Greetings!

A couple of weeks ago I was introduced to a company named “Treat”, a company I had never heard of, a company by Shutterfly.  Right after surfing over to their website, I immediately fell in love.  Treat (now Shutterfly as of 2015) is one of those companies that you see and think “I wish I would’ve thought of that.”  On top of having an ingenious idea, their products and services are right up my alley…like right up there.  They sell greeting cards.  But not just any greeting cards.  Customizable greeting cards that they send out for you (you can even schedule them months in advance!!!!)  I don’t know about you but we are theee worst at sending out birthday cards, anniversary cards, wedding cards, you name it, we just don’t (but we do call!).  1) We forget, 2) we forget and then the thought of loading the kids up to make a “quick” trip to a card aisle ain’t happenin’, and 3) we’re awful jerks who are horrible at making thoughts count.

Anyway, Treat handed me an extra large glass of creative juice as I got to thinking about how to display the greeting cards you get whether it be for your birthday, anniversary, get well wishes, etc…  I jumped at the opportunity to work with them and am so excited to share my ideas with you all because not only are we bad at sending out cards but when we do get cards for different occasions, they’re read and set in a neat pile on the kitchen countertop.  Boring.  Not anymore though because I’ve been brainstorming… 

 

 

1.  Clip ‘Em

Clipboards used as wall art have been popping up all over the design sphere and so I thought I’d try my hand at using them.  All I did was hang some Easter cards I sent to the kiddos by one corner so that you could see both the cover and the heartfelt, warm & fuzzies on the inside.

 

Oh and the clipboards?  Cute cards deserve cute clipboards, right?  I snagged some old clipboards, spray painted the stained silver clip gold, and cleaned the boards as well as I could so that I could freehand some lines with white acrylic paint.  After I had the thin lines on they seemed a little too psychedelic so I filled them in to make them thicker and then I dabbed some coral paint (leftover from this desk) on the outer edges of the board for a little surprise o’ color.

2.  Stick ‘Em
 

I think this idea is my fave and will probably be the way we display our greeting cards from here on out. First, I grabbed a vase and filled it with dried peas (my sister Farrah’s genius idea).  You could also use rice, rocks, glass pieces, etc…

Next I grabbed a bamboo skewer (I have tons leftover from this mirror project but you can find them in almost any grocery store) and threaded it through a card like so:

Then I simply stuck my card “flowers” into my pea-filled vase, arranged them a wee bit, and wa-la –> a card bouquet. 

You could also add some pretty silk flowers to the mix for more volume.  :)

3.  Hang ‘Em
There are lots of ways you can hang cards and even more places.  Using suction cups (like these on Amazon), I thought it’d be cool to display the cards by hanging them on a window. 
How cool would it be have all the windows in one room of your house sporting greeting cards?  Nobody would forget it’s YOUR birthday then, right?  ;)

Also using the suction cups, I stuck the cards to the mirror in our entry way.  It’s in a prime location as far as passing by is concerned and so you can’t miss the occasion by sticking it to this mirror. 

I also enlisted the help of some magnetic hooks (like these on Amazon) we had laying around to hang the cards from our fridge.

[I mean, Sebastian as the Easter bunny?  So cute, no?]

 

4.  Frame ‘Em
So, here’s what happened.  I ordered the Easter cards for the kids and then I got sucked into Treat again (it’s inevitable, trust me) when I discovered some blank cards that would make awesome wall art.  Behold:
So I framed them and hung them in our office.  I can’t get enough of them.  I mean, wall art these days, even printable downloads can range anywhere from $10 to $50 or more which is great and all except that I’d rather spend that on a coffee date or five.  These two cards cost $3.49 each and they instantly added a dose of happy to our space.

But, instead of leaving them blank and hanging them (which is totally cool), I used them to create a sort of time capsule.  I had the girls scribble in one and I wrote down a bunch of family facts in the other like how many kids we have right now, where we live, what we do for a living, etc… 

I think it’ll be really fun to take them out of their frames in a few years and look back on what was and see how it’s changed. 

Here are some more cards from Treat that I think would look great paired with a frame and a wall:

Sending these out with a frame to a special someone would also make a great gift, not only your words within, but the added fun of framing the card and showcasing a keepsake, don’t you think?

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So, how do you display cards when they arrive for a certain someone for a certain special occasion?  Are you like us and store them in a pile or stack or do you set them out for all to see?  I’ll admit writing this post turned me into a believer that cards should be seen and not stashed.  They’re a reminder of a celebration and usually a someone who probably deserves some visual love.  :)

Head on over to Treat (now Shutterfly) and check them out!  Here are some of my favorite cards: 

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A huge thank you to Treat for providing the cards I needed to make our displays come to life!  They were truly a pleasure to work with!  :)
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Bonus behind-the-scenes picture:

I had fun one day during nap time one day.  Only a third of a table set instead of the whole thing because you know the twins would have it all crashing down before you can say “Peter Cottontail”.  Hah!  :)