Christmas Craft – Easy DIY Joy Board

Welcome to Day 6 of the 25 Days of Christmas celebration here at A Mother Thing! We’ve been bringing you some fun recipes and crafts over the last five days, and today I have a wonderful decorative craft for you! This is something I whipped up in about 30 minutes, and it’s my new favorite holiday decoration! I’ve even done a video tutorial for those who want to make your own!

Enjoy!

Here’s what you’ll need. I got all my materials at Michaels, and in total the supplies ran about $15. You’ll need some craft glue AND a glue gun, some scissors, fun and festive scrapbook paper, multiple colors of raffia and some letter cutouts. You’ll also need a plain wood triple picture frame.

There are a million ways to do a craft like this one. You might prefer to use yarn instead of raffia (it’s certainly less messy!), or you might want to just paint your letters. Originally, I intended to actually glue the scrapbook papers to the fronts of the letters (cut to the right shape, obviously) and have no background to the frames. But the creative process is unique to each individual, and I went with it.

You can see the entire process in the video below, but basically it went like this.

First, I cut out the scrapbook paper just a little bigger than the inside of the frames. Using craft glue, I glued the paper to the back of the frames. You’ll want to think through your colors and how you want them laid out. I only realized afterward that mine looked like a traffic light!

Once you’ve got the paper backgrounds set, use your glue gun and wrap your raffia around each letter. You can do the entire letter if you want, but I chose just to do a small bit of each one. I used glue on the back of each letter to hold it.

Finally, I simply used the glue gun to glue each letter to the frame in a whimsical pattern.

I tried to use complementary colors of raffia so they’d contrast with the paper backgrounds. I also love the sparkly paper and how it contrasts with the matte finish on the frame.

This frame actually came with a vertical hanger, which means you can nail it to the wall or just place it on the fireplace ledge like I did. It looks so spiffy there! I don’t think it is quite hardy enough to be used outdoors, but it sure is pretty inside!

Of course, it was very quickly that I learned that cats and toddlers REALLY like to mess with new and colorful decorations, so in the end I moved it to the mantle. Once I hang our Christmas stockings, it’s gonna look amazing!

What do you think? Are you going to try it yourself?

Don’t forget to check out the other posts in my 25 Days of Christmas, and come back tomorrow to see what’s next! And if you like it, don’t forget to share it!

Katie Reed

Katie Reed is a passionate writer and mother of four vivacious boys from Salt Lake City, Utah. Drawing from her own journey through TTC, pregnancy, and the joys of raising children, she offers a wealth of insight into the world of motherhood. Beyond her heartfelt tales, Katie delights her readers with family-friendly recipes, engaging crafts, and a curated library of printables for both kids and adults. When she’s not penning her experiences, you’ll find her crafting memories with her husband and sons—Dexter, Daniel, Chester, and Wilder.