[jquery] How can I convert a DOM element to a jQuery element?

What about constructing the element using jQuery? e.g.

$("<div></div>")

creates a new div element, ready to be added to the page. Can be shortened further to

$("<div>")

then you can chain on commands that you need, set up event handlers and append it to the DOM. For example

$('<div id="myid">Div Content</div>')
    .bind('click', function(e) { /* event handler here */ })
    .appendTo('#myOtherDiv');