DIY Chicken Wire Christmas Card Display

To me, one of the very best parts of the Christmas season is receiving Christmas cards. I just love seeing all the photos of my family and friends and their kids (and pets). I used to tape up the cards around my back door. But last year, I made a new chicken wire card display, so that by the time Christmas rolled around, it was as though I had a giant photo collage of all my favorite people.

This was a fairly easy project that we (this was definitely a two-person job) knocked out during the course of one football game.

You’ll need:

• A roll of chicken wire
• 4 – stretcher bars or a large empty frame
• 4 – 2″ flat corner braces
• Staple gun with staples
• Drill
• Clear packing tape
• Gloves
• Wire cutters

Here’s what you’ll do:

(1) Prepare the frame

You can either use an old large frame and remove the glass, or you can make your own frame.  Because I wanted a specific size, I went to the craft store and picked up some stretcher bars. These are typically used to stretch canvas art. You’ll buy four stretcher bars and they will connect to create the size frame that you need.

Once you have your stretcher bars, stain them or paint them and let them dry completely before connecting them. I stained mine a light brown color. Then you can connect them by sliding the corners of the bars together.

To make the frame more stable – and as a decorative accent – use a drill to secure the corners with flat corner braces. Make sure the corners are at a 90 degree angle before drilling!

(2) Attach the chicken wire to the frame

This is where you really need another set of hands. One person should unroll and hold the chicken wire flat along the back of the frame while the other person staples the wire to the back of the frame. Pull the wire taut as you go along. The edges of the chicken wire are sharp, so I recommend wearing gloves, otherwise (as my husband learned from experience), you may get cut.

After attaching the chicken wire, you may need to trim the edges with some wire cutters. Also, because the edges of the chicken wire are sharp and you don’t want your wall (or your hands) to get scratched up, I recommend applying a layer of clear packing tape over the edge of the chicken wire on the back of the frame.

(3) Hang on the wall and clip on cards!

We hung the display up on the wall using two screws. I added a cute wood slice garland across the top and then started clipping on cards with mini clothespins.

Yup, that was our Christmas card a few years ago. I’m pretty sure I’ll display it every year – especially when they’re teenagers!

I hope this was helpful and will be a beautiful way to display your holiday cards! If you’re like me, you may leave it up well into January. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to run out to the mailbox in my slippers to check for Christmas cards…