Just before last weekend's Designer Tour of Homes in Alexandria, we were scrambling to complete our sun porch makeover. If you'll recall, one of the items we were working on was acquiring and hanging four new frames, two on either side of the white hutch.

While we completed the purchase and hanging of the frames a little over a week before the tour, we did so keeping the stock photo that came with the frames. Though I'm sure the girl in the stock photo would be disappointed to hear that she unfortunately wasn't going to be staying for the home tour, though we didn't have anything on hand to immediately use as a replacement. While I'm contemplating framing maps from our favorite travel destinations or as framing food photos from our favorite trips, I needed something more urgently.

Inspired by the season, I started thinking about how to put a holiday twist on artwork that I could create to hang in the frames just during the month of December. When I think of Christmas, one of the first things that pops into my mind are the various carols and songs that we all learned when we were young. Oh Holy Night, The Christmas Song, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and Silver Bells are all iconic in their melodies and lyrics, and they all sit at the forefront of my mind when I think of my childhood. Then the light bulb went on -- what if I wrote out some of the lyrics to four of my favorite carols? This would not only give us time to get permanent items for the frames, but it would put something festive and fun in the space for the home tour.

On the Sunday before the tour when Sarah, our home tour designer, and I were decorating the house, I talked to her a bit about my idea. As luck would have it, Sarah is actually a skilled  calligraphist, and offered to tackle this project. Knowing how much we had to do in the next week preparing for the tour, as well as how gorgeous her handwriting is, I jumped at her offer.