DIY: Mantle Holiday Card Display

diy holiday card display

step 6

Ok, so I’ll admit, I don’t even know if this project should even really count as a DIY. Like many of my little house craft projects, I mostly take a few simple materials I have on hand and jerry rig something out of them. In this case, we had a growing stack of holiday cards that seemed too pretty to just discard, but I didn’t want to spend money on one of those card holders. I thought they might look nice strung up on the mantle, and with a ball of baker’s twine, some scissors, and a hole punch — poof! — I made a works-in-a-pinch card display!

Crafty or not, this is really simple to do!  Here’s what you need:  

holiday card DIY

Also not pictured: some of those Command hooks that stick to the wall but then easily peel off later. I used these to hang our stockings, as well as these cards. While I used thin red and white baker’s twine for this project (I got mine here), after I hung it up, I thought I would’ve liked a thicker ribbon more, just so you could see it better. But whatever you have — ribbon, baker’s twine, or even butcher’s twine — will work fine.

step 1

First, use the hole punch to create holes at the top and center of each card. Be sure not to make the hole too close to the edge, so that if the card is heavier, the hole won’t rip.

step 2

Next, pull a large amount of the string away from the ball, enough to accommodate all the cards you’ll be hanging. Don’t worry so much about having too much string, because you can always easily trim it away later. String the twine through the card that you want on the far right of the strand…

step 3

…then, once strung through, loop it back through again so that the card will stay in place.

step 4

Continue with the rest of your cards. As I worked on one, I would stack the others just to keep them out of the way. It doesn’t really matter if they don’t hold their positions perfectly, because you can adjust them once the whole thing is hung.

step 5

Attach the hooks or nails you’re using to your mantle. Because my string was pretty heavy, I opted to hang the midpoint on Lucy’s stocking hook. Secure both sides, and trim any excess string. Then, you can carefully slide the cards around to make sure they’re evenly spaced (do this gently so as not to damage the cards!). If you want to get fancy, you can now go back and use more string or ribbon to tie little bows around each card’s hole, but this isn’t necessary.

And that’s it! My super easy, very affordable, works-in-a-pinch card display. It’s basic, but so much better than the big pile we had on our mail table!

Images by Victoria McGinley for vmac+cheese

 

13 Comments

  1. 12.18.13

    This is far more chic than our fridge arrangement (which my OCD husband is forever rearranging!). Can’t wait to see it in person on Friday!

  2. 12.18.13
    Meg said:
  3. 12.18.13

    This is my kind of DIY!! Easy and cute!

  4. 12.18.13
    Tori said:

    Very cute! I hung all my cards on a glittery red ribbon on a door. I love being able to display them.

  5. 12.18.13
    jillian said:

    cute idea and my kind of DIY!

  6. 12.18.13
    Natasha said:

    Love the mirror! Where is it from?

  7. 12.18.13
    kendall said:

    love this! thanks for sharing :)

  8. 12.18.13
    Bethany said:

    I like it–simple but effective! And what a festive mantle! In the past we’ve done something similar with clothes pins, but they tend to get a little clunky and the cards sometimes fall down. I like this idea a lot!

  9. 12.18.13
    Dana said:

    What a great idea! Ours are currently propped up on our entry table, but every time I have to get something I knock them all over. I was thinking about doing something similar with close-pins or paperclips, but this looks much cleaner, which I love.

  10. 12.18.13

    I love this! Our fridge is getting too small for all of our cards, the only issue is we don’t have a mantle, haha.

    I am with you on the faux-DIY projects, haha.

  11. 12.19.13
    Nina said:

    Love this. And it definitely qualifies as a DIY, the best kind too!

  12. 12.27.13
    Ailee said:

    I did the exact same thing, with the exact same twine! I absolutely love getting Christmas cards. I love that mirror of yours so much!

Comments are closed.