Last year was my first California Christmas and with the warm weather and palm trees, I was inspired to go with an unconventional Christmas tree from IKEA. This year, I thought I would add some holiday cheer to my front door and I found what I needed at IKEA, yet again.

Here are the materials I used to make my DIY front door Christmas decoration:

IKEA “HEAT” Cork trivets ($3), flexible chopping mat ($0.50 at the dollar store), double fold 1/4″ bias tape ($1.50), silver long prong brads ($2). For the letters, I used temporary wallpaper I had on hand but you could also use paint or contact paper.

Step1: Draw a line in the middle of each trivet – to find the middle of the circle, a little geometry comes in handy: use a ruler to draw a line anywhere on the circle, and at the middle point of that line, draw a perpendicular line. It will be in the middle of the circle.

Step 2: For the middle and top trivet, drill 2 holes 1/2″ from the edge on the center line and for the bottom trivet, drill just one hole.

Step 3: Glue the bias tape to the edge of the trivet – I unfolded the ribbon completely so it wraps around the edge and used Fabri-Tac adhesive that dries clear. It works well with fabric and cork.

Step 4: Cut 2 long strips from the chopping mat that are 1/2″ wide x 3″ long and 1 strip that’s 1/2″ wide x 1″ long. Drill 2 holes in the long strip, 3/4″ from the ends and drill 3 evenly spaced out holes in the short strip.

Step 5: Use the brads to attach the long strips in between the trivets and the short strip to the top of the first trivet. Knot a string through the outside holes of the top plastic strip to make a loop for hanging.

Step 6: Print the letters and cut them out – I used a glue stick to glue the letter outline to the back of my temporary wallpaper (you could also use contact paper) and cut them with scissors. I removed the backing and applied the letters to the cork trivets. I spelled “NOEL” to add a touch from home but you could easily spell “JOY” and use only 3 trivets.

Step 7: Finishing touches: I added some pine cones and greenery from the dollar store and hung the whole thing on my front door using a 3M command hook to avoid making any holes in the door.

I love the way it turned out and adds a wonderful festive touch to my front door that puts a smile on my face every time I come home!