Homemade Card Holders

Card holders serve a variety of purposes; they display name cards around a dinner table so guests can locate their seat, hold recipes while you cook and act as a base for pictures. The benefit of homemade card holders is they are easy to construct and customize to match the theme of your celebration or home dcor.

Building the Base

Select a small object for the base of the card holder. The only quality the base needs is that you must be able to push something down into it or attach a component to it, and it must be moderately heavy. A flimsy paper object is not suitable because it will not hold the card or picture. A small pumpkin is ideal for the Fall season or Thanksgiving, and a small pot with flowers is excellent for the Spring or a baby shower.

A pumpkin base does not require a large amount of work, but you can adorn it with ribbons or paintings prior to attaching the card holding element. To make the Spring or baby shower base, purchase small clay pots, at least a couple inches high, and a block of green Styrofoam. Cut small pieces of Styrofoam that will fit in the pot. It should fill the entire pot and be flat along the top surface, flush with the pot. The benefit of making this card holder is you can use real or fake flowers, as long as they have a tough stem so you can pierce it through the Styrofoam. You have a couple of options for the flower arrangement; you can use small flowers that gather around the rim of the pot, or you can make a taller arrangement with flowers that have long stems.

Constructing and Attaching the Card Holder

Attach a medium size paper clip to a long piece of sturdy metal. You can use a pipe cleaner to add color to the card holder by wrapping a small portion of one end around the end of a paper clip that has the single half loop. The end that has two half loops is the element that holds the card in place. Stick the other end of the pipe cleaner into the pumpkin or the flower pot Styrofoam. The advantage of using a pipe cleaner is you can shape it to make twists or loops and give the card holder another depth of appeal.

If you use a metal stick that does not bend like the pipe cleaner, use hot glue or super glue to hold the paper clip to the metal piece. Remember to glue the paper clip on the end that only has one half loop. Slide the card or photo in the other end over the top half loop and behind the second one once the glue dries.