Stop Don’t Toss Those Christmas Cards

Stop Don’t Toss Those Christmas Cards – 6 Ways to Recycle Them

Over the last several weeks my mailbox was filled with beautiful Christmas cards from both family and friends. As I opened each one I enjoyed reading their personalized notes, family letters and seeing many photos of their year incorporated into their cards. During the Christmas season there are many ways to use the received cards as part of your decorating but what do we do with them once its time to pack up the lights and decorations?

Here are 6 ways to recycle them :

#1 Prayer Jar - My friend Brianna shared on her Facebook that her Aunt had the BEST idea of what to do with Christmas cards after Christmas and said that I could to pass it on to you. Her Aunt would Cut out the names of the people who sent them and put them into a jar. Then Every day during the new year she would take out one name and pray for that person or family. When the jar was empty, she would start over again.

#2 Scrap Book - My Friend Valerie incorporates them into her scrap books each year. This is especially great for all the cards that you receive with family pictures. You can track year to year growth in the kids and keep the family letters as memories from each year to look back on.

#3 Christmas Card Banner - Hold on to too-pretty-to-toss Christmas cards for a fabric and ribbon banner. Maximize your favorite greetings by alternating triangle-cut illustrations with handwritten and printed sentiments. This idea came from Better Homes and Gardens. Click here for full how to instructions.

#4 Framed Collage - Gather all the photos and family pictures from the Christmas cards you received and purchase one of those Collage frames. Pace the pictures into the various sized openings and now you have a year round memory of your family and friends to hang in your home. You can change out the pictures each year.

#5 Framed Christmas Card Silhouettes – Some Christmas cards are cute enough they deserve to be framed. Better Homes and Gardens gives step by step instructions to create these. Click here for how to instructions.

#6 Recycle With St. Jude’s - You can ship your received no loner wanted Christmas cards to St. Jude’s recycle program where they will then create new cards to be sold next Christmas.

Over thirty years ago, wishing to show their donors appreciation for making St. Jude’s Ranch for Children possible, the idea was conceived for turning the previous year’s Christmas cards into “new” cards for the coming season. The recipients were so delighted with their unique “thank you,” they requested the children sell them the special cards. And so, the St. Jude’s Ranch Recycled Card Program was born.

Card Donating Tips:

All types of greeting cards, including Christmas are used.

Only the card front can be used (please check to be sure the back side is clear of any writing, etc.)

They can not accept Hallmark, Disney or American Greeting cards.

5″ x 7″ size or smaller is preferred.

Mail donations to :

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children

Recycled Card Program

100 St. Jude’s Street

Boulder City, NV 89005

How do you recycle and reuse your received Christmas cards?

Comments

Auriette says:

January 1, 2012 at 10:35 pm

Thanks for these great ideas! Each year, I display the cards as they come in, then I add them to the “Christmas Card Box.” I want to use them for craft projects, maybe even something I can give as Christmas gifts one year. I just haven’t decided what to do yet. I especially like the idea of the framed cards and the banners. I would like to do something like decoupage or an old ‘art-class’ style collage, but I don’t know if card stock is too heavy a paper to do those things.

Gigi s says:

January 2, 2012 at 4:21 am

My girl scouts troop does something similar to st. Jude. We collect old christmas cards to make new ones to send to soldiers overseas and at va hospitals.
If anyone would be interested in donating their cards to us, please email me at troop4208@gmail.com

Thanks
Gigi

Happy Home Fairy says:

January 2, 2012 at 5:32 am

This was SUCH a great POST! I LOOOVED IT!!!