Chic & Creative Ways to Display Your Holiday Cards
We're excited to bring you another great article from LilSugar, a fantastic source for mamas who want advice and news about everything from packing healthy lunches to mastering the art of stroller chic. This week, we're featuring their 9 ways to display and store your all of the holiday cards that you receive this year..
In an age when most of our mail comes to our email in-boxes instead of our homes, holiday cards are a welcome seasonal treat. But once the envelopes are tossed, what exactly do you do with all of those thoughtful cards, pictures, and notes? Make the most of your friends' and family's seasonal greetings with these nine fun ideas for displaying, preserving, and recycling your holiday cards.
Take a Trip Down Memory Lane
When framing all of her family's Christmas cards became too much, Sarah of Clover Lane used the cards to adorn her staircase. She added decorative paper and the year of each card to its back, and her kids got to take a fun trip down memory lane every time they went up or downstairs.
Turn Photo Cards Into iPhone Contacts
Snap iPhone pics of your friends and family's holiday cards and add them to your phone's contacts. Now every time your phone rings, you'll smile at the sight of your loved ones.
Christmas Card Tree
Hanging cards from a houseplant or tree adds a festive element to your home's decor (and all it takes is a spool of ribbon or string!).
Donate Your Cards to a Good Cause
St. Jude's Ranch For Children, whose mission is to transform the lives of abused and at-risk youth, accepts donations of used Christmas (and any occasion) cards year-round. Kids at the Ranch use the recycled cards to create new ones, which are then sold to benefit the organization's work.
Not Your Grandma's Baby Blanket: 10 Modern Crocheted Finds for Kids
Give Your Coffee Table a Seasonal Makeover
Have a piece of glass cut to the size of your coffee table and display all of your friends' and family's cards underneath it for a festive and fun conversation starter.
Turn Cards Into Ornaments
Create ornaments from the photos on cards of special friends and family, or intersperse the cards themselves among your tree's branches.
Create Yearly Binders
Using a basic binder and sheet protectors is a simple solution to keeping many cards neat and organized. Store the binders, then at holiday time, take them all out and reminisce about how your loved ones' families have grown and changed throughout the years.
Christmas Card Chandeliers
Hang favorite cards from a string of lights to create festive chandeliers — a fun activity for the kids to take part in!
For a Vertical Space
String cards on pieces of ribbon and hang them in a window or entryway — instant decor!
How do you store your holiday cards? Share with us in the comments below!
More lil nuggets from LilSugar:
12 Amazing Hotel Rooms for Kids
Lil Gift Guide: What to Buy for your Weekend Babysitter
9 Ways to make Bringing Baby Home to a Small Place Easier
Make Merry with these 15 Christmas Cake Pops
8 comments
-
We have a beautiful bowl on our coffee table and I put the cards in their as a get them. I only keep the ones with family pictures on them after the holidays end. Cards that are just signed I don't keep. I do love the idea of the keepsake book. That is one I might consider as I do have many past cards in a drawer in the guest room. Your ideas are so creative! I love the site. Please keep it up. -
love the ideas! I save mind every year but haven't done anything yet... thanks for the ideas! -
I am not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but you can tear (carefully) the front cover of the card (if there is no writing behind it), and make your own postcards for the following year. It is a great recycling idea, and the stamps for postcards are less expensive!
Also, as a teacher, I have saved old cards and collected them from the children over the years. You can make ornaments, cut the cards out to make winter/holiday scenes, or use the card covers to make a huge wall-sized Advent calendar. The possibilities are endless. How awesome would it be for a kid (either at home or school) to open such large "doors" on an Advent calendar. You can write winter/holiday facts, poems, clues, etc... for them to read!! -
These are great ideas! I have 3.
1. I use old Christmas cards for gift tags. I either cut what I want or use the whole front of a card. It is a great way to personalize gift tags. I always put a beautiful angel gift tag on my Granddaughter's gifts. She's our angel.
2. One year I punched holes around really extraordinary cards then crocheted around them with coordinating yarn. I made a hanger with yarn and they were tree ornaments!
3. This is the best one of all! My Mom and my sons made a table cloth with old Christmas cards! Mom bought one of those paper table clothes. They arranged the card fronts and taped them down. Mom put a heavy duty piece of clear plastic over the whole thing! It was wonderful! The boys had so much to say about that tablecloth at Christmas dinner. They spent lots of time with their Grandma too. I don't think Mom thought it would last but the boys wanted her to put "their" tablecloth on the Christmas table for many years. Mom used a white paper table cloth but any color will do! I am sure you could use glue sticks too.
I love old Christmas cards! -
Great ideas! I used to recycle my previous year's holiday cards by restyling them into new cards however most of my friends and family send photo cards now that I can scrapbook. As for where to display them, I've incorporated a piece of my home decor into a card holder. -
So many great ideas! I love the cards going up the stairs with the garland and also the binder idea. I bought a tree shaped card holder from Pottery Barn several years ago and absolutely love it! I never have space for all the cards though, so I may incorporate one of these ideas as well! This is my card holder: http://houseofestrogen.typepad.com/house_of_estrogen/2008/12/favorite-things.html
-
I LOVE the binder idea, too! Definitely starting that tradition this year! I just finished a cheapo project to display our incoming Christmas cards this year. I wrapped a piece of foam board with Christmas wrapping paper, taped some cute ribbon in a diamond pattern, and will use mini clothespins to attach cards to ribbon. Hope it holds!!!
-
I absolutely LOVE the binder idea! I am always so sad to take our cards down each year. Even choosing the right Christmas card is hard! ;)
http://www.thedoseofreality.com/2011/12/22/making-the-cut/
Join the Discussion!