The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Rachel at Useful Beautiful Home.
*Sadly the pictures for this post are no longer available. Sorry about that.
There are plenty of ways to display Christmas cards during December, but what about storing them after the holidays? I personally cringe at tossing those familiar smiling faces into the trash receptacle. Maybe it’s because I’m sentimental at heart or maybe it’s because I appreciate the effort involved in sending well wishes during the busy season. Either way, I hold onto a few special Christmas cards from year to year, as long as I have space and an organized method to do so.
If you’re not like me, then I applaud your efforts to relinquish potential paper clutter. But, for us sentimental peeps, here are 5 ways to organize the Christmas cards we receive and keep them from turning into messy piles!
*Side note – I recommend purging the cards every few years as life changes to avoid an overwhelming stash. Also, I only keep those cards that are near & dear to my heart; the mortgage lender’s self portrait found it’s way to the recycle bin by December 31st. 🙂
#1. Upcycle them in a meaningful way. Get a head start on next year’s Christmas decorations by morphing this year’s cards into something beautiful and useful. Here are a few crafty projects to admire…
- Turn a Christmas card wreath into a permanent decoration each year. This one from delightingintoday.com looks super simple to make yet beautiful to admire.
- Popsicle stick puzzles would be great entertainment for the kiddos next holiday season. They’re also a great way to involve children in reflecting upon the loved ones in your life. Allourdays.com wrote an excellent tutorial about how to make these Christmas card puzzles.
- Ornaments, ornament, ornaments. I like the simple & easy ornament-making crafts. However, you can visit my Pinterest page (HERE) to see many examples to make many more intricate upcycling ideas.
#2. Make a continual scrapbook dedicated to Christmas card pictures. Each holiday season, add a new header to label which year it is and fill with your favorite cards/pictures. I like this idea because it contains many years of memories all in one convenient location.
#3. One of the most thoughtful ways to use holiday cards is for reflection throughout the year. Recently, I read how one blogger made a “prayer box” (read about it HERE) with her kids. She gathered her cards in a decorative container and used them as reminders to pray for the families throughout the year. What a way to cherish others all year long.
#4. Take a cell phone picture of a Christmas photo card and use that picture as his/her profile picture. This is one of my favorite ways to keep the memory but not the object.
And, my final suggestion…
#5. This is my personal preference that I’ve been doing for years because it’s quick, inexpensive, and space-saving. I make yearly “booklets” by punching a hole in each Christmas card. Then, I insert a metal binder ring to keep them bound together and add a slip of paper to identify the year.
A quick Pinterest search on the topic told me that I’m not the only one who uses this concept. I found some very creative tutorials. There are too many to highlight here, so please view my Pinterest board to see other booklet examples.
In support of Laura’s organizing outlook for this year, please don’t keep other people’s Christmas cards if they add extra pressure for yourself or stress to your household. Just because there are creative ways to organize holiday greeting cards doesn’t mean you must keep & organize your stack. Disposing/recycling them can be equally satisfying when it comes to nurturing a peaceful home.
Wishing you many blessings as we embark upon the New Year!
In the professional world, I’m a nurse by trade. But, around our house, I’m known as Mommy to our young daughter. My two worlds collided and began shaping into a blog. Useful Beautiful Home represents the hours I’ve dedicated to managing my household as efficiently as possible. I offer you motivation to keep your home healthy, organized, and welcoming. My goal is to share what I’ve implemented in my home to inspire you with fresh ideas and to encourage you to keep up the good work in yours!
carol says
I love these tips. Its hard for me to throw away Christmas cards because I am sentimental. Now I can up cycle them! I love love love it!
Jannie says
These are the best tips ever! I’ve been needing these. I usually cut predominant shapes out of the card fronts and use them for gift tags for packages the following Christmas! But I love the scrapbooking page, the hole punched idea. Thx!
Francesca says
Thank you SO much. I love to save my Christmas cards, but they were a mess, so I would end up tossing them the following year. Now I have a great way to save them, I already made my Christmas card 2013 book AND I can remember to pray for my loved ones all year long. This is truly a blessing!
Becky L says
I can see myself doing something like this with photos I get. This year I got a few photo cards which are nice. Good idea. I’m not sure I’d keep all the cards. Or put photos on back of cards to keep them then ring bind them. Score! I didn’t get as many cards this year as the previous years. Postage?Time?Cost? Oh well! Thanks for the ideas!
Gina says
I punch holes in them and hang on hooks on my Christmas tree. After Christmas , I keep the cards that have pictures and put in photo albums with pictures taken at Christmas. If unusually special written in card I might keep. Otherwise trash the rest.