Smarty Christmas Card Display

By Jen P, Charlotte Smarty Pants

The holidays may be over, but you can still sit back and enjoy the season. And what better way than to bask in all of your beautiful Christmas cards?!

I live for Christmas cards, and I mean L-I-V-E for Christmas cards! I love the process of staging that perfect photo (and trust me, this is no small feat with four wiggly ones who have never warmed up to my camera!), finding that festive card design to complement that near impossible photo, hand-addressing my envelopes (I'm old school on this one!) and dropping them off in the mailbox for a December 23rd delivery. My absolute favorite part of the Christmas card process is receiving the cards. I never throw any away - I keep them in a special box and display what I can on my refrigerator, rotating them periodically throughout the year. One of my Smarty friends, Tanya, came up with the most presh idea for displaying your family cards throughout the years - a hanging Christmas card ribbon that you add to year after year.

Here is what you need:
-8 feet of holiday wire ribbon - maybe 2" wide and keep it simple since your cards will be elaborate. I chose red ribbon with white trim.
-green wire - (2) 6" pieces
-Your family Christmas cards throughout the years
-Either a hot glue gun or a stapler, your choice

First make your bow by looping and folding your wire ribbon into a bunch of loopy folds. I made mine with 6 big loops that folds into 12 small loops to make a big bow for the top of your display. Secure tightly in the back with a green wire. Arrange the loops by twisting and folding to make a bow, adjusting along the way. This is hard to describe, but not that difficult to do once you play around with it.

Next attach your bow to a long strip of ribbon. I made mine long enough to hang in a doorway or on a pillar. I'm guessing that it was maybe 6'. I stapled the back of my bow to the center of my ribbon and tested it before hanging to make sure the bow was centered and laid flat. I also cut the bottom edge of my ribbon into angles for the Martha effect.

Next either hot glue or staple your cards to the ribbon. If you staple, make sure you staple from the inside so you can still read them.

Lastly, enjoy for years to come! It took me a while to backtrack the last 10 years of Christmas cards that we've sent. I'm happy to report that I have all of them, even my wedding Christmas card! My children enjoy looking at our family from the beginning and watching it grow each year. We are now on our second ribbon and it's perfect in my living room with 2 pillars.

Thanks to Smarty Tanya, or shall I say Martha, for the cutest tip ever! Merry, merry!

Posted by Triad Smarty Pants at 5:00 AM