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Holiday Card Round-Up

by on Dec 5, 2006

I few years ago, I saw Martha Stewart fashion a greeting card wreath using a wooden embroidery hoop, miniature clothes pins, a glue gun and a bit of ribbon. I tried it, and although it looked lovely, as all of Martha’s creations generally do, it didn’t hold up well. The hoop was too big and the little clothes pins kept falling off as they lacked surface area for proper gluing. Plus, it was a little too genteel. So, taking my cue from Her Highness, I adapted the idea into something sturdier and much more suited to my tastes.

"Holiday and Bday Cards"

The Necessities

10″ wooden embroidery hoop

16 regulation-sized wooden spring-style clothes pins

glue gun and glue sticks

8″ piece of twine or string

The Procedure

Using your glue gun, attach the pins evenly around the hoop, jaws out/handles in. When the glue has set up, tie a bit of twine around the hinge of the hoop, as shown, for hanging. As the holiday cards start rolling in, tuck them in the jaws of the pins. Don’t worry about running out of room; your wreath will just keep looking better as it gets fuller.

Clothes pins are used to make a project.The Bonus Hints

Because the hoop and clothes pins don’t suggest holiday decoration by themselves, you can use your wreath to display pictures in the off season. Also, if you’re feeling ambitious, you can spray paint your wreath in any holiday or non-holiday color of your choice. Acid green perhaps?

The Shopping

You can find 10″ wooden embroidery hoops at JoAnn Fabrics for about a $1.50. Just about all local hardware stores sell wooden clothes pins as well as Target, K-Mart and the like. Of course, if you’ve found yourself over-extended during the holiday season, you could “borrow” them from a neighbor’s clothesline, but in the spirit of the season, I’d fork over the five bucks and keep it legal.