Let Your Christmas Cards Live On

So you're starting to clean up after Christmas and you have an assortment of wonderful Christmas cards that have been lovingly sent to you. Seems a shame to just toss them in the recycle bin doesn't it?  Before you make that final move have a look through your stash.  Maybe there is something you could do with some of these cards...reuse before you recycle??

I remember, years ago, my mother would sit down after Christmas and carefully go through all of her cards.  She would then pick out cards that she could cut up , with her pinking sheers, and use as special gift tags for the next year.  I always thought this was a great idea and even did it a few times myself.  You could still do this...make some very personal and, with some crafting, very lavish, one of a kind tags for some special gifts.  

You could also see if any cards work together, either by colour, theme or size and cut the fronts off to be used as part of your decor next year.  These could easily be framed and hung or placed in areas that may need a little Christmas.  Reusable hangers are great for this since they won't mark your walls or cabinets or wherever you choose to hang these special pictures.  You could even change the pictures every year with new cards. Finding matching frames at the dollar store would certainly make your display come together. Collages of these framed cards would really make a statement too, especially if they're placed somewhere you don't normally have pictures or decorations, such as your washroom.   

Instead of framing you could mount the chosen cards on card stock and attach these to wide ribbon (which you should be able to find rather inexpensively after Christmas) and hang these on the front of doors or cupboards. Very visual and festive and because the top of the ribbon is hung on the back of the door or cupboard door there won't be any visible marks.

So, really look at all of these cards before getting rid of them and remember, even if you decide not to remake these wonderful holiday greetings into decorations,  you could always donate them to a school or kids' group for their crafting. It would be nice for these little pieces of art to live on, if only for another season.