shelf life: displaying your holiday cards

Now that we're just under a week away from Christmas (what?!), the holiday cards are starting to roll in. I'm grateful I got the bulk of mine out a few days ago, but I still have a few I want to send. I enjoy receiving holiday cards, seeing the pictures of everyone and hearing how people from our past and present are doing. I like to keep the cards out during the holidays so we can enjoy them and think of the people who thought of us, but sometimes it's hard to find a nice way to display them. 

Of course, I've seen them placed along the mantel and I've seen them tied with string or ribbon and hung on a stairway bannister, or randomly pinned up everywhere, but I like something a little more put together.

So, in a throwback of sorts--for Thursday, naturally--I wanted to share this idea I've always liked from David Stark. He, being the genius event planner/producer, put this together for O at Home magazine (may it rest in peace) back in 2007 when I worked there; though much to my dismay, I did not get to work on this story.

Anyway, he took a piece of solid insulation material, which seems to be available for relatively cheap at the hardware store, and covered it in a beautiful pink dupioni silk. Then he pinned holiday cards to the board in the shape of a tree, adding ornaments, garland, and other fun elements creating something really special and festive.  

I love this and it's quite customizable because you can choose a fabric that coordinates with a certain room, or if your holiday decor has a specific theme or color scheme, you can match that, as David did here with the palette shown in this part of the story. Here, coordinating packages and ornaments on the bannister and chandelier also speak to the overall theme. I also love this scheme because it uses black, which most people don't think to use at Christmas, but I always endorse a little drama, contrast, and sophistication. My husband didn't understand when I bought black ornaments last year, but ha! If it's good enough for David Stark, it's good enough for me. 

You can copy the tree design or try a star or any other sort of pattern to hang the cards. And during the off-season, you could select a different fabric and display your children's art or other personal ephemera on it.  

Do you display your holiday cards in a special way?
  

image via oprah.com, photograph by james merrell


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