Christmas Card Displays

One of my favorite activities during Christmastime is sending, receiving and decorating with Christmas cards from people we love. Last year, I proudly hung them all on our door. But this year, I saw this cute idea on pinterest for displaying cards that I simply couldn't wait to do in our own home.

So I ran to Big Lots and bought 50 feet of red velvet ribbon for $3 and a package of clothes pins for like $1.50 and got my cabinet doors ready for cards. As the Christmas mail has come in, I've immediately pinned it to the awaiting ribbon.

I really like how the decorated doors not only display the love from some of our favorite people, but also warm up our entire kitchen. (And, as an added bonus, there's no tape to peel the paint off of our garage door. Lesson learned.) I'm definitely going to miss the eye candy when we have to eventually remove them.

However, just because the cards will be taken down from our kitchen cabinets doesn't mean that they'll get thrown away. I found another creative way to showcase cards from Christmas past. You just punch a couple holes in the edges and then bind them together with metal binder rings to make a little booklet that  you can set out as a coffee table book for the holidays. Brilliant, right ?

So, now I actually have something to do with the old cards that I just couldn't bear to throw away at the end of the season. I'll make a new pack each year and just toss them on the  table when I set out our Christmas decorations. And it's really fun to casually look back through them and see how people have changed over the year(s).

And speaking of Christmas cards, here's a virtual version of our 2011 card, just for you! Of course, it features a picture from NYC! Did you send out any this year?

Thanks to both of these new tricks, I have a fun and creative way to show off both current cards and past ones. This makes me love my Christmas cards even more! Do you display the ones you receive? Let me know if you use these same techniques. They're really cheap and easy. Hope you have fun decorating with your Christmas mail!