hanging out

Last year I hung our Christmas cards down the edge of a half-wall in the dining/living room area.  I wasn't blogging at the time and didn't think I'd ever need documentation of the display, so it lives only in my memory.  This year I wanted to fill an empty wall so I opted for a different setup.

One little hole-punch and a length of string let the festive greetings hang across the white expanse.  The tools sit in an old silver dish awaiting the next display-worthy piece of mail.

The anchor for the whole grouping is a cafe curtain rod resting on two nails that protrude from the wall.  Here's a glimpse of how that works:

Cards hang mostly on the left side because the lamp on the right end of the shelf would hide them otherwise.  The full view shows how all those elements interact.

And yes, I shot all these photos by the light of the Christmas tree.  I seriously feel like a kid when I plug that thing in and the dark room assumes an all-encompassing luster.  It's gorgeous!  If nature and man were having a contest that pitted glaring white snow against glimmering white lights, I'm sorry but I'd have to give lights the prize for Most Quintessentially Christmasy.  Snow can come any time from Halloween to Easter, and it only seems like a gift on the first day or two--and that's if you don't have anywhere to drive to!  But lights...I don't know...they cast a glamour over everything.  It's beginning to look, and feel, exactly like Christmas.