Children decorate cut-out paper that gets hot glued to spring clip clothespins. Then, attach the clips to a piece of wire. When the holiday cards come in through the mail, hang them along the wire. Family members can work together on this garland, each person embellishing a few clips.
Materials for Making a Greeting Card Garland
- Cardstock
- Stencils (or trace cookie cutters)
- Pencil
- Scissors
- White glue
- Hot glue
- Spring-clip clothespins
- Glitter, glitter glue, rhinestones, sequins, stickers, etc.
- 5 feet of fine gauge craft wire
- Push pins
- Optional: clear Contact paper
How to Make a Card Holder
- Trace stencil shapes onto cardstock. Look for stencils that are a single shape or else plan on connecting the different segments of a stencil that breaks the image into small components. Cookie cutters can also be traced, as they have simple, identifiable shapes.
- The garland can consist of the same shape traced onto different color paper, different shapes traced onto the same color paper, the same shape onto the same color paper, or different shapes traced onto different color paper. Trace six-to-twelve shapes.
- Cut out the shapes and decorate with glitter, stickers, sequins, rhinestones, etc. Keep the shapes flat and allow the glue to dry.
- Hot glue the decorated shapes onto spring-clip clothespins.
- Optional: Seal the decorate shape in clear Contact paper. Leave an eighth of an inch margin of Contact paper around the cardstock to seal the shape inside. If the decorated shape is lumpy, because of large rhinestones, then the Contact paper won’t seal flat.
- Unwind the craft wire. Create a loop at the end of the wires, twisting the wire around itself to anchor the loop in place.
- Put push pins into the wall, window or doorframe, or wherever you plan on hanging your cards. The pins should be far enough apart so that there is a slight dip in the wire, as opposed to it being pulled taught.
- Hook the wire’s loops onto the push pins. Attach the clothespins onto the wire. Clip the cards into the clothespins.
How to Make a Photo Holder
Follow the same directions to create a hanging garland for photographs. Create themed garlands, connecting the shapes to the subject of the photos. For example, cut out sun and palm tree shapes for vacation photos, farm animal shapes for a trip to the country, or ghost and pumpkin shapes for Halloween photos.
Creating a garland to hang holiday cards can be a fun project for a family or an afternoon project to help children feel a part of holiday festivities. Trace and decorate cardstock shapes, hot glue onto clothespins, and then clip onto wire. Pick a spot in your house where you can display your ornamented greeting cards.
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