Recycle Christmas Cards - Living Simply

Guest Author - Jill Florio

Recycle those Christmas and holiday cards you received in the mail or on your gifts with a little winter-themed creativity. You can use the white sides to make winter snowflakes for the windows, and postcards or coasters out of the decorated sides. Think about making a nice annual Christmas collage board too!

To make snowflakes, take the card and rip down the fold, so you have two smaller, one-sided cards. Fold one of the cards in half and dig out your scissors. Cut little chunks from your folded card to make 'snowflake' designs. Unfold and hang in your windows with tape. Snowflakes don't have to be white, by the way. You can have fun coloring them in with crayons or markers!

This is a nice winter indoor activity with kids and encourages them to think in new ways about reusing.

The pictures on the holiday cards can be turned into postcards and mailed back to the people who sent you gifts, as thoughtful thank you notes. Postcard stamps will save you money on postage for those thank-yous.

You can also make an annual collage or mosiac for all the cards you receive in a given year. Get some Modge-Podge (a decoupage glue), or just use any glue or tape if you wish. Cut out holiday themes and scenes from your cards, and maybe a bit of the gift wrap you used this year. Make a scene or montage that you find appealing. Tape or glue them all down on a sheet of cardboard (maybe reused from a box that a big gift came in).

Apply a thin coat of Modge-podge if you wish, for a finished look. Make sure you make a note on the back of which year you are commemorating, and do this each year. You can set up these special holiday art pieces each year, against your mantle or on a windowsill.

You could also make holiday coasters by applying the scenes from cards, cut into squares, and glued to square pieces of cardboard. Apply a thick coat of the Modge-Podge and you have charming, waterproof coasters worth breaking out each year.

One last idea: get some spray adhesive from a craft store. Cut out cute animals, pretty trees or jolly Santas from your used cards, and place spray adhesive on the back side. Stick these cut-outs anywhere! They can become adorable decorations on the bathroom walls, on the kitchen cabinets, on wine bottles, or marching along a child's bedroom wall. The best part is this adhesive comes right off without leaving a residue on your furniture or paint.

So remember to place the cards you received this year in your box of ornaments for next year, ready for you to crazy with card creativity!

How to have an eco-friendly and budget-wise Christmas by decreasing the waste - and increasing your creativity!

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