DIY Christmas Card Holder

Originally published in my book, “Crafting with Flannel”, this DIY Christmas card holder is a cozy favorite of mine. I love the fact that it turns our holiday cards into décor throughout the Christmas season.

And, it all started out with a beat-up cork board from the thrift store. In fact, it was a heavily blemished cork board, with gouges and discoloration in the cork.

Now, I’ve “prettified” thrifted cork boards in the past, but they were in better shape- like this stenciled one.

And this one that I transformed into a wedding seating chart:

But this one in particular was ideal for a complete overhaul; it just so happens that I decided to make it Christmasy, too. So, let’s get into it!

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Making a Christmas Card Holder

First things first, I painted the frame with bright red spray paint. Now, I don’t have any pictures of that step, but I lined the edges of the cork with painter’s tape before spray painting it outside- similar to how this looks.

After the paint had fully dried (2 light coats later), I then sprayed it with a satin top coat to protect the finish.

No need to cover all the cork with tape- if paint gets on it, that’s ok. I just didn’t want to “seal” the edge of the frame to the cork for reasons that’ll make sense in a minute.

Next, I gathered some flannel yardage (RIP, Joann Fabrics!) and my fabric scissors. Starting with a 90° angle with the selvedge removed, I measured out enough fabric to cover the cork.

In lieu of shopping at Joann, some Michael’s stores sell fabric, as well as Walmart. But Creative Reuse Centers are another fabulous option for smaller cuts of fabric, too.

Seeing as it was a cork board, after all, I used push pins to hold the fabric in place.

I finished cutting out the flannel rectangle, continuing to use the push pins for the time being. It’s starting to look like a festive Christmas card holder, isn’t it?

Then, I grabbed some spray adhesive to attach the fabric to the cork.

For this part, I crimped tin foil around half the frame. I then unpinned half the flannel, sprayed adhesive on underside of the unpinned fabric, and smoothed the fabric back down on the cork (repeating on the other half when I was done).

The tin foil kept the frame from getting any adhesive on it. But you could likely use Mod Podge for this step instead, brushing in on the cork in small sections. Just be wary not to use too thick a coat of Mod Podge, or it’ll bleed through the fabric and make the fabric stiff.

Lastly, I used a butterknife to gently tuck the edges of the flannel underneath the frame edge.

And that was it, my DIY Christmas card holder was done.

DIY Christmas Card Holder from a Cork Board

See, that old cork board got a complete overhaul. You’d never know it hadn’t started off in tip-top shape.

Because so many of our recently-received cards are photo cards, I’m using some of my vintage cards to show off how it looks. And I used thumbtacks to pin them to the cork board.

But you could certainly use push pin clips like these, which wouldn’t put a hole in your cards.

I hope you enjoyed this upcycle idea for a cork board, because it really does become a lovely Christmas card holder. Even though I don’t plan on putting all my book projects here on the website, I’ve added a handful of them over the years. I wanted to add this one to the website because it’s simple, but such an effect way to repurpose a cork board that’s seen better days.

And if you enjoyed this Christmas card holder project, then you may also get a kick out of this card display door décor idea from a few years ago, too.

Here’s another way to display smaller Christmas cards, as well. I used antique Christmas postcards in this example, but you get the drift…

Craft on!

S

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