RECYCLED CHRISTMAS CARDS

RECYCLED CHRISTMAS CARDS

Do you hate throwing away Christmas cards every year?  Don't know what to do with them?


I had saved all my Christmas cards for about the last ten years.  I cut the backs off (to use for shopping lists) and kept the pretty part, filing into categories for future projects.  I knew not what future projects but I certainly didn't want to throw them away. I even begged old cards from other people to 'save' them from destruction!  So I had a big box of filed cards, what to do with them next was the challenge!

Box of old Christmas cards

My first idea was to make Christmas coasters for the table.  I chose the 4 inch square cards for this.  On the back I placed things like the lyrics of Christmas songs and Xmas jokes then laminated them.  A great talking point for guests wanting to break the ice whilst waiting for their dinner.  Why do turkeys go gobble gobble? Because they never learned good table manners!  That kind of thing. 

Recycled Christmas card coasters

The next one was place mats.  I chose a nice bright A4 card, put a square Christmas card on the left and the words of a Xmas poem or song on the right.  Hard to ignore when you're waiting for your food!  Things like:

• I Keep My Snowman in the Freezer
• Christmas Robin
• Talking Turkey by Benjamin Zepheniah
• I am the Christmas Fairy
• When Santa Got Stuck up the Chimney

Everyone likes to show off a bit so these came in very handy indeed.

Recycled Christmas card table mats

I still had a lot of cards left over so I decided to recycle them as guess what? Christmas cards!  I got some recycled A4 paper ready to fold into four and stick the best parts of my old cards on the front.  I got some card making cutters for this, nothing too complicated or expensive.  My best buy (and most expensive) was the big round flower shaped one.  The snowflake was the cheapest and most effective to scatter over the cards or to make confetti for inside them.

Recycled Christmas cards

Then to get the message across as to why I was doing this.  Well I'm no great poet but a little ditty inside the card would probably be the best.  So I wrote the following:

A Recycled Christmas Card

This Christmas I am going green

Recycling all my cards

Not because I’m cheap or mean

Or sending  old discards

I am sent so many every year

By friends and family

With messages of Christmas cheer

Written out so beautifully

They carefully choose prettiest ones

And write such words of love

Messages and beautiful poems

I can’t thank them enough

I display them lovingly on my string

I couldn’t throw them away

A greetings card is a wonderful thing

They make my Christmas Day!

It’s not just the pretty card you see

That’s being reused

But the love that came from them to me

With which it is infused

So please enjoy my little card

It comes with Christmas cheer

I hope you have a lovely day

And a very Happy New Year!

Joan Ratcliffe 2012

I put this logo on the back.


 


I have also made gift boxes out of the larger ones, but you really need big cards for those and not many people buy them these days because of postage costs.


So I hope I have given you a few ideas and some inspiration to use up old Christmas cards!