Bring Christmas Into Your Kitchen With This DIY Cabinet Decoration

Decorating for the holidays is a favorite activity for lots of families. The lights, greenery, and other accouterments bolster our sense of joy, community, and seasonal cheer. Often, we focus our decorating around our Christmas tree and mantelpiece or on the outside of our homes, but there's no reason we can't decorate the other areas of the house as well. As a center of activity in most homes, the kitchen is a great place to fill with Christmas cheer. This can be done with everything from fresh garlands to seasonal décor and dinnerware — but one easy way to make a huge decorative statement is by adding colorful ribbons to your cabinetry.

Ribbons are wonderful as decorations because they can be as elaborate or minimalistic as you prefer, utilizing bold, contrasting colors, graphic prints, shabby chic patterns, or monochromatic modernism. They are also available at a variety of price points, suitable for any budget, and fabrics from canvas to burlap to linen to velvet ($4 at Joann's) to satin ($7 on Amazon). Whatever your tastes, there's a ribbon to match that'll perfectly accentuate your Christmas season style. The only real requirement is that you select a type wide enough to be visible against your cabinet doors from across the room; a ribbon width of 2 to 3 inches should suffice.

On average, kitchen cabinet doors are 24 to 30 inches tall, and ribbon is usually sold by the yard. Therefore, you should plan to use about 1 yard of ribbon, vertically, for every standard-height cabinet you have, and perhaps another yard horizontally for every two cabinets. Of course, when you set about actually hanging your ribbons, you'll want to get exact measurements and pre-cut your segments to ensure consistency across your display, but when shopping for ribbon, it will suffice if you simply have a ballpark idea of how much your cabinets will require. Note that if you are adding handmade bows to your cabinet decoration, you'll need significantly more, however, and a wired variety for shaping. Alternatively, you can buy pre-made bows in a matching or complimentary ribbon instead.

Once you've purchased your ribbon, cut strips for vertical and horizontal placement — cutting about 4 to 5 inches longer than the exterior of the door to account for attachment to the inside. Using painter's tape, secure each ribbon's ends to the inside of the doors so they are taut and won't buckle or get caught on anything. Locate the center of the cross on the door and secure a bow to the intersection with florist wire ($3 at Joann's). For added whimsy, go diagonally or place the cross off-center! Happy Holidays!