Festive DIY Letters & Hometalk’s “Home for the Holidays” Campaign

Hometalk, the world’s largest social network for home and garden enthusiasts, has partnered with bloggers to launch their “Hometalk for the Holiday’s” nationwide campaign and they chose me (yes, me!) as one of the bloggers to represent them on live TV!

Me!  Live TV!

It was such an amazing, exciting (nerve-wracking!) invitation to accept, and I was so honored to dive on in and do it!  I appeared on WISN-TV’s (the ABC affiliate for the Milwaukee, WI area) morning news program yesterday to promote “Hometalk for the Holidays” and share some festive, budget-friendly, and easy DIY holiday craft ideas.  I shared my Gift-Wrapped Picture Frames project that I enjoy doing each year, the Metallic Ribbon-Wrapped Holiday Letters I made last year, and this super simple and super cute DIY project:

All you need to turn these:

Into these:

 

…is some spray paint, yarn, scissors and scotch tape.

1. Spray paint your letters your favorite holiday colors.  (Don’t be afraid to veer beyond traditional red and green!)  Let them dry overnight.
2. Tape the end of a strand of yarn to the back of a letter using scotch tape.  Wrap it around your letter, occasionally overlapping and criss-crossing the yarn until the letter is covered how you like it.  Cut and secure the other end of your strand to the back of the letter using scotch tape.  At this point I also like to add a few more pieces of tape around the back to help secure my design so the yarn doesn’t move around the letter.
3. Repeat until all of your letters are done.

Tip: If you live somewhere where temperatures are too cold to effectively spray paint outside or in your garage around the holiday time, a no-mess way to spray paint your letters indoors is to do it inside of a large cardboard box. Set your letters inside the box, reach your hand in and spray away! As long as you’re careful, the sides of the box will keep the spray paint contained. (I do still use a drop cloth to protect the surrounding area just in case.)

These colorful, yarn-wrapped letters look so cute sitting on a shelf, window sill or mantle, and are a low-cost, high-impact way to bring some holiday cheer to your home.

And now…my live TV debut:

 

I was feeling pretty calm in the morning prior to the segment (or maybe I was still half asleep – I had to wake up at 3:30am to make it there on time) but once we came back from the commercial break and Thema started the intro for our segment I got SOOOOOOOOO NERVOUS!!  My hands were shaking uncontrollably and I was convinced it was obvious to everyone watching.  I had to anchor them to my lap at one point to get a grip, and then I mom-voiced them (in my head) to knock it off and that finally did the trick.  Whew, what a trip.  Even though I was nervous, it was so much fun!  I still can’t believe it!

Great big, HUGE thank yous go out to my blogging bestie Beth for recommending me for this campaign, Raquel from the Rosen Group, my sister-in-law Lesley for her fantastic tips, and most especially to Miriam and the entire Hometalk team.  It was such an honor and a thrill to be a part of your “Hometalk for the Holidays” campaign – THANK YOU!

This, and many other great holiday DIY projects can be found at Hometalk.com under the hashtag #HolidayCheer – check them out and make your home merry today!