I bet your mailbox – you know, the one outside your door, not the one on your computer – is filling up with holiday cards.
It’s so fun to get cards from friends and see their family photos and read their notes.
But what do you do with them then?
It feels like a sin to just toss them in a drawer – or worse yet, the trash.
But how do you display them all?
That’s Tip #9 on our list of holiday decorating ideas.
The key to effectively using Christmas cards is to take advantage of their beauty and make them part of your décor.
In the photo at right, cards were tied to branches in a vase on a table. Simple and pretty.
My favorite idea is the one below, shown in photos from Chiot’s Run, which I found on Flickr. The cards are just clipped with clothes pins onto garland. What’s great is that – as long as you have a good amount of garland – you can handle lots of cards.
I like the way the cards seem to be just part of the décor. Nice!
I broke down this year and purchased this cool and versatile hanger than I can use for my cards and for ornaments and maybe for photos in the future. It’s on sale for $27 at Crate & Barrel.
But I had a gift card to spend and I realize that most of us are looking for low-cost ideas for displaying cards.
Years ago, I created a memo board to store and display Christmas cards.
It was similar – though quite a bit larger – than the BHG project at right.
I took a large bulletin board, covered with some batting and then a Christmas fabric and crisscrossed ribbon across the front to make places to tuck in the cards.
You can find similar instructions by BHG here.
The nice thing about this project is that you can customize it to go with your own décor – and adjust the size to accommodate your walls or the number of cards you receive.
You can also take the ribbon concept into other places.
In the two photos below from BHG, ribbons are on a door and a cabinet and provide good places to attach cards. This is also a nice way to bring a festive touch to another space in your home.
You could also dedicate a smaller tree – maybe a 4 to 6 footer – to be the display area for cards. Decorate the tree with lights and beads and just a very few simple ornaments. Use clothes pins or paper clips or binder clips to attach the cards to the tree.
Finally, I found this great Christmas card holder over at SASInteriors.net.
DIYer, designer and blog publisher Jenna created this great card holder as part of a series she did with Lowes.
You can get full instructions for the card holder project at the SASInteriors.net blog.
And make sure you take a look at some other great projects while you’re there.
Jenna has some great Christmas ideas too.
So what did you do with all your Christmas cards?
Got an original idea? Send it my way.
