Christmas is over, and it’s time to put everything away. The decorations can be returned to their home in the attic for another eleven months; gifts can be put to good use; the cookies...well, those are long gone…but what about the stack of Christmas cards? What to do with them?
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In the past, I kept some and recycled the rest. But I’m not big on instantly recycling everything—recycling should really be used as a last resort. Although I’ve thought about sending an e-card rather than a printed card every year, I’m not ready for that. Obviously, my friends aren’t ready to stop sending printed cards either. So what to do with all of these lovely cards…
Solution 1: St. Jude’s Ranch for Children is an organization that helps abused, abandoned, and neglected children. They take the fronts of greeting cards and turn them into new cards, which are sold in bundles of ten for $10. The profit is used to support programs and services. Here are some quick facts if you're interested in sending your cards to them:
- They cannot accept Hallmark, Disney, or American Greeting cards.
- They do take all types of cards (birthday, Christmas, Easter, etc.).
- Right now are in need of more birthday and thank you cards.
- They only take cards without personal writing on the back of the front of the cards.
Solution 2: You can cut your Christmas cards into gift tags. Obviously this works better for cards with a smallish image on the front. You can either punch a hole in the tag and tie it to a gift bag or you can write in an open white space on the front. The rest of the card (such as the inside) can be used as notepad/scratch paper. (I used my wedding RSVP cards as notepad paper. It was fun to reread the responses as I used them.)
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| A cute card sent to me. |
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| A gift tag for next year. |
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Other Ideas:
Solution 3: You can create a collage of cards placemat. Simply arrange the photos and laminate or cover with contact paper. I plan to try this with photo cards we received—maybe using the same family through the years in one placemat. [I have a feeling my children will enjoy these holiday placemats as they love looking at photos.]
Solution 4: You can also use your own leftover photo Christmas cards to make placemats—one of each year per placemat.
Solution 5: As I’m writing this, I came up with another use for photo cards. I remember as a kid sorting through a shoebox of photos my mom kept of her friends’ kids. It was fun to try to find the same child through the years and see how he or she changed. I might do the same with my photo cards. I can gather ones from families through the years and allow my children to sort through them—match the families, put the pictures in sequential order, etc.
Solution 6: You can also make little boxes or ornaments from cards. (Personally, I’m trying to cut down on bulk, so this isn't an option for me, but it might be a good option if you give small gifts that need little boxes). If you google Christmas card origami boxes, you should find directions for these.
Any other ideas you can think of?
