16. The List: Memories from my Childhood Christmas

This one came to me when I was delivering some cards to my mother today. I was helping address and message a few cards so she could get them in the mail to her friends. When I was driving back, I was trying to remember how she used to display all the holiday cards we received from family and friends. 

I love the holiday card season. I believe I could do without the gifts entirely, if I could just receive mail every single day. I makes me so happy and light to have true hand addressed cards, not just bills, waiting to be opened at the end of each day. In fact it's a moment I cherish like a piece of chocolate or a sip of wine. I save it and savor it at just the right time. Then, I take the cards and tape them up on our wall across from the front door. I've searched for more aesthetically pleasing ways to display them over the years but this way allows for a us to clearly see our friends. Having these friendly faces in our house truly lifts my spirits, especially this year as we've had little to no friends over. 

In any case, my mother used a repurposed Pringle can to display our cards when I was a kid. This was back in the day when most people sent true cards rather than photo cards. The can she used had green yarn but was fairly similar to this image I found online, including the sprig of green on top. The cards slide in on a piece of yarn and you could scroll through the roll, which was usually displayed on the table behind the couch across from our tree.