Every year for the past several years, I’ve shared our holiday card here on my blog (see them all in this post). I love sending out holiday cards, I love thinking about what type of card we’ll send, what picture(s) we’ll use, what message we will include, and what time of year we’ll send it out.
Last year, we sent out a Thanksgiving card. This year, we’re tentatively planning on a New Year’s card — but I haven’t officially ordered or made anything yet.
As much as I love sending out cards, I also really love receiving cards, pictures, and notes from friends and family — especially because many of them live across the country.
We proudly display all our cards and photos on our “picture post” in the kitchen until the end of January.
But then what?
While I love looking at all the pictures and cards on our “picture post” I certainly don’t want them there year round — and there’s just NO WAY I’m willing to save years and years of Christmas cards from family and friends.
I usually let Nora color on the actual cards and then play with some of the picture cards (she pretends like she’s making a photo album or other craft project). Sometimes I’ll scan a few of our immediate family’s picture cards to use in our digital photo albums, but definitely not all of the cards.
After another week or so… they are all trashed.
.
Last year, my overly-sentimental, overly-emotional (and not at all like her mother) Nora was practically devastated when I tossed “her beautiful pictures”. She sobbed and even tried to take them out of the trash when I wasn’t looking.
I explained that Christmas was over and we had already put all the decorations away so it was time to put the cards away too. She ended up coming to terms with the trashed cards when I assured her we would get more the next year (please everyone, send us a card!)
I’m sure I’ll face a similar fight this coming January, but for me, it just doesn’t pay to save piles of holiday cards that I won’t ever look at again anyway. It’s just extra stuff to store, extra clutter to clean around, and extra junk for Nora to stash in one of her many bags upstairs!
I’m often asked if I have any creative ways to re-use holiday cards — and besides cutting the fronts off traditional cards to reuse them later, or letting your kids color on them, I’ve got nothing.
And since the majority of the Christmas cards we receive are photo cards, I can’t really think of any way to reuse those.
So I’d love to know if you have any simple ways to reuse holiday cards.
Of course, there’s no shame if you just trash them like me!
Jennifer C says
My my volunteers at the local train museum. They do a lot of decorating for Christmas. One tree is decorated entirely with Christmas cards– the fronts of the cards have been cut off, and 2 card fronts of similar size are glued together to make an double-sided card ornament– just hole punch the top and add ribbon. It looks really great!
Liz says
My grandmother would arrange a collage of Christmas cards on a rectangular piece of card stock and laminate the front and back for beautiful and festive Christmas placemat. She would give a set as Christmas presents to family members.
Crystal says
Andrea, it’s refreshing to read this! Not because I wholeheartedly agree with you, but because I WANT to. I will admit, I save all of the photo cards we get. I used to make a tradition of reviewing last year’s photos as this year’s cards arrive, reflecting on how much has changed in the past year, but quite honestly, the bin full of cards is telling me it’s time to let them go. I feel like I’m dishonoring those friends it I toss their cards, but if I think about it, I would have absolutely no complaint if I learned they tossed ours. I would feel badly if they kept them out of guilt!
Lindsay says
For a couple of years, I would save the bundle of cards, and pack them away with our Christmas decor. Then, the following year, when putting the decorations up, I would spend a few minutes looking through them before tossing them. I realized that this was just an act of guilt that delayed me from disposing of them at the end of the holiday season. Now, I take one final look at them come January 2nd, and then I kiss the pile of cards, and into the trash they go, lol. We even do this with thank you cards and other greetings we receive in the mail throughout the year. I know this sounds like an absurd tradition, but maybe it will help Norah (or other readers with similar sentiment toward holiday cards) peacefully part ways with them once the season has ended. Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Maria says
I use the photo cards of my close friends as bookmarks until they’re too mauled up by my small children. My four-year-old son especially likes these bookmarks from people he knows, and he uses them in his Bible story book and his enormous Thomas the Tank Engine book.
He also loves maps, and I’d like to put the cards up with a string connecting them to a pin on the map showing where each family lives.
alissia haig says
Love this post! And, its exactly why my family does NOT do a photo card! They are pricey and I always figured that they likely end up in the trash! Instead, I do a simple boxed card bought from the $1 store and include pics only for our very close family. I figure, that with Facebook, all our extended family & friends already keep up with our growing family.
And I, too, make gift tags out of the cards at the end of the season. I purchased a simple tag shaped punch tool from Michael’s and quickly punch a few tags out of each card.
Rebecca says
I use old Christmas cards to make four garlands that hang on my Christmas tree. I make different size garlands for the tree ( for example – small size cards are used for the top of the tree and as I move down the tree with the garlands, I will use medium cards and then large cards).I purchase green ribbon about 1 inch wide (so it blends in with the Christmas tree), use a hole punch and punch a hole on each side of the card, and weave the ribbon behind the cards and leave about 3-4 inches between cards. I find that it is easiest to make four different ‘strands’ for my 8 foot tree. They are easy to put away and the strands don’t get tangled when I put them on the tree.
I will put one strand of cards starting at the top of the tree, then add a strand of gold tulle, then a strand of cards, another strand of gold tulle and so on until the tree is decorated!
Nanette says
Each year after Christmas is over, I cut out any illustrations (snow flakes, bells etc) and use them as gift tags for next years Christmas gifts.
Christine says
I’ve used them to make ornaments for the Christmas tree and also framed a couple of the beautiful ones as decorations.
Robin says
We would give our cards to a lady at church who would cut the cards/pictures up into a few different shapes, lay them onto the sticky side of a piece of clear contact paper making a collage, and cover them with another piece of contact paper. The collage would be the size of a placemat and my kids would use that placemat for a while and look at their favorite cards while enjoying a meal or a snack. I was able to put the placemat away after the meal and after a few months, didn’t put the placemat out and the kids soon forgot about it. An useful way to use the cards for a while, the kids enjoyed them, and they were not laying around the house!
Miranda says
How do you get the cards to stay on the post? I have been trying painters tape, but the cards just fall down. Thanks!
Andrea says
we just use regular scotch tape. Sometimes, if the cards are really heavy, we need to tape the top and the bottom 🙂
luda says
I make a bookmarks/.
Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving says
I save all the Nativity scene cards for one of my favorite preschool Christmas crafts! All the nativity cards are different. Some have the whole manger scene, and others with just Mary, Joseph & Baby Jesus. Some have angels and some do not. I allow my preschoolers to cut them up and assemble them into their own manger scene picture on paper. We use brown paper strips to form the stable and then add star stickers. They are so unique – and a great use of old Christmas cards!
Andrea says
Good to know — I’ll email you for your shipping address if I get nativity cards this year 🙂
nevenka says
I take a picture of the front of the cards and save them to my phone. I then edit every contact with their new Xmas card. This way I am reminded of friends and family AND the holidays whenever I call, email or text them. The physical cards get pitched.
Andrea says
Well — that’s one of the coolest ideas ever. No clutter and you still get to “save” the cards in your phone!
Tara says
Sometime in January we start taking our cards down one or two at a time at a mealtime and look at the card together. Then we pray for the family who sent each card then recycle it. When our display starts looking sparse we put them in a stack near the kitchen table. Sometimes the last few cards get prayed for en masse. But it’s been a really lovely way to say goodbye to our holiday cards.
Linda M says
I cut circles the size of a canning jar ring from pretty cards. Then I use these to “fancy up” homemade jars of jelly or other home canned food items I give as gifts. I use the previous years cards for this. You can use other occasion cards to do the same for other occasions during the year.
I have also sent the cards I have received to St Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis TN. I believe they use to make recycled cards.
Andrea says
LOVE this idea Linda! I can all the time and then give the jars as gifts. This would be the perfect way “dress up” my jars!
Karen says
We have done the gift tags for years and years too.
One new thing we did last year was make small gift boxes out of old Christmas cards:
http://www.craftypod.com/2007/10/29/how-to-make-a-gift-box-from-an-old-greeting-card
My hubby really went to town with this and whipped up a whole bunch of them. One of the gifts we gave out last year was homemade soap and they were the perfect size for a bar. People really went nuts over the boxes and thought they were really cool!!
Andrea says
Cool idea! And true story, I have the exact same card that was used for the example in that gift-box tutorial!
Bridget says
I cut the cute designs or words off the front of Christmas cards and save them to use next Christmas as gift tags for our presents. I actually keep some of the picture cards in Avery sheet protectors in a 3 ring binder divided by Family name. It is fun to see how people have changed or kids have grown up throughout the years. For 14 years of marriage, I only have one 3 inch 3 ring binder, and it is not filled yet. Great for fun memories during the holidays!
Libby says
I save all of my cards from one year to the next. We do look at them again during the Christmas holidays. Each Christmas I do discard a few from previous years. The traditional Christmas cards with handwritten signatures and notes become sweeter over the years, especially the ones form loved ones that have passed away. Sweet memories of grandparents and other elderly relatives that are long gone are rekindled in those cards.
I keep them in a special box that is decorated for Christmas. The box is very sturdy and should last as long as I choose to keep these cards. Old family memories for my family… Can’t capture that in a digital photo album.
Jennifer P says
I save all of my cards, I store them in a gift bag in our laundry room cupboard. After collecting them for a few years, I cut off the fronts and use a tag punch to make them into gift tags. And I stamp some of them and make them into postcards. Then donate some of them to our church’s bazaar sale.
One year my daughter, who was in middle school at the time, took the card fronts and stamped new messages on the back. Punched two holes in the top and added some yarn to hang them. We then donated them to the local nursing home to give to the patients.
I even use the backs to punch out tags in the blank areas.
Kristin says
Neither of these require that you keep the physical card, but then again these mean less paper clutter!
I’ve heard a great idea to snap a photo of the card/family pic and use it as the contact photo on your phone for that person.
Another fun idea might be to scan them in or snap a photo and include them in your annual family photo book. It would be fun to see how your friends’ families change over the years!
Andrea says
Thanks Kristin — I love the phone photo idea (never thought of that!) and I already do scan some of them in for our digital photo album!
Tracie H says
My church always collected them and sent them to St. Jude’s children’s hospital. The kids there use them.
Kimberly says
My kids love picture cards, too, so I get a simple photo album to stick them in.
Kristi says
This year I kept the photo cards in a decorative silver bowl/tray on our side table. The kids have had fun looking through the cards a couple of times a week. I’ve also followed Stephanie Holden’s lead (@honeyhold on IG) and I take out one card a week and keep it with my journal and make a point to think about the family, reach out to them, pray for them that week. Makes me feel connected to those whom we are separated by distance, in particular.
When we take down this year’s cards I will trash last year’s card and do the same. I remember seeing on iheartorganizing.blogspot.com that she makes a little booklet of the cards on a binder ring for each year but I just don’t make the storage room for those extra ‘scrapbooks’ of sorts.
Andrea says
love this idea! thanks for sharing Kristi!
Linda K Foster says
Yes, Nora could make a little picture book of the prettiest cards!
Or placemats are great as well.
Andrea says
we’ve made a picture book in the past! It was fun and she loved looking through it!
MOlson says
If possible, I cut out the photo part of the photo card (removing the holiday theme part) and tack to the cork board I put up on the inside of my pantry door so I can keep until the next time we receive a photo from that family!
Hannah says
My grandma and mom taught me to save them to use as tags on gifts the following holiday season. 🙂 It’s nice to make use out of the cards since they are pretty, and I am a reduce/reuse/recycle enthusiast.
Andrea says
sounds like this is a very popular use for old cards that I (surprisingly) have never thought of before! Thanks for sharing!
Jane says
I used to throw them in a craft bin. If I was really ambitious, I would use our circle punch and cut out anything with a cute motif. We use the circles to make buntings or tags. We also make the ornaments (decoration, really, because they are large) out of the circles. I forgot what they are called. But you fold the circles into thirds to form a triangle and then glue them together to create spheres. They are a bit fiddly to make, so I wouldn’t recommend them for young hands.
I used to cut off all the photos and hang them up in the house. Now, all of my cards get recycled. And, I don’t send any. (Just call me scrooge!)
Andrea says
haha — no, you had “your time”. My parents don’t send out cards… and Dave’s parents usually just send an email 🙂
Avia Thompson says
I have one of those round binder clips (they look like a key ring). I use a hole punch to punch a hole in the corner and then put all the cards on the ring. I can probably fit 4 years worth on one clip. Then I just store them with the Christmas decorations. It is fun to look at the changes through the years and my daughter loves looking through them.
Michelle says
We have a traditional scrapbook album that I keep some of the cards in that I started 10 years ago when we were first married. What I did was keep any photos or photo cards. I also would clip part of the picture of the card if I thought it was nice and/or if someone wrote something extra nice in our card. Usually I can put the album together in a weekend, I just keep it very simple. Plus my girls love to pick out the paper and some stickers for the pages and they love seeing when they were a baby or others when they were little. And Now that we have kids I put a copy of our photo card in there so I get to see what we sent out! Any extra cards I don’t want/use I let the kids craft with. Or St Jude recycles Christmas cards too.
Why I started this was that my grandmother always loved to write notes in our cards or anytime we gave her a gift. Now that she is gone it is very nice to go back and read those things. Those types of things are more important to me than a physical gift. So it’s been nice to flip through that album every year and see how our friends/family have grown/changed, or read best wishes when we got married, had children, etc.
Dianne says
I use the pretty ones and make next years gift tags. Give lots of room to do a note on the tag too.
Have never had to buy gift tags yet. Love your site.
Megan says
For many decorative cards that I get throughout the year, I cut off a long, thin section where the pattern is nice and then keep that piece as a bookmark. I have many such bookmarks that I keep in a jar for when I need one!
Andrea says
well, that’s one idea I never thought of! I guess I also don’t read a whole lot — but the cards would make great bookmarks. You could even laminate them if you wanted to keep them around longer!
Becky says
Our family after the holidays put them in a basket on the table and pick on each night and pray for that family. My children even ask to pray if they know the family. Hopefully this will be a tradition they carry on with their family.
Holly Moran says
Last year I took a few minutes & put all of the photo cards in a stack & hole punched with 2 holes at the top & tied pretty Christmas ribbon to make a little flip book. I made a very quick cover with Christmas scrapbook paper & sticker letters (but this could be done using a computer printout if you don’t have these supplies). I then packed it away with the Christmas decorations. I plan to do this every year & set out a basket of all the pictures books from years past- I think it will be fun to compare over the years how people have changed & their kids have grown. This literally took less than 10 minutes because we don’t get a TON of cards (maybe 15-20 per year) but they all have a special meaning. Also- I don’t really consider it to be clutter because it’s packed away with my Christmas decorations.
Andrea says
Love this idea Holly — and I like that you keep them tucked away with the Christmas decorations too. I don’t have many Christmas decorations anymore, so I don’t have a lot of room for cards and pictures, but I’m sure I could squeeze a few in the cracks 🙂
Keeley says
I do this too – I make a single hole punch in corner of all cards and put a metal loop (not sure right term – basic office supply store item) through them and store w Xmas decorations. Kids love to go through them. You can print or buy a cover page for cards that says something like Xmas 2014. I toss cards from people we really do not know well at all.
amberjoy says
We have a bug bullitten board that we put up pictures of people that we are really close to we call it our blessings board and end up putting other thi bc so up there too like school pictures or birthday cards (some things do come down w he n kids aren’t looking;)
Jules says
I’m with you, Andrea! Straight to the curb 🙂 But Kathryn at Team Whitaker [http://teamwhitaker.org/] has a great idea:
keep all the cards, stick them in a drawer, and every night at the dinner table, take one out and pray for that family, and read about what they did last year.
Maybe you could incorporate that into your routine, and after you pull out the card and talk about that family, toss the card…. and you’d pitch them gradually!
Andrea says
Thanks Jules — that seems like a good compromise (as long as Nora doesn’t find the cards and pull all of them out every day!)
Gaynor Williams says
I use them to make gift tags, large or small, for next years Xmas presents. Cut out a suitable section of the picture, or a word, such as “Joy”, punch a hole in the corner, and add coloured thread/string for tying. I never buy gift tags, I enjoy finding a tag to match the colour and style of the wrapping paper. The leftover bits and any unused cards go in the recycling bin. (I live in South Wales, UK, and we’re hot on recycling here.)
Annette says
I cut off the front of traditional type cards into random shapes based on the artwork, hole punch them and use them as the following years gift tags. They look great when tied to gift bags or on gifts. The photo cards of childhood friends are saved only long enough after the holiday for me to share with other family members to view and share memories of days gone by.
Janet says
I have a friend who reuses cards (non photo) to remake handmade cards for shut ins from her church.
Andrea says
yes, this is pretty much the only idea I had for reusing the non-photo cards. I’ve personally never done it, but I have donated the fronts of our cards several times to groups that use them to remake cards. at least I feel good about that 🙂
Leanne says
we don’t keep all of them…. but we do keep some that are from families that we are especially close to or are having a serious trial in their lives… then we put those on a memo board as a reminder to pray for them through the coming year 🙂
if you were looking for a way to save a bunch of them, so Nora isn’t devastated, you could let her pick 10 or 15 and then hole punch the corner and put them on a ring… then she can flip through them anytime… 🙂
Andrea says
Thanks Leanne. I did let her pick 10-15 to save last year — but I did NOT hole punch them (big mistake). There were pictures everywhere all the time because she was always “playing” with them.
If I let her save any this year, I’ll definitely hole-punch them!
Katy Travis says
My favorite store in downtown Holland carries a magnet line that I adore. A few years ago we bought a metal magnetic clothesline from them and we hung it in our mudroom. We put the cards that have pictures on them there and keep them up all year round.
Andrea says
sounds like a store I would like too 🙂