there is nothing merrier than opening your mailbox to holiday cards from family and friends. and who doesn’t get excited when you open your mailbox to find more cards than bills, catalogs, and mailers? although many of us are closely connected these days via social networks, it’s still so nice to receive cards with photos of families and children and pets…and maybe read a few annual family letters. i hope as we continue to connect online the tradition of sharing holiday cards doesn’t end!

and there are SO many adorable cards to choose from! i always get stuck at the searching process – i like them all!

i’m sure everyone has a fun way to display their holiday cards or maybe you place them in a simple basket.

if you are looking for inspiration, here are some pretty displays i’ve dreamed of/found online this season….

 

 

 

the creative possibilities are endless, really.

since my life requires i keep things simple {insert – 3 small children}, i did our usual card display and thought i would share!

i started collecting them in a simple basket….

and once it started filling up, it was time to hang some ribbon. here is what i need for the project…

*red velvet ribbon, 2″ plain wooden clothes pins, scissors, tape*

there are 3 good doors in our living area – the area of our home where we can see the cards and admire them daily. i figured i would start on this end of the house, which is closest to the kids bedrooms…

the door with the window is our door to the garage, and that is how we enter and exit our home 100% of the time. the coat closet was the perfect door to begin…

next up, we’ll move to the laundry room door…

and then, for more cards, we’ll move to the pantry door, which is directly across from the laundry room door…

we’ll see how many we receive this year…if we fill up these 3 doors, i’m not sure where we’ll go from there. 😉

anyway, i start by taping the ribbon to the inside of the door on the top…

then i let the ribbon fall until it’s straight, cut it, and tape it to the inside of the door on the bottom…

i find if i add a little more ribbon, going on the inside a bit more, it gives it more strength for holding up heavier cards.

here is how the finished ribbon with look…

then i grab those simple clothes pins…

and start pinning cards…

and i work my way down the ribbon…

until i almost reach the bottom. i don’t like to hang the cards all the way down the ribbon because we won’t see them that far down, and it may keep our kids and cat from being enticed to remove them…

once i stepped away from the door, i thought i could easily add a second ribbon to maximize the space…but no more than 2 ribbons…

once i was done with the coat closet, i headed over to the laundry room door…

the kids were really excited to see the cards hanging. they recognized many faces from our family and neighborhood and school…they have stopped on several occasions to stand and stare at the cards. just like mommy does.

it’s just a simple way to display cards, but it makes me happy to see those faces. especially because we live so far away from our entire family and lots of friends. i guess i can say it makes me feel a little closer to home.

how are you displaying your cards this year?