The holidays mean many different things to people and for most of us, one of those things is a pile of holiday cards. You receive them from family, friends, neighbors and businesses. Most of us will run out of room for all of these cards long before the season is over. A holiday card arch is a clever and beautiful way to display all of your cards without taking up extra space.
Building this arch is a fairly simple project. You can find the supplies you need at your local home improvement store. For this project you will need:
- 1 sheet of ¾ “ plywood
- 1 (8 foot) 1×6 board
- Finishing nails and wood putty
- Wood glue
- Liquid Nails
- 8 feet of crown molding
- 4 to 5 packages  of 12†square cork
- Tape measure, hand-held circular saw, jig saw, and hammer
Begin by measuring your doorway. You will use these measurements to determine the exact sizes that you will need. Cut the plywood sheet to 70 inches long. Your sizes may vary according to your measurements. Cut the 1×6 board down the middle. This will create two equal strips to be used as edge trim for the plywood.
Draw the opening, according to your measurements of your doorway, on your piece of plywood. Cut the opening out with a jigsaw. Attach the edging around the sides and top using wood glue and finishing nails. Make sure that the edging sticks up from the surface of the plywood. This will make the cork tiles flush with the edges.
Cut the crown molding to size and miter the corners. Glue and nail it to the face of the edging. Attach the cork tiles to the plywood surface using Liquid Nails. Apply a glue bond around the edges of the cork tiles. Cut off excess with a craft or utility knife. Fill the holes with wood putty and use sandpaper to smooth the surface. Stain or paint as desired.
Hammer four or five 4 inch nails into the top of the existing door trim at a 45-degree angle. Space the nails evenly across the top of the trim to support the weight of the arch. Gently rest the archway on them. It would be a good idea to have someone help you with this part because the arch could bulky and hard to maneuver.
Your arch is now ready to be attacked with push pins and cards. This arch is a wonderful way to display anything. Take it down and store it, or leave it up year-round and use it to display birthday cards, anniversary cards, or random items that you want to display. Let this arch take away the stress of where to put all those holiday cards.
