What to do with old Christmas Cards?
I was just starting to clean up after the holidays and I gathered up all the beautiful Christmas cards that were sent to me. I was so blessed to receive an abundance of Christmas cards this year and I had loved opening up the mail every day and hanging the cards around the house. Some of these cards are so pretty, with glitter and 3-D details, or even just a lovely holiday scene on the cover. It seemed like such a waste to just throw them in the garbage and certainly not very environmentally friendly or "Green". I went through them and saved some of the more special cards like "Baby's First Holiday", or some cards that I wanted to keep from special friends and relatives. But then what to do with this big pile of cards? I started to ask my friends, family and other moms and I was bombarded with helpful and creative suggestions, since everyone, it seemed, was looking for solutions to this holiday dilemma. I thought I would post some of the ideas here.
What to do with old Christmas Cards?
1. Gifts Tags for next year. You can cut out the front of the card (make creative shapes by following the design on the card), and then write your "To" and "From" on the back. Cut out the main picture- like Frosty the snowman, or Rudolph and then just punch a hole in it to tie on to your packages.
2. Post Cards. I am not sure if many people use postcards anymore, but if you do, cut your old Christmas cards in half keeping the picture side. This is not only a pretty suggestion, but postcards are cheaper to send then regular cards so it may save you money too.
3. Donate them for craft projects. After some research I found out that many schools, senior centers and other programs use old cards for craft projects. Contact your local library, school, senior center, church, boy scout or girl scout chapter to see if they would want them.
4. Gift Bags for next year. Cut off the front part and paste them on regular brown shopping bags (the ones with the handles) to use as gift bags for the following Christmas. I thought it was a great idea, if you have the time. This is earth friendly, recycles old brown grocery bags and Christmas cards at once!
5. Scrap booking Embellishments. Some cards are so pretty, why not save the best parts of the cards for scrap booking. Gold and scalloped borders look so nice around pictures and you can use your fancy scissors to cut out the other shapes and decorative items for your holiday scrapbooks.
6.Table Place Cards. If you either cut out strips or just use cards that will fold nicely, you can make table place cards for your next holiday dinner. Just get a paint marker to write out everyone's names on the front of each one.
7. Have the kids make tree ornaments. Get some lace, beads, ribbon, or whatever scraps you have around the house. Get some of Alene's Tacky Glue and glue the inside to the outside that way they will not come apart. They are super thick and then add some lace around the edges, or decorate however you like. Maybe get some glittered glue and highlight some areas to make it look like it is sparkling. Let the kids be creative! Put a hole on the edge and make original tree ornaments out of them.
Hope you enjoy these ideas! If you have any ideas to share, please comment/ post them to share with our fellow readers.
Article written by Christine Miserandino, © 2008 butyoudontlooksick.com
Comments
Thanks for these ideas - I knew some of them, but have forgotten them (as I forget most things) and I was just doing the same thing - wondering what to do with mine!
Posted by: Diane Petersmarck | January 3, 2008 11:03 AM
Another suggestion I read in a magazine is to put the cards in a photo album or scrapbooking album to make a picture book for little ones to look at.
Posted by: Charlie | January 3, 2008 11:32 AM
At the office I work at we collect holiday cards and give them to a particular children's foundation that uses them to send out thank you notes for gifts they received during the holidays.
Posted by: kwolph | January 8, 2008 09:00 PM