On display

I finally got the rest of our holiday cards done.  I hand-wrote and hand-addressed 60 cards on Sat and 26 on Sun to complete the total of 126 cards.  While I do enjoy this activity, I felt a little stressed about it this year since I got a late start on them.

Meanwhile, I've really been enjoying the cards we've received so far.  In a previous home we draped 2 lengths of twine (1 a little longer than the other) from both sides of the fireplace mantel and hung the cards on the twine to display them.  This worked well until people started sending the photo cards which aren't folded.  In hindsight I now know I could have used clothes pins to pin the photo cards onto the twine.  

But a few years ago I decided to hang wide ribbons from the top of the entryway into the dining room and staple the cards to it.  This eliminated the need for clothes pins for the photo cards, and I love that we can hang as many or as few ribbons as we need.  Here's how it looks so far this year:

This can also be adapted to windows or doors if you don't have a wide entryway.  Here are a few other creative ways to display Christmas cards:

on a door

on a stairway

on a tree created from branches

on twine across a window

So don't put those beautiful Christmas cards in a pile on a table.  Display them so you and your guests can enjoy their beauty.