DIY Hanging Christmas Card Holder #CIJ13

Christmas cards are one of my favorite parts of the holiday.  It’s great to hear from friends and family that I don’t get to see frequently.  I love when everyone sends photo cards, especially, as I truly get to see those folks.  I like to display them, but sometimes it can get a little tricky to figure out how to do it without looking like you’ve opened a card shop.

In the past I’ve tried running wide ribbon down the center of a door or along door casings and attaching the cards to them.  It looked okay, but last year Bubbles was very interested in the ribbons and many of the cards ended up being pulled off repeatedly.  I thought about setting them on top of the entertainment center but we usually do family Christmas photos and a few decorations up there – no room for cards.

Then I saw this easy card holder on Pinterest and thought, “Hey, I can make those.”  They’ll add Christmas cheer to a bit of wall space and Bubbles won’t be able to reach them.  They’re also super-easy to customize to match whatever your decorating style and color scheme is, and inexpensive enough that you can make new ones every year if you change themes.

Hanging DIY Christmas Card Holder

Supplies Needed:

Foam Board (any color; you can even reuse old pieces that have writing on them)
Material in desired print (Christmas prints or colors you like to decorate with)
Coordinating ribbon or raffia
Hot glue gun
Hot glue sticks
Ruler or measuring tape
Box cutter or X-acto knife
Pencil

Tutorial:

Decide how large you’d like your boards to be.  I measured mine to be 12″ wide at the top and bottom, then drew a straight line to connect the two marks.  This gave me three full-size sections and a small piece of leftover (which Bubbles then got to decorate while I worked to keep her busy).

Use your cutting tool and score down the board.  You won’t likely be able to cut all the way through, but once your score foam board, it’s very easy to “snap” open.  Then you can just start a cut at the fold on the opposite side and pull the pieces apart.

Lay your board on the wrong side of the material.  Trim the material to be roughly 1/2″ larger on all sides than the board.  Heat your glue gun and draw a thin line of glue along one side.  Tightly pull the material over the edge and glue down.  Repeat this process until all four sides are glued.  You may want to do a little folding or trimming at the corners to keep it neat.

While the glue dries, decide how long you want your ribbon to hang, and then double it.  You’ll need the extra to tie your bow.  (You can always trim it off some later, too.)  Cut a second piece of ribbon the same size.  Then glue one end of each piece to the back of the board at the top.

Once the glue is dry, flip the board over and tie a bow at the top of the ribbon.  And you’re done!  If you’re making multiple boards repeat the process with the rest of them.  You can use the same fabric, or mix and match.  Whatever suits your style.

You can hang them in lots of different places.  I’ll be hanging mine on whichever wall is bare, but if you don’t want to (or can’t) put holes in or use command strips on your walls, you could use a magnetic clip and hang them from your refrigerator.  Wherever you like.

Please click the image below to see all the posts in the Christmas in July: 31 Days of Christmas Crafts, Recipes, DIY & More series.