Upcycle Your Christmas Cards
by Stacey Heneveld
The Christmas decorations are slowly coming down in my house, as they do every year at about this time. And every year I’m left with a pile of wonderful, thoughtful, lovely Christmas cards from friends and family. I hate to just toss them in the trash but what else do you do with them?
Well, here are five simple ways to reuse those Christmas Cards and keep your kids busy at the same time!
First thing’s first: Before handing the stack of cards, scissors and glue over to your children, sort the cards into piles based on which idea they would work well for. Keep reading and you’ll see what I mean…
1. Create your own Christmas cards
Get a jump start on next year’s cards by reusing this year’s cards to make your own for 2013! Simply cut off the front of the cards and glue them on to folded cardstock paper. You can get creative with how you place the card, the size you cut the card or add some glitter! Then, write your own message on the inside and store it away with a blank envelope (you can pick these up at any office supply store). This will give you a handful of cards ready to use for next year.
Cards to use: This works for any card that does not have a photograph on it. Also, this works well for any cards that may have writing on the other side of the front (where grandma may have written you a little message) because you will be gluing that side to your card stock paper.
Hint: Be sure to do this during your downtime now and don’t wait until next December. By then you will have forgotten about them and won’t have the extra time to do it!
2. Create your own notecards
Your grandma will love receiving a special little note from you this January after the holiday busyness dies down. Why not use one of those Christmas cards to write your special note! Or a ‘thank you’ note for a special gift you received last month. Simply cut the front off the card, write your message on the back and place in a blank envelope! Smaller cards also work well for lunch box notes for kids!
Cards to use: Avoid using cards with photographs or featuring specific holiday worlds like “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Holidays”, etc. Also, be sure there is not already a special message written on the back! Cards with snowmen or winter scenes work great!
3. Photo Book
Now it’s time to use those photo cards! Pick up a small photo album from the local dollar store and cut the photo cards to size. Insert the photos into the photo album and create your own photo book of friends and family. This is a really fun idea if you have little kids because they can flip through the book and you can point out different family members who they may not yet know or see often. A simple way to keep family and friends close! And, if you don’t have very many photo cards, simply print off a few of your favorite photos from the holidays to include in your book!
I also love this idea of reusing an old board book to create a new picture book:
Source: chefmessy.com via Ashlee on Pinterest
Cards to use: Photo cards.
4. Christmas collages
Let your child’s imagination go wild as they uses different bits and pieces from Christmas cards to create their own Christmas scene! Have them cut apart the cards and encourage them to use as much of the card as possible. Have them cut apart words to make new sentences on their page. Then, use some crayons, markers, and construction paper to fill in the scene!
Cards to use: Any cards! Anything goes!!
5. Stick puppets
This is one of my favorite ideas! Those lovely family photo cards looked wonderful on your fridge and mantle, but it’s time to cut apart Aunt Edna, Uncle Fred, and little Jimmy to create some fun! Once you have the pictures cut apart, glue each person onto a wooden stick/popsicle stick and let the kids create their own puppet show! Glue a picture on each side to make the most out of your sticks. The kids absolutely love this! They can act out little scenes with some of their favorite friends and family as puppets and, for the people they don’t quite now, they can create new characters. They can also use the Christmas collage they created from other cards to serve as scene backdrops.
You can get even more crafty and use extra material or paper to give your puppets new clothes or looks! Next thing you know, with a new makeshift dress, Uncle Fred is looking a little more like Aunt Edna!
Cards to use: Any photo cards!
What are some creative ways that you reuse your holiday cards?
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