How to DIY: Easy & Inexpensive Christmas Card Holder

The crafting of the insufficient crafter continues; this time we’re throwing a little holiday decorating into the mix!

 

Here’s the deal: we have a big plastic tub that is filled to the brim with our Christmas decorations and I kind of like it that way.  We have a bunch of fun ornaments that we’ve accumulated over the years, plus the ones that our parents gave us from when we were kiddos.  This is something I’m totally fine with – I love ornaments!  What I don’t love though?  The idea of having to go buy a new tub as we continue to potentially garner more Christmas stuff.

 

You may call it lazy, but I call it efficient.  To-MAY-to to-MAH-to.

Now that we know this about me, you can imagine my shock and awe of two things that I realized this year:

1. We have nowhere to place our Christmas cards as the roll in, and
2. I had a big cylinder of plastic ornaments that somehow snuck into our official Christmas bin unbeknownst to me.

I have no idea where the ornaments came from, why we have them, and where to put them.  I thought about putting them on the tree but THAT would have meant I’d have to actually go to the store and hunt down the ornament hook thingies.  That, my friends, you can label as lazy because that’s exactly what it is.  I don’t want to have to venture into Christmasland in the aisles of Target/Walmart/Garden Ridge because I just don’t feel like it.

 

So what, WHATWHATWHAT?!?!?! to do with the ornaments?

 

Enter kitchen twine + clothes pins + 2 little nails.  And the easiest way to display Christmas cards from friends and family should you decide that your mantel is already too busy!

First things first: it’s important to note that I don’t know how much the ornaments actually cost since I don’t remember getting them in the first place.  BUT we are already but a week away from Christmas, which means that you guys have probably already done your decorating thus far.  Wait for the shatter-resistant ornaments to go on 90% off sale in 9 days.  Promise.  It’s gonna be great!

 

Basically all I did was tie the kitchen twine around the little hanger part of each ornament about 5-6 inches apart, alternating the colors.  I think it took me a grand total of 20 minutes and a glass of wine to do it all, and then figure out how you want to hang it on the wall.  I would have done mine in one big long string, but there were already holes in the wall in our rental house so I just made due with those.  I actually like the doubled-up look though!  As the cards flood in just clip ’em on the string in between ornaments  and voila!  A card display that keeps your mantel free of clutter and cost practically nothing!

Alrighty guys, your turn:  favorite crafts lately?  How do you display your Christmas cards?  And is anyone else as neurotic about the amount of Christmas decor in their house?