I love to travel – and I love to collect postcards from the places I go. They’re small, low-cost and lovely .. perfect to be able to collect some from each destination. However, most of my postcards live in a photo album and for this week’s upcycling hack challenge, I thought it would be fun to come up with some interesting and unique ways to upcycle and display postcards. And you only need one item for all of them: an embroidery hoop! Well … and your postcards, too, of course.
Use the screw to loosen the outer band of a 12 inch wide embroidery hoop, and stand your postcards in the space between the bands. Once you have your postcards lined up in a pleasing way, tighten the outer screw to hold the postcards in place.
Pretty spiffy looking, eh? The first idea to display the postcards is just this easy, with the hoop standing on it’s side:
But another idea is to lay it on its base and to let it double as place is disguise storage. Sometimes there are items, like a modem or router, that you need to have out but you don’t really want to have visible. Set the postcard hoop on a shelf, on top of the fridge, etc. and just place whatever items you want to keep out of sight inside the hoop!
The third idea is to make a centerpiece out of your postcards! Put candles in the middle (just not too close to the paper postcards) and enjoy the glow of the places you’ve visited.
It might be neat to use for wedding table centerpieces, and have postcards from places that are special to the couple. You could even have guests each take a postcard and write a bit of marriage advice on it, and then put it back in the centerpiece. If you’re worried about the flame, one reader suggested battery operated tea lights – great idea!
Or, for the last idea, if you’re feeling more ambitious, line multiple embroidery hoops of different sizes with postcards, and hang them at staggered heights to create a chandelier effect.
I hope you liked these simple ideas on how to upcycle an embroidery hoop and display your postcards.
And I’d love to hear – how do you display your postcards? Or do you collect something else from your travels?
Leave your thoughts and comments below, I love to hear from you!
