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Tag: Christmas Cards

Christmas Card Holder – A Lowes Creative Idea #LowesCreator

Written by Jenna on . Posted in Christmas, DIY, Holiday. 13 Comments on Christmas Card Holder – A Lowes Creative Idea #LowesCreator

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and stuffed your tummies full of turkey and mashed potatoes (with butter of course) – my personal favorite.  We traveled and enjoyed the Holiday very much, but the only bummer about not hosting was the lack of leftovers.  Anyway, let’s get on to something fun…

I’m super excited for today because I have so much to share with you!  I’ve been busy preparing for the Christmas season (yes, already – I know for some it’s early), but wanted to let Thanksgiving pass before bombarding you with all my Christmas inspiration.  Now that the Holiday season countdown has begun, brace yourself for a fun few weeks ahead with DIY creations and decorating ideas and tips!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the first Christmas cards started trickling in over the weekend and since my December Lowe’s Challenge was to create something for the upcoming Holiday season, a new Christmas Card Holder seemed so apropos.

This card holder is one of my favorite projects I’ve ever made.  I got the idea when creating the family pallet photo holder a few weeks ago.  At the time, I mentioned how I felt the photo holder was so versatile and didn’t have to just hold family photos, but also christmas cards during the holidays, as well as invitations, announcements, etc anytime of year.  Thus my Christmas Card Holder was created…

I started off my hitting the lumber and paint aisles of my local Lowe’s and picked up a few must-have items:

  • 6′ long X 12″ wide wood board
  • clothes pins (30 – 35)
  • spray paint (I chose Valspar Glossy Cut Ruby)
  • stencil (purchased at AC Moore / a silhouette would work too)
  • white paint & stain (for the distressing)
  • paint for the letter (I chose metallic gold)

I began by…

1. Distressing the Wood

I was going for a worn look and wanted the wood to look old and distressed, so I banged-it-up a bit and layered it with a combo of paint and stain.

I began by using  nails, chain, and a hammer to bang up the surface to make it “used and abused”.  This is a great way to get out some of that pent-up aggression – hehe.

Once I achieved the desired “wear”, I added one coat of white paint.  I used a semi-gloss finish paint that I had laying around, but any kind will do.  Once dry, I sanded the wood thoroughly so some areas of the raw wood showed through and the surface was smooth.  I added a light coat of stain focusing more on the edges and ends. I applied it in small sections and quickly wiped it away so only a thin layered remained. Then I added another coat of white paint and sanded the surface once more.  This layering process resulted in just the right amount of wear.

Old to New in 30 minutes!

2. Stencil

I found a pretty stencil at AC Moore which I got for about $3+ (using a 50% off coupon). The letters are 3″ high and the words CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS fit just right on the 6′ board.

3. Paint

Once I outlined the stenciled letters with a pencil, I filled them in with a nice metallic gold craft paint. At first, I was going to use red or green for the letters, but I am so glad I chose gold – I’m loving the hue, especially with the other goldtones in my other holiday decor.

4. Adding the Clothespins

While the letters were drying, I spray painted the clothes pins with Valspar Glossy Cut Ruby.  Once they were ready, I attached them to the wood board with hot glue.  The spacing between each clothespin is about 5-6″ and there are 16 on each side.

 And it’s done…

I’ll admit, the Christmas cards are from last year – I haven’t received that many yet.  I always keep my cards and then use them the next year as tags for presents, so that’s what these will be used for in a few short weeks.

My new card holder is such a unique and fun addition to our Christmas decor. I have it situated right next to the Christmas tree so we can enjoy the treasures that are sent from family and friends – true Christmas Blessings!

If you’re looking for more ideas on how to display Christmas Cards, check out the roundup I did last year, by clicking on the link: 15 Creative Ways to Display Christmas Cards.

And I created another card holder last year if you want to see that as well.  I love this one too, but with all the cards we receive, it ended up not being large enough.  This new one though, has lots of room! Click to see: Holiday Card Holder.

I’m still working on putting the finishing touches on the rest of the house, and hope to share a Christmas Tour next week.  In the meantime, I’ll be showing you a few more DIY projects, as well as some easy and fun decorating ideas.

Have you decorated for the Holidays yet?  How to you display your Christmas cards?

Disclosure: I am part of the Lowe’s Creative Team and was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to purchase items for my project.  I was also compensated for my time to use the products.  No one told me what to create, what to buy, how to use the product, or what to write.  All opinions are 100% mine!

I link my projects to some of these parties: Skip to My Lou, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps on the Porch, Today’s Creative Blog, Stories of A to Z, All Things Heart & Home, House of Hepworths, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Tip Junkie

DIY: Holiday Photo Cards

Written by Jenna on . Posted in Craft, DIY. 10 Comments on DIY: Holiday Photo Cards

It’s that time of year when the post office is at it’s peak with the hustle and bustle of people sending out packages and waiting on line for stamps to mail their Holiday cards.  I usually design my cards in early November and mail them out right after Thanksgiving (this year though, I was a little late).

Because I have young kids and we have family near and far that we don’t often get to see throughout the year, I like to design and send a photocard, but they can often be expensive.   In being somewhat of a frugal person, I decided to make my own Holiday photocards this year (and honestly, I like the result better than the plug-your-picture-in-and-print style).

After a long photo session with the kids (which I was the photographer of), I used the free program, Picasa, to make a collage of pictures that would be perfect for the card.  I had them printed at Walmart for .09 cents each (x 40), which ended up costing me just over $3.00.

I was originally thinking of using white index cards to mount them on, but then I was able to find really heavy and pretty card stock that was slightly larger than the picture.  The card stock came in an assortment of earth tone colors, and was the perfect backdrop for the photo montage.

Using Aleene’s Tacky Tape Runner, I added three rows to the back of the picture to make a tacky surface so it would stick to the card stock.

This is the back of the photo, where you can see the three rows of Tacky Tape that I added.  I originally planned to use a gluestick to adhere the picture to the card stock, but this tape was SO MUCH BETTER!  It was easy to apply to the picture and then it adhered very well to the card stock surface.

I actually was lucky enough to receive this Tacky Tape from Aleene’s, along with some other “tacky” products that they offer. (and I mean “tacky” in a good way, not the overboard-ugly-too much way!)

Then flip the card onto the cardstock, and it’s complete!

Write something on the back, and they will be ready to mail!

We don’t really have an Aunt Betty…  I just wrote this out for the tutorial 🙂

If you’re interested in trying out products by Aleene’s to create your own creation, their products are available at Michael’s stores or online at www.Ilovetocreate.com.  I know you will be happy with the result of your project when you use their products – I sure was!

My Holiday cards are in the mail…  Are yours?

All the opinions in this post are 100% mine! Full post disclosure here

I link my projects to some of these parties: Skip to My Lou, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps on the Porch, Today’s Creative Blog, Stories of A to Z, All Things Heart & Home, Savvy Southern Style, House of Hepworths, Finding Fabulous, Creation Corner, The Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk, Under the Table & Dreaming

If you’d like to see more projects by other bloggers using the Aleene’s products, click on the links below: