Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Tomato Cage Christmas Tree Card Holder

I've been blogging now for nearly 4 years, and I still feel like an amateur at times.  I didn't start this blog in the hopes of being big like Martha, but I did want it to look nice and be a good read for those that read it.  But as I have grown as a blogger, I cringe looking back at some of my early posts, and even some from only a year ago.  Amazing how I've grown in just that time period.

In looking back, I realize I did a great disservice to my readers last Christmas.  I was a crafting maniac last year for Christmas, really to the point that I burned myself out I think.  There were just so many awesome things I had to make for my decor!  You know what I mean??  Thank you, Pinterest!!

But because I did so many crafts, I didn't want to post a bazillion posts about each one, so I wrote 3.  And each post contained like 3 or 4 different projects.  Talk about an overload for whoever dared to read it!!  What on earth was I thinking??  Sorry, guys!

Not to toot my own horn (to quote the Gevalia guy), but I think I had some really cute stuff.  I'm not really doing any Christmas crafts this year -- I only have a couple in mind -- so I thought I would reintroduce some of the "better" projects from last year, each in their own post, their own spotlight.

First one up:  my Tomato-Cage Christmas Tree Christmas Card Holder

I love Christmas cards.  I love designing them, I love receiving them, and I love displaying them.  They are like miniature pieces of art.  I always wanted a card holder, and had always in the past just hung them on ribbon, which works well, but I wanted something different.


My inspiration came randomly one day when we were working outside and I spied some unused tomato cages that had been stored away.  They had been stacked upside down, and gave the slightest impression of cones...or Christmas trees!


I grabbed one and saw I needed to shape it a bit -- make it more Christmas-tree-y -- so I cut the rings then re-secured them a bit smaller with heavy gauge wire to make it a little more tapered -- a little more cone shaped.  The cutting part takes a bit of muscle, so I had the hubs help me out with his wire cutters.



Then I made my pointed top by also securing it with wire.



It was a used cage, so it was a little dingy and rusty.  I wiped it down, then spray painted it silver.


While the paint was still wet, I dabbed it with a paper towel to distress it just a little.

You can't really tell in pictures, but after the silver was dry, I went over the cage with green glitter paint to give it just a hint of green.  I didn't paint the cage green because I wasn't looking for the literal tree look, but I thought a touch of green would be nice.


It also makes it sparkle a little more.  Pretty pretty.

And, because a tree needs ornaments, I found these cute red sparkly bows and added them to my tree at the intersections.



And for the tree topper, a big red bow and a sparkly star!



The bows and topper also help to hide the wire used to re-secure the rings and legs.  I love decor with a dual purpose!


Then, I just used baby clothespins to attach my cards, and voila!


How cute is that?!



What do you think?  How do you display your holiday cards?  Do you have a hard time throwing them out like me??




I'll have another fun Christmas project soon!  So, stay tuned!

TTfN!



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2 comments:

So what did you think? I'd love to know!

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