Each and every year, I struggle with where to put the amazingly thoughtful Christmas greeting cards that we receive. There’s no designated spot in my home, and therefore, there is rarely a great spot to showcase them without everything looking too cluttered. This year, I anticipate an influx of Christmas and holiday cards from everyone.
Given the strange year we’ve been having, I think it’s a great way to be able to tell people you care that you’ve been thinking of them and to update them with what you’ve been up to during COVID – I know it’s probably not the normal update you’d be sharing. Still, I know our family has tried to make the most of it by being creative and that we’re not the only ones. So there may actually be more updates than what you’ve been watching on Netflix?! Anyways, in anticipation of an increased amount of holiday greeting cards, I created this D.I.Y Christmas card holder.
This D.I.Y Christmas card holder allows those greeting cards to be beautifully on display and in a purposeful spot where we can reflect on the ones we love; the ones we wish we could celebrate the holiday season with but will be doing so vicariously through their cards.
I give you a fair warning, this D.I.Y Christmas card holder isn’t as simple as most of my D.I.Y (if you’re looking for simple, try my terrariums or winter pots). This one requires some level of patience and desire to make it work.
Inspiration for this D.I.Y Christmas Card Holder
As I alluded to above, if you’re trying this, you need a little patience. However, if you don’t have patience, I thought I had good news for you as my inspiration for this D.I.Y Christmas card holder came from a product you could purchase online. But now, it appears to be sold out!!
When I see something I like, lately my first thought includes, “can I make this?” Which I appreciate so much because usually, the answer is I can. And that was no exception to this D.I.Y Christmas card holder… despite the patience required!
The original card holder came from Anthropologie and is pictured below.
Cards to Give (& Perhaps Receive)
My D.I.Y Christmas card holder is currently not filled with holiday cards I’ve received from others (it is November, after all), but cards I will be filling out to give to others. My amazing friend, Lauren, designed these beautiful holiday cards that I am obsessed with.
She is a local North Vancouverite with so much talent. She has a beautiful Etsy shop (cards are linked here) and is a fabulous graphic designer – she has done so much for me, including my logos for Signed Samantha. You can inquire about her graphic work via Instagram or her website. If you’re local to North Vancouver or Squamish, she is doing free delivery of cards. If you’re not local, you can send her a DM via Instagram or order via Etsy.
How to Make A D.I.Y Christmas Card Holder
Materials
+ 14′ floral ring
+ twine
+ macrame
+ kitchen utensil with approximately 1/2 inch diameter handle
+ dried or faux festive greenery
+ hot glue gun (plus glue)
Instructions
1. Take your floral hoop and hold the end of the twine in place. Begin wrapping your twine over that end such that it stays in place. From there, continue wrapping your twine snugly in circles until you fully cover the metal hoop. Cut off the excess twine once you are done and hold it in place.
*There is one thousand percent an easier way to do this than what I did. But I would wrap the twine around the hoop a few times and use my fingers to tighten it and bring it right next to the rest of the twine that’s wrapped. This is the same method I used for my eucalyptus wreath.
2. Heat your glue gun. Once your glue gun is heated, glue the end of the twine in place. You can also use crazy glue or another alternative that would work quickly.
3. Now, using your kitchen utensil of choice (third times the charm in this house), wrap your copper wire snugly and in circles around the handle of the utensil. You want your utensil to be wide enough so a card can fit into it without flopping over because the ring is too small and not too big that a card will just fall through (p.s. – a pencil doesn’t work, and something 1.5 inches is too big). Once you’ve wrapped the entirety of the utensil handle, clip the end of the copper wire. Remove the wrapped part from the utensil.
4. Secure a tiny bit of the copper wire to the floral hoop by taking a little bit of the wire and wrapping it around the hoop (similar to how you did the twine). While following the circular pattern of the floral hoop, gently lead the circular copper wire around, wrapping it every 1-2 inches and returning the hoops to the front (you know, so all the cards can be placed on the front LOL).
I found it easier when I spread out the wire a little bit (which made it sit more snugly against the floral hoop and allowed me to gently press the copper wire back so that it (almost) hugged the hoop. As you go, test your spacing and how the wire is shaped with a card or card-like object. This part requires all the patience and trial and error. But you want to make sure cards will actually sit in there!
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the copper wire surrounds the hoop.
6. Create the floral bundle you’d like to see and secure it to the card holder using the macrame. I contemplated a bow but personally decided against it – you can use whatever creative freedom you like.
7. To create the tassels, separate the strings in the macrame and wrap it 360 degrees around four of your fingers five times (end with both the loose ends facing the same direction). Clip off the end with scissors, and gently remove from your hand.
Wrap a thin piece of macrame on the top 1/2 inch of the piece you just wrapped (the opposite side of the loose strings). On the opposite end of where you just wrapped your macrame, cut the loop straight down the centre of the bottom to create the tassel. Brush out the bottom.
Loop a piece of twine through the middle of the little bubble you just created and tie it onto the floral loop—repeat 8 times (or repeat as many times for however many tassels you want).
8. Fill with greeting cards, and you’re off to the races!
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Erin
Aww this is such a sweet idea & turned out beautiful! Also, absolutely loving the place-holder Christmas cards your friends created. So stinkin cute!!