Place your fancy holiday cards into
window ornaments.

• Walnut Hollow's window frame with box front
• Four panes of glass to fit the window frame
• DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint: Light Buttermilk (LB) #DA164, Glorious Gold (GG) #DA071, and Tomato Red (TR) #DA169
• Paintbrushes: 1 inch flat, #1 liner, and sponge
• Old toothbrush
• Artifacts Inc. paper with Santa and greenery motifs
• Ivory card stock
• Christmas cards or postcards
• Two 4 inch-diameter metallic gold paper doilies
• Assorted fresh or artificial greenery
• Grapevine twigs
• Glass-etching cream
• Florist foam
• Decorative-edge scissors
• Glue stick
• Goop glue
• Mod Podge matte-finish decoupage medium
• Glue gun and hotmelt adhesive
• Medium- and fine-grit sandpaper and tack cloth
• Soft cloth
• Minwax stain sealer: Early American
• Wood sealer
• Matte-finish spray sealer

1. Sand all surfaces of the window frame and box with medium- and then fine-grit sandpaper. Remove the sanding dust with a tack cloth. Apply wood sealer to the window frame surfaces, following the manufacturer's instructions. Let the sealer dry. Sand again with fine-grit sandpaper, and wipe clean with a tack cloth.

2. Use the flat brush to apply three coats of TR to the wood surfaces, allowing the paint to dry after each coat, and sanding before applying the next coat.

3. From paper, cut out the desired motifs. Use decorative-edge scissors to cut large enough squares and rectangles from ivory card stock to back some of the paper scraps. Center and glue the paper on card stock with a glue stick.

4. Arrange the doilies, card stock-backed paper, and paper on the box front. Apply Mod Podge to the back of the paper pieces and press them in place, working across the box. Immediately brush over each piece with Mod Podge. Let the Mod Podge dry. Apply a second coat of Mod Podge over the entire box front. Let it dry.

5. Use a liner brush and GG to paint accent lines on the card stock shapes and the box, using the photograph as a guide.

6. To create a worn look on the box, use fine-grit sandpaper to remove some of the paint from the edges. Remove the sanding dust with a tack cloth.

7. Wash the glass windowpanes and dry them well. Apply glass etching cream to one side of each windowpane, following the manufacturer's instructions. Rinse off the cream with water after the suggested amount of time. Allow the panes to dry, if needed, apply a second coat of etching cream.

8. Cover the box to protect it from spattered paint. Dilute LB with water to ink consistency. Dip the toothbrush bristles into the diluted paint. Tap off excess paint on paper towels, and spatter (flyspeck) the window frame by drawing the handle of a paintbrush across the bristles of the toothbrush, spattering the etched windowpanes at the same time. Let the paint dry.

9. Lightly spray a coat of matte-finish on the window frame and box. Let the spray dry.

10. To antique the finish, use a sponge brush and apply a coat of Early American stain to the window box and frame. Immediately wipe off the stain to achieve the desired effect. Let the stain dry. Lightly spray the surface with matte-finish and let the finish dry.

11. Use Goop glue to install the glass panes in the frame. Let the glue set. Cut floral foam to fit in the window box. Cut fresh or artificial greenery to arrange in the foam, hot-gluing as needed. Insert grapevine twigs. Arrange cards in the box.