This past weekend, I had the enormous pleasure of visiting with Jessalyn, blogger extraordinaire behind It Started With Yum. If you missed our first blogging exchange back in August, click here to get the low down. Long story short, Jessalyn and I actually knew each other waaaaay back in high school and have since reconnected post-grad through our blogs. Now only living an hour away, she and I have made a pact to connect each season to bounce ideas off of one another and just generally exploit our general love for all things DIY.
This latest trip’s objective was actually based off of a comment Jessalyn made after I posted a tutorial for one of our many DIY wedding projects – This particular one involved transforming scrapbook paper into bunting flags using twine and hot glue. After scrolling through the post, Jessalyn suggested a Christmas version using a collection of holiday cards. I jumped right on board with the idea and waited impatiently for December to roll around so we could test it out.
The process was pretty simple – Start by gathering old Christmas cards and cutting the front cover off. Then, flip the card cover over and trace a triangular flag shape on the back – Use this first one as your tracing template to cut out the rest of the flags.
Once all of the cards are cut to shape, flip each one over in turn and squeeze a line of hot glue on the back towards the top, then settle twine into the still hot glue. Allowing for about an inch of room between each flag, continue the process until you’ve moved your way through the entire pile of paper flags. For the first and last flags, leave about six inches of twine off each end.
Once finished, cut the twine (again, six inches from the end) and allow the glue to dry for about ten minutes.
(For more photos of this process, click over to the original post for our wedding bunting flag)
Now for the fun part: Hanging the finished flags up! We played around with several different locations around the house – from the wooden valance John and I made in the living room, to the entryway table. We even wrapped them around our Christmas tree as garland.
Then we moved into the kitchen, where we decided to drape my shorter strand above the chalkboard calendar. I immediately felt like this spot seemed “just right,” but then we decided to beef up the look a bit by draping Jessalyn’s much longer strand (guess she’s been collecting longer than I have!) right underneath. I was in love.
- Experiment with proportion: Try cutting your Christmas cards into different sized triangles for various spots in your home – For example, cut them into teeny tiny triangles for draping on the front of a shelf, or cut them into oversized triangles for places like a balcony railing seen from afar.
- Experiment with shape: Why not take it beyond triangles altogether?! Cut your cards into circles, squares or beveled bunting like this.
- Experiment with letters: Finally, consider cutting your Christmas cards into the shape of your initials or spell out a festive holiday word (like “Ho Ho Ho” or “Joy”) – These could be glued to twine like we did, or even used as fun DIY gift tags (ala yesterday’s post).
Now. Are you ready for a little BONUS time!!! For 3 more ideas, click over to Jessalyn’s companion post right here – She’s sharing a few extra bullet points that I know you’ll want to check out.
As always, thanks to Jessalyn for a great afternoon of creative crafting and chatting – It’s my new favorite cure for seasonal burn out…
What do you guys do with YOUR Christmas cards?
P.S. Jessalyn sent over a bunch of her own photos (the one above being part of her lovely stack!) and, although we took mostly the same images, I just HAD to share this portrait she took of Rocky…Isn’t he just the sweetest?? She captured him perfectly.
