Stencil Ornament &amp; More Christmas Inspiration

So. To make a long story short... I started out to make a project with these Plaid brand 3" letter stencils that I had bought from JoAnn Etc. this past summer (the entire alphabet/numbers comes in a packet and I got them for 50% off - so CHEAP). I was going to paint the word JOY on something and decided I would try it with gold spray paint rather than regular paint. The stencil project didn't work out, but, because I was using spray paint, I ended up with nicely painted gold stencils. I set them aside and a few days later I decided to punch a hole in the top, thread ribbon through and hang one on the tree to see what it would look like as an ornament.

Pottery Barn has a great tree decorated with stencil letters as well (see below). You can vary the letter style and what/whether you paint the stencil to get the look you want.

On to more ideas... I just love finding new sources for inspiration. I recently picked up a copy of Ladies Home Journal because it looked like they had some good Christmas ideas. After reading it, I went to their site and was pleasantly surprised to find more great inspiration. The rest of this post is just a peek at what I found on their site ...

The next two images are from their Easy, Charming Christmas Decor

I know we've already seen the branch idea, but what about using it to display your Christmas cards?
This idea from "The Unexpected Tree: A Modern Twist on Christmas Decorating" would be a great one to use if you're short on space, budget or just like the idea of doing something different for an additional tree in your house.

One of the images from "Holiday How-To Christmas Ornaments"

Ever wondered how to make a good bow? Find instructions here.

Find out how to make this homemade garland and ornament here.

Or this ornament and more here.

I also really liked this monogrammed luminary that you can find here .

Some centerpiece inspiration...

And, of course, recipes!