dom-manipulation.js

function $e(tag='div', props={}, children=[]){
  let element = document.createElement(tag);
  Object.assign(element, props);
  element.append(...children);
  return element;
}

// With `elem.append(...children)` - with the added benefit that plain strings passed to .append() get turned into text nodes automatically, so you probably don't need $t any more.
var $t=document.createTextNode.bind(document);