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Recycle your Christmas cards into gift tags for next year.

January 2, 2012 25 Comments

Who doesn’t love getting Christmas cards?
I love keeping in touch with people and seeing how big their kids have gotten and what they’ve been up to over the past year.  Many send photo Christmas cards (we do) but many send a beautiful card that they sign… but no note, no photos.

I save all of the photo cards we get over the years and I have great aspirations to one day get them into a Christmas Album.  (Maybe someday I will do this.)  However, those gorgeous cards with just a signature can be enjoyed a second year with just a little time and a pair of scissors.

Turn these….

Recycle your Christmas cards to make beautiful gift tags

Into these…

Christmas, gift tags, Christmas cards, recycle Christmas cards

For example, I thought this little card was beautiful.

It would be a shame to not do something else with it… so I cut off the front part of the card.  Then I took my Cricut and some coordinating card-stock and cut out a tag shape that was slightly bigger than the Santa card.

Bit of a TANGENT:
When something has a an imperfection that I can’t easily fix, I embrace the imperfection and just make it bigger.  Sort of like PeeWee Herman.  “I meant to do that.”

In this case, the cutting blade on my Cricut needs to be replaced, so some of the paper tore a bit on the edges. No problem… I have a nail file.  I meant to do that.  If something is ripped or torn or smudged… rip it, tear it or smudge it even more.  Make it part of your design.

I adhered the Santa card to the tag and added a ribbon.

Pretty, right?  Free, unique, kinda green since I recycled it… those are good things.

If you don’t have an electronic cutting tool, simple shapes cut with scissors or exacto knife work just fine.  You can also get pre-cut letters and embellishments in the scrap-book section at your local craft store.

I cut out this Santa with an exacto knife and adhered it to a card-stock tag.

For this one I cut the Christmas card into an oval shape… cut another, slightly larger oval out of card-stock… add letters and a ribbon.

There is no right or wrong, just cut them up and recreate something.  The ones I’ve done here are super simple, but you can always add embellishments like glitter, ribbon, rhinestones or beads…

Not feeling the Christmas right now?  I get it, you want to just pack it all up and move forward?  (I’m feeling the same way…) No problem.

Cut the images you want to keep, or even toss whole cards into a bag and pack it into the bin where you store your Christmas wrap or decorations (or whatever) so that when you unpack your decor next season you are ready to make some fun tags.

Happy crafting!


Filed Under: cheap and easy, Christmas, gift giving, Paper, paper crafts, planning ahead, tutorial, UseWhatchaGot

Comments

  1. Pattie @ On Hollyhock Farm says

    January 2, 2012 at 3:33 PM

    Awesome repurpose! Thanks for sharing! 8^)

    Reply
  2. Connie says

    January 2, 2012 at 3:41 PM

    Great idea….but I just threw all of my cards out yesterday.

    Reply
  3. Em says

    January 2, 2012 at 4:10 PM

    Love it! I’ve done a little of this before, but not in recent years. I have a nice stack of cards to put away for a project on a cold, winter day. Thank you for sharing! Your tags are so pretty!

    Reply
  4. Creative Raisins says

    January 2, 2012 at 6:01 PM

    What a fantastic Idea, I am going to save mind for next year.

    Reply
  5. Anonymous says

    January 2, 2012 at 6:20 PM

    I will save mine just for this purpose. Thanks. Enjoy your blog so much.
    Jacque

    Reply
  6. MiMi says

    January 2, 2012 at 6:42 PM

    Super cute! Guess what. I got ONE card this year that wasn’t a photo card. LOL!!!

    Reply
  7. Kim @ Cheap Chic Home says

    January 2, 2012 at 6:51 PM

    Thanks for the reminder, Vivian!

    Reply
  8. Missing_Pieces says

    January 2, 2012 at 7:20 PM

    Great share! I already do this every year and I’m happy you are getting the word out for others to do this as well. 🙂

    http://secondhandclass.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  9. Karla Medina says

    January 2, 2012 at 9:25 PM

    Love this idea but I have to say I’m sad to hear people throw their cards away after Christmas. I did not know this. I always save mine just because I think its mean to toss them (granted I receive 5 cards at most), but I made my own cards this year and I spent a lot of time on them. I’m really sad to think that those on the receiving end just threw them away. 🙁 Making me wonder whether I should even bother next year? Just wasted effort and paper. What a bummer. 🙁

    Reply
  10. InMyOwnStyle says

    January 2, 2012 at 10:56 PM

    I have boxes full of cards and do this with them. Great idea to cut them up now and ready to go for some quick crafting next Christmas.

    My best- Diane

    Reply
  11. Shawn says

    January 3, 2012 at 1:34 AM

    If I wasn’t so anal about all of my paper and tags making I might do this. Actually I did that once and I really liked it but my OCD kicked in overdrive….I haven’t been the same since.

    Reply
  12. JOY in the JOURNEY says

    January 3, 2012 at 2:24 AM

    I love this idea! I m always looking for a way to upcycle!

    http://joy2journey.blogspot.com/

    Come visit me if you get a chance!
    Hugs,
    bj

    Reply
  13. Sheer Serendipity says

    January 3, 2012 at 4:49 AM

    Wow! What a great idea! Unfortunately, I threw out all my cards out few days ago… I will definitely do it next Christmas! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  14. Jen says

    January 3, 2012 at 4:54 AM

    I’ve always hated pitching those cards, I’m going to look at them with new eyes now 🙂

    Reply
  15. Myya says

    January 3, 2012 at 7:01 AM

    What a fantastic idea, I’ve even got a wall full of cards still. I can’t bring myself to take them down yet, espeically since oddly enough they keep coming in the mail.

    Reply
  16. lauren @ West Furniture Revival says

    January 3, 2012 at 7:12 AM

    GREAT IDEA! love the santa tag

    Reply
  17. SueAnn says

    January 3, 2012 at 10:54 AM

    Great idea and such beautiful tags!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

    Reply
  18. Michele from MS says

    January 3, 2012 at 12:01 PM

    I just gathered all of my cards from years past and knew I would come across an idea to recycle! Thank you so much
    msmith38652@gmail.com
    http://michelescraftroom.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  19. Xazmin says

    January 3, 2012 at 4:46 PM

    Brilliant – as usual! And I just spilled my bowl of cereal all over myself and my couch while trying to type this comment. NOT brilliant!

    Reply
  20. Rosemary@villabarnes says

    January 4, 2012 at 2:23 AM

    Great upcycling idea.

    Reply
  21. Cottage and Broome says

    January 4, 2012 at 5:20 AM

    Your tags came out great! A great way to upcycle. Thanks for sharing, Laura

    Reply
  22. moonsword says

    January 4, 2012 at 11:15 AM

    Supercool idea…thanks for showing how you did them. Very nicely done!
    Arrived via TCB…cheers!

    Reply
  23. Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions says

    January 5, 2012 at 7:05 PM

    I’ve been saving some of the really pretty Christmas cards, too, Vivienne. I have been wanting to do this, but since we moved this year, I didn’t find my wrap and things until late. So I’ll add the few from this year to the group and hope to do the tags next year. Yours turned out great! I really love the first one.

    Reply
  24. Muhammad Atif says

    May 7, 2012 at 11:55 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    Reply
  25. Waseem says

    October 5, 2012 at 10:42 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    Reply

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