I love Christmas, Sweet Friends! One of the things I love most about Christmas is catching up with friends and family. If you’re lucky, you can do that through Holiday Parties. If your friends are not near, sending Holiday Cards, gives an opportunity to catch up with those that live far away.
Recycling Christmas Cards!
There are, oh so, many ways to recycle old Christmas Cards. Today I’m going to show you some of my favorite ways to preserve Holiday Cards from years passed.
I’ve always been a fan of saving my holiday cards. What do you do, Sweet Friends?
In a filing cabinet in my office, I have a Christmas folder. In the folder is a tracking sheet. It lists all the previous years and who I sent cards and gifts to. It’s is a fun tracking sheet I’ve always enjoyed using.
Craft Ideas for Old Christmas Cards!
In the past I kept old “received” holiday cards in the filing cabinet. After awhile, it got a little difficult to keep the cards in the filing cabinet.
I kinda ran out of room. The cards were taking almost the whole drawer… LOL, sooooo, I came up with a new plan.
I took all the cards and for each year made a little book. Then I put all the books into a Christmas Box. During Christmas time, I pull out my box of previous years “received” Holiday Cards and reminiscence on friendships. It’s a memorable time!
I thought I’d share with you my simple idea on how I preserve old “received” Holiday Cards.
Preserving Old Holiday Cards!
Step one: Gather your supplies. You will need a tag to label your book with the appropriate year, a pen, a hole punch, and twine, ribbon or a ring to hold everything together and scissors.
At the bottom of this post are suggested products to purchase.
Step two: Take each card and punch a hole in the top left corner.
Step three: Use twine, ribbon or a ring to gather cards together.
Step four: Add your own Holiday Card and a tag with the year on it.
Step five: Store each Holiday book in a Christmas Box.
My Grandmother had another way of repurposing her old Holiday Cards. One day, I hope to make my own little baskets, trinket boxes, etc. out of holiday cards. For now, I just thought I’d show you what I get to enjoy including in my holiday decor.
If you are looking for ways to recycle or repurpose your old Holiday Cards, you can check out my Pinterest Board, “Christmas Card Repurposing” here.
Better Homes and Gardens writes a great article on how to Recycle Christmas Cards “Christmas Card Projects: Decorative Ways to Recycle Christmas Cards” and you can check it out here. The Christmas Trees are my favorite. Are you surprised? Did you see my Yarn Trees?
The Heathered Nest, Inspiring Style at Home writes an article on recycling Christmas Cards, “51 EPIC Recycled Christmas Card Crafts” You can check out the article here.
What do you plan to do with your old Holiday Cards? Leave a comment and let me know.
Now go out there and create something.
Cynthia
Would you like to create Holiday Card Keepsake Books. Here’s what you need to purchase.
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creating these little containers is a brilliant idea! I’ll have my daughter help me create some for next year.
Good idea!
I used to make little ring booklets with all our holiday cards too… and then one year I stopped and I can’t remember why. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Encouraging Hearts and Home. Pinned.
They are so easy to make and allows for simpler storage.
Some really cute ideas here.
I have made gift tags from mine on most years. I have also, saved them and chosen a card each week to pray for the family. Then use the card to make into a new card to send them a note.
I love the little houses made with old cards. They are so vintage!
Pinning!
Happy New Year,
Kippi
Ps. Please share on my page in the You’re The Star blog hop!
As a child my Mom always had us cut Christmas tags from the year before’s cards. It never occurred to me to do much else with them. For the last 2 years, I have volunteered (I’m now retired) to make the tags for our tiny church’s Giving Tree. This year I made more than 100 from cards, scrapbooking paper, and scrapbooking supplies. I try to make them differently each year; last year I used a lot of punches, this year I made them a bit more 3-D with foam dots.I have also used cards as backgrounds for ornaments made of wooden curtain rings with small plastic figurines and bottle brush trees. A lot of church members save their cards for our Ladies’ Aid group.
Awe that’s so sweet. Thanks for sharing Sweet Friend!