Framing Christmas cards

This is the time of year when the Christmas cards start showing up in our mailboxes.  I have a hard time throwing away the old cards and letters from previous years, especially when they are really pretty cards or they have a family picture.  I have a whole box of old Christmas cards in the basement.  For the next couple of days I thought I would include a few ideas for displaying or using Christmas cards--from this year or years past.

My uncle lives in Washington, D.C., so one year he sent us a lovely card featuring a painting of the U.S. Capitol at winter.  I really liked the colors and design of the card, so I decided to frame it.  I already had a frame that was nearly the correct size, so I just cut the front of the card off and trimmed it to fit inside the frame.  

I have it sitting on the sideboard in our dining room, next to a white ginger jar lamp and on a red velvet runner that picks up the bits of Christmasy red in the painting.

For a similar look, go through your old cards and pick out the ones that have designs you like or colors that match your holiday decor.  Then, find existing frames and temporarily switch out the art or photographs for old Christmas cards to add a little bit of holiday cheer to the different corners of your house (and for no money at all!).