6 Ways to Craft a Merry Little Christmas

A child of the '70s, Jennifer Rizzo loves a good tassel, and she makes them just like she did when she was a kid: Wrap yarn around an index card about 70 times. Snake a length of yarn between the card and the wrapped yarn, and tie it off. Slip the yarn off the cardboard and snip in half. Tie a second bit of yarn about 1 inch from the top to form a ball at the top. Tip: The thicker the yarn, the fluffier the tassel .

Dressing up the kitchen window "makes the work happy," during busy holidays, Jennifer says. Hang strands of beads, berries or ornaments on hooks, then create a winterscape using greens and household items-don't overlook the kids' toy box for inspiration. Tip: Small cypress pine topiaries are a steal-just $5 at the grocery store.

Enjoy a casual table for holiday meals all month long. Deer-motif dish towels make nifty place mats. Buy two sets so you can leave the table set while the dirty towels get washed.

Maria Marcusse deftly uses old things in new ways. When a strand of vintage mercury glass garland broke, she hot-glued the beads to her vintage bottlebrush trees nested in mustard pots (teacups work, too).

Inspired by old-fashioned mechanical toys, Jennifer created woodland animals by using royalty-free image source Graphics Fairy for figures. She printed images onto a stiff paper, cut out the shapes and attached moveable limbs with brads. They're perfect for embellishing napkin rings, wine bottles and packages.

To create this Advent calendar, Maria adhered number stickers to shipping tags then used gold straight pins to attach them and a selection of ornaments to an artists canvas lined with foam board. Holiday home tour: Jennifer Rizzo hosts a virtual holiday house tour on her website each year. She shares the decorated homes of about 30 like-minded types, such as Maria. Go to jenniferrizzo.com to start the tour.