BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Living Simply What to do with Christmas cards.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27136.asp

Really liked your idea for turning Christmas Cards into postcards. It just so happens I also have a bunch of regular cards with no hope of finding an envelope for them so they'll now make great postcards.

Thanks a lot!

Hey, great Moe! Every bit of reusing is a good thing. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I like the thought of turning the cards to post cards. Also, I work with children. The cards will be used in future art projects.

Thanks, Taisha
Southeast Asia Editor

hey cool! can you tell us what kind of projects you've done with cards and children?

Happy New Year Jill!! GREAT ideas! I have two of my own to add:

I always recycle old Christmas cards into gift tags: I cut out the pictures into smaller shapes, hole punch in the corner, tie a ribbon through, and write on the back. If I use plain or paper bag wrapping paper, I will glue the front of a whole card to the gift and write on top of that.

For kids: I rip the front off of old cards, and other mail with interesting pictures. I keep them in a box for my daughter - she practices cutting and pastes the pictures onto her own creations. Sorting through the box is half the fun for her.

Great ideas, Karen! Mind if I put them in the article? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Not at all! I'm happy to contribute <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

A friend who is a French teacher re-uses Christmas cards in her classroom.... the kids cut off the front, glue it to a sheet of construction paper, and write messages in French in the inside. It's good practice for French holiday vocabulary, and a fun project. She also collects multi-faith cards and generic scenery cards, naturally, so non-Christian kids can make other sorts of cards.

She has NO PROBLEM finding donations! Even the most sentimental people don't usually need to hang on to the cards that, say, the dentist's office invariably sends.

It's possible that there's a teacher near you who does something like this; most everyone knows SOMEONE who teaches school, ask them if they or any of their colleagues might like some.

Every year in Australia big bins are put out the front of the supermarkets where we can put them to be recycled for other uses.

that is a great idea. maybe churches here can consider having a bin like that.

They also make great scrap paper. I never thought of that before until I noticed a lady I know will take a card, cut off the front (the picture part) and use the back part, which is usually blank with no writing on it, as scrap paper or a notecard. Sure, it's just scrap, but beats using fresh paper for scribbling and it's nice to see a pretty picture. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I like that. plus it saves you from going out and buying virgin paper to use as notepads.