Creative Ways To Recycle Christmas Cards

With the holidays comes the influx of Christmas cards. Everyone is sending and receiving daily, which leaves many wondering what to do with all the ones they received. This is where recycling comes in for many households. Instead of throwing them in the trash, they find new and unique ways to put them to use.

Giving gifts means you will need to buy some gift tags so you know who gets what. To save yourself a bit of money this year, consider cutting up those old greetings and using them to make your own gift tags. Cut out scenes and pieces of each card in unique shapes to create each tag. A decorative pair of scissors can give the edges a special touch. If you like to tie your tags, use a hole punch in the corner of each. Or you can just tape them directly on the gift.

Sometimes you receive that one card that is just too special to throw away or consider cutting up. When the sentimental feeling kicks in, you can preserve those feelings by storing the cards in photo albums or scrapbooks. Each year you can pull out the book of greetings to share with everyone and take a look at the past together.

Consider turning those greetings into bookmarkers. This is a simple and easy thing to do, and comes in handy when you find yourself constantly looking for a marker every time you pick up a book. Just cut the back off a small card and use it that way, or take a large card, and cut it into three strips. Either way you preserve a memory and get good use out of the greeting all year long.

Kids are always looking for different craft materials, and these make a perfect addition to their collection. They can cut them up and then use them to make their own greetings for friends and relatives. You could also help them arrange them into the shape of a placemat and laminate it for them. This creates a festive placemat for the holidays or to give as gifts.

There is no rule about resending old greetings, especially if you turn them into postcards first. All you need to do is cut along the fold to create a new postcard, just make sure the back is blank to write on. And, since not all greetings have a holiday theme, you can use the religious ones around different holidays and the winter themed ones when you like.

Sometimes you just do not have the time to get creative and turn those old greetings into something new, but others do. Consider donating them out to groups. In January, many stores participate in collecting cards to be recycled. Money raised from the recycling is used for different projects, like helping the forests by planting new trees.

It is hard to just throw away Christmas cards that you know others took the time to pick out and send to you. But when your home starts to look like a card factory, something must be done. Consider recycling those old greetings and putting them to use at least one more time before they are gone forever.