Christmas Decorating Made Simple – How to Frame Your Doorway With Christmas Cards

If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to decorate your home this Christmas, look no further than your own mailbox! Every year, you get Christmas cards and if you’re like most people, you display them during the season, and then once the tree comes down you gather up all the cards and put them into the recycle bin. Stop! You can use those cards to create simple, elegant Christmas decorations in your home, and best of all…you can do it for free.

Rather than throw them out, collect the cards you receive each year, and save any extra ones you have left over from your Christmas mailing list. Christmas cards are like getting free art…and by saving them, they become a part of your holiday decor.

Here are some ideas for decorating with Christmas cards:

1. Make A Festive Doorway Frame
This is a wonderful way to display all of those special cards you’ve collected over the years, because you can see each one as you walk through the door.

Put a large bow or Christmas greenery at each corner of the doorframe, or another seasonal decoration (stars, angels, etc). it’s a good idea to keep it the same in each corner, just for symmetry. This will dress up your collection and also serve as a visual anchor.

Now, take a look at your cards and see which ones will group together best. I like to use cards of a similar size together, and also group cards that open from the bottom and cards that open from the sides. Other people like to mix it up, alternating bottom-open cards with side-open cards. Play around with groupings, and see what you personally prefer…there’s no right or wrong way to do it.

Ideally, you want the cards to show the pretty picture on the front, not gape open to show the inside. You can take a piece of folded-over tape, or double-sided tape, and place it near the edge of the inside of the card to hold it closed. You can also use pretty paper clips or even bobby pins to hold them closed, and add a bit of sparkle.

Then, it’s as simple as sticking them up with tape, all along the doorframe. You can frame the entire door, or just go halfway up or down…it’s up to you! Most cards will not get damaged by tape, as they have a coating, but you can also use mounting putty to stick them up if they are more delicate.

If you don’t want to tape them directly to your doorframe, you can hang long pieces of Christmas ribbon along the top and down the sides of the frame, and attach your cards to the ribbon. In this case, it’s a good idea to weight the bottom of the vertical ribbon with bells or ornaments, just so it hangs steady and doesn’t wave around as you open and close the door.

And that’s it! A simple, elegant way to spruce up you doorframe for Christmas…and all for free. Now all you have to do is start collecting those Christmas cards!