Easy Recycled Holiday Cards

kay, so I'm a pack rat, but I can't be the only one who saves 20 years worth of holiday cards...can I? For the sake of this article, let's just say that I'm not the only one, and that there are others--say, for instance, you--who want to recycle those beautiful cards.

My son was sorting through the correspondence box and collecting all the old Christmas cards for a different project we had in mind. I glanced over and saw a wonderful Valentine card and, flash!, I had an idea. I showed him how we could cut out the nice images in the old cards and make new cards. We experimented and came up with a fun design using the recycled cards.

What you need

We didn't buy anything for this project, so use your imagination and go through those craft boxes.

Scissors

Glue and/or glue gun

Old Christmas cards

Sparkles and other small shiny things

Very thin, shiny ribbon or even tinsel (old or new)

Card stock or thin corrugated cardboard or construction paper

New or home-made envelopes

Print this template out and use it to trace stars

How to do it

1. Decide on a design. Ours was a Christmas tree---stars and snowmen would also be easy. Make it twice as long as you want it to end up being.
2. Make a stiff template of your design.
3. Using old cards, trace design onto the prettiest part of the card.
4. Cut out design.
5. Fold tree, or your design, accordion-style. Use very small folds, working from the top down.
6. Choose background material to place design on--plain or colored card stock, thin corrugated cardboard, or construction paper. Cut this material to fit your envelopes.
7. Use glue gun or regular white glue to adhere your tree/design to the front of the background material. Leave room for holiday message under the tree/design.
8. Glue sparkles, tinsel, and/or other bright materials all over your tree/design. I found less is better. If your design is a tree, you can glue a shiny star to the top and cut small gifts for placing under the tree.
9. Your card is now ready for a holiday message and signature inside.
10. Address envelopes, enclose card, and off they go!

As we were working on ours, we discussed the friends and family that had sent the cards. Many were sent before Jon was even born. We had lost touch with some. It was a wonderful way to spark and share memories with my children. We also thought it would be funny if anyone recognizes their old cards!

Patricia Moon is a homeschooling mother, an active member of her community and a freelance writer who is married to her editor/fan club president.

Technorati Tags: Crafts Holidays