Merry Mail, Santa's Desk, Displaying Christmas Cards, and More

This is a long post and I hope you guys don't think that I am not trying to cover too much at one time!     I honestly did try very hard to edit some of the pictures out,  but there's so much going on in the hallway that all of them are needed....lol! 

The 2021 Christmas theme for the hallway is Merry Mail.....

We'll start on this side of the hallway with Santa's desk.     I made a 'MAIL" banner to hang over his desk with a free printable from the talented Andrea.    Here's a link to her blog where you can get your own free printable Christmas alphabet....https://thecottagemarket.com/free-printable-buffalo-plaid-christmas-banner/

I already had the Merry Mail sign that I used in the centerpiece on Santa's desk.

This is the sweetest little postcard printable.    The front of the postcard has Santa's address.....

The back side has a place to fill in all the things you want Santa to  bring you for Christmas.   The talented Kerryanne designed this cool Santa Wish List Postcard and here's a link to her blog since I know you will want a free copy of it.......https://www.shabbyartboutique.com/2021/12/diy-santa-wish-list-postcard.html

I found lots of great Santa Stationary to print at home on Pinterest.     

I've had my Letter from Santa Claus for a long time.....

I couldn't find a link where I got my letter to share with you,   but here's a link to Skip to my Lou blog that has a free one that is just as sweet as mine......https://www.skiptomylou.org/letter-to-santa/ 

Now let's look at the cabinet on the other side of the hall where I have some idea's for you on how to display your Christmas cards.

I just love my lit cabinet in the hall and always have such a good time decorating it for seasons and holidays....esp Christmas  

This is the cabinet where I store my linens and tablescape stuff in year round.    I wanted to continue the Merry Mail theme in the linen closet and I wasn't sure at first how I could use linens in that particular theme....lol!

I didn't want to just stand Christmas cards up on the shelves in the cabinet.    Then I spotted the napkin holders that I use in my tablesscapes and thought....why can't I use them to hold Christmas cards too!

I left some of the cloth napkins in the holder and then just filled it up with cards.    

I really liked how the cards looked in the silver napkin holders.....

But the cards looked just a elegant in the white metal holders too.    You can put as many cards in a holder as you want or fill in with napkins if that works better for you.    

I just left the tablecloths that I always store in the linen cabinet and just used them as back drops and wherever else they were needed in the vignettes.



Now for the "and more" part of my post.     The end of the hallway looked like this last Christmas.     The  farmhouse door curtain had been up for several years and I felt it was time for a new look for Christmas 2021 in the hallway.

There has always been a big floor length mirror hung at the end of the hall.   So when I took the curtain down,    I decided to leave the mirror but use it in a different way than I did years ago.    I tried to make a gallery wall of sorts by hanging a big gold empty frame over the mirror then used suction cups to hang a wreath and a sheep print on the mirror.     I didn't like the look at all so I took everything down but the big mirror  and started all over.   (With the curtain down and the mirror exposed it's a lot harder to take a picture without being in it ....lol!)     So since I started over,     the picture above is is now the BEFORE pic 

H painted the mirror a crisp clean white which I like so much better.    I didn't put the greenery garland back up over the gold mirror and instead opted for a colorful red poinsettia garland.    I also decided not to try making a gallery wall there and so I left the wreath and sheep picture off.     Look back at the before picture and see if you can spot anything else that's different in the after picture....let me know what you see in a comment!

I made more changes at the other end of the hallway that I will share in an upcoming post!

Merry Christmas!