German advent calendar, how fun is that?! I saw you crossed making one off of your list, did the German one replace it or did you make one too?

    Reply

  29. georgia says

    I’m nearly done for Christmas, I just decorated the tree. Wreath Is hung, just got to get ready for our first open house on Christmas eve! :-)
    Very excited, I want to get my Christmas craft on too, I love the bauble magnets!

    Reply

  30. Lindsey says

    I did the exact same thing with the felt, tree ornaments from Target in my cube at work!! They are hanging on a ribbon above my head as I type :) Not gonna lie… feel pretty special that I had the same idea as you super creative rockstars!

    Reply

  31. Heather says

    “Are we becoming one person? Can that happen? Should the person that we’re morphing into be called Shon or Jerry?” LOL! Thanks for the laugh!!

    Reply

  33. Shelby says

    I bought a bunch of those felt christmas trees for 10 cents at Target too! I am so making a banner for my office party tomorrow. I forget all about those suckers.

    Reply

  34. krista says

    OK, this is just weird. Have you guys been snooping in my windows? I did a multi-colored version of this last week and hung it, get this, in my front window. So easy, and looks so cute.

    Reply

  35. Stephanie Baine says

    Your German friends didn’t send you a pickle?!?
    I’m a teacher and we are learning about Christmas around the world and everything about Germany says that they hide a pickle on the tree and the kid that finds it gets a special treat! DIY ornament idea??? HA!

    Reply

  36. Meredith says

    Oh my gosh twinsies!
    I seriously pulled out the exact same felt tree ornaments (actually, I bought the white and green ones) and said to husband “I bought these super cheap on clearance and was thinking I could hang them all together to make a garland or something…”

    Great minds think alike!! :)

    Reply

  37. Anna says

    One of my closest friends is German, and even when we were in Grad school together her mum would still send her a full advent calendar and a special present to open on 6 Dec (sinterklauss) – they know how christmas works! :)

    Reply

  38. Jennie D says

    John- You always looked like a French Horn player to me!! I could never put my finger quite on what it was, but you definitely have the “horn player” look! I did my undergraduate degree in French Horn performance… let’s be honest: We are basically the coolest people around. Amiright??

    Reply

  39. Kristen says

    I grabbed over 20 of the heart packs that are just like the trees… I think they were like .20 when I picked them up thinking I’d do something Valentines-ish for my kid’s classes… so far nothing though. I like the idea of Valentine’s garland though!!

    Reply

  40. Kadra says

    1 Shon
    2 I am right there with you on the lists thing. Sometimes I even add something I’ve already done just so I can cross it off!
    3 I think I’ve just decided that we will start being little tree people as well. We have a big artificial tree right now and in our new house there is room for 2 trees. I wanted to do a full one in the family room with all of our meaningful, homemade ornaments and another tree in the bay window in the dining room that looks out on the front, decorated in themed, coordinating ornaments. But I couldn’t decide if we should get another artificial one in after Christmas sales this year or not because I really like getting real ones…but that adds up every year…but smells so good! So, I’ve just decided that we are going to get a mini tree for the dining room to pretty decorate and then hang dangly lights all around it from the curtain rods to fill the rest of the window (idea found on Pinterest). Yay for the best of both worlds!

    Reply

  41. Carolyn L says

    Such a great idea with those ornaments! I bought them in green last year and couldn’t figure out what to do with them. Now I’ve got inspiration for a sweet (and free!) garland! Thanks! :)

    Reply

  42. sarahbclark! says

    i picked up a 3 pack of turquoise felt trees like that, but at goodwill. it was marked at 50 cents but it was a half off day so i got it for .25. i thought i got a great deal until i saw that you got yours for .10! dang.

    Reply

  43. Laura says

    This year we introduced a little tree with sentimental ornaments too! I bought a fake one thinking we’d use it every year, but it filled up really quickly, so that might not make it very many years! And I LOVE your ornament magnet idea for hanging up cards. At the moment they are cluttering up our mantel – not cute at all!

    Reply

  45. Lola says

    Hi! Which room is the tree in? I couldn’t quite tell from your pics. Trees with homemade ornaments are truly the most beautiful! Christmas blessings to you!

    Reply

  46. Heidi P. says

    Hahaha. I totally thought that was John holding the ornaments! And I love the garland. I wish I had bought more of those to make one too!

    Side note: is Clara making anything for her grandparents for Christmas?

    Reply

  47. DianeG says

    I totally made a banner with Target felt ornaments this year! I used the red and green snowflake ones (full price, sadly, but still not prohibitively expensive). I sewed them to a green ribbon and have them hanging across our sliding doors in the dining room. If I had a blog, I’d send you the link. : )

    Our mini-tree is in our daughter’s room. Gave her our box of ornaments and free reign to decorate it as she saw fit. She’s two, so she mostly picked animals.

    Reply

  48. Megan says

    Have you considered chalk markers? No disgusting chalk feel or screechy noise (and you can save the normal chalk for Clara, who seems to like it!)

    Reply

  50. Lia Nudelman says

    Our Christmas tree is a mish-mash of crazy, handmade, and treasured ornaments. There are ornaments I made when I was kid, ones my mom made for me, and some made by my boys. I love it because it’s so colorful and cheerful. I also love how people get sucked in to really looking at the details of all the ornaments because there are so many different ones. When my boys were little we decided to hang a lighted garland on the curtain rods in our living room to be able to display all of the pretty breakable ornaments. We still do it now even though the boys are bigger and not a tree-hazard, because it sort of highlights them and makes them special. These are all mis-matched and meaningful, too, like a glass firetruck and ambulance for my paramedic husband to some santa ornaments that are close to 65 years old. A few years ago, I started taking my boys to Hobby Lobby each year to choose an ornament to build up a collection for each of them. They get to pick whatever they want and we write their names and the year on the bottom. This year my youngest (9) chose a glass DJ monkey and the 12 year old chose a football with a Santa hat. It’s a fun tradition and I like to think that one day they’ll be able to tell the stories of each ornament with their children like I can with many of mine.

    Reply

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