Decorating with Holiday Cards

Every year, we as Moms and wives will move mountains to get a good Christmas picture.  We coordinate outfits, make sure hair is done and shoes are clean.  We get that perfect shot, plop it on our Christmas, mail it out and that's it, done for another year.

Well I came across this idea on Pinterest and thought it was a great way to display those beautiful Christmas cards we work so hard for.  Here is my inspiration:

Originally found at Indulgy.com

AND

Originally found at Ashley Winn Design

I just so happened to a have a railing just like this one and I actually liked the way the finished product from Indulgy.com looked so I followed that one most closely.  

I went to Michael's and bought some craft wood.  Each piece was just a little bigger than the size of my Christmas cards.  Then I got some holiday scrapbook paper.  I had glue and ribbon at home.  I forgot to take a picture of all my supplies before I used them (sorry I'm cramming a lot into this holiday season!).  

I wrapped each board in a different piece of scrapbook paper.  I used a stapler to secure it since the paper is a bit heavy I wasn't sure if glue would stand the test of time.  I wrapped them like you would a present.  Then I took Modge Podge and mounted each photo on.  Once they had a minute to adhere, I put a coat of Modge Podge over the entire thing to seal it.  I let them dry over night and drilled a hole for the ribbon the next morning.  

Here's my end result:

Overall I was happy with these.  I may change up how I do this in the future but I like the general concept.  I also may use their photos with Santa too.  I got the wood and scrapbook paper from Michael's and both were on sale.  I maybe spent $5 on this project.  It was easy, inexpensive and came out nice...plus each Christmas I am able to see how my family has grown and changed!  So, with that start saving your Christmas cards because this gets a PIN!