You can help to save our natural resources by recycling used Christmas cards. Let me share some ways in which I and my students have reused cards to make cards, bookmarks, and decorations which can be used as hostess presents or to sell at fundraisers.

A New Wave of Sending Cards

In my native Germany, we did not waste money on a stamp if we were able to hand a card to the recipient personally. I am glad that the North American obsession with sending cards in the mail is being replaced with emailed cyber-cards.

I still like to give cards to people who do not have a computer, though. Let me share with you how I do it.

I have never been in a habit of buying commercial cards, and I have taught my students to make their own as well. First of all, make sure you have a good supply of used cards. I got hundreds of them donated after placing a request for them in the church bulletin for my Sunday school class.

Let me share with you some of the things we have done.

Postcards

The easiest way to make new Christmas cards out of old ones is to pick the ones which have a picture in the front and nothing written immediately behind the picture. You can cut postcards out of them with a paper cutter. Children can sell them in a fundraiser, e.g. a church tea.

If you use one of the cards, don't just write "Merry Christmas & Happy New Year" on them. Tell the recipients of the cards why you appreciate them, why you have chosen to make something special for them. Those cards will be appreciated more than any other and may well end up as a bookmark.

New Cards out of Old

You can make new cards by buying card stock and decorating it with cut-outs from the old cards. Either cut out a whole picture and glue it onto the card stock or cut out little bits and pieces and arrange them to make a pleasant picture.

Glue on with white glue. Glue stick lets go too soon. Only dab on a bit. Too much glue will make a mess.

If you decide also to add bits of fabric scraps for a real splash, you need to use tacky glue. White glue turns the fabric stiff and ugly, and tacky glue is not much more expensive.

I buy packages of blank cards with matching envelopes at Michaels, watching for the week when they sell them at half price. They come in white, ivory, red, and green.

This is a great fundraiser.

My Favorites

My favorite way of making any cards is to paint a scene directly on it. Every year, a group of artists, including myself, paint little Christmas scenes in watercolor. We duplicate them on a color photocopier to make hundreds of Christmas cards. We sell them at an autumn fundraiser for twice the production cost. They always sell out. This is the 2004 best-seller, a peace dove and Christmas star in a Canadian setting.

I have been decorating my letters and cards with drawings since I was old enough to write. Depending on the paper, I use nylon tipped markers, felt pens, or acrylics. My favorite transparent watercolor does not perform well on ordinary letter paper.

Bookmarks

This is the easiest way to reuse a pretty picture from a card. Here are the supplies you will need:

Old Christmas cards

Scissors

A hole punch

Scrap pieces of wool of various colors or narrow pieces of various color which you saved from last year's Christmas wrappings

Directions:

Cut out a picture in a shape which makes a good bookmark.

Punch a hole at the bottom.

Through the punched hole, attach some tassels from the wool or narrow ribbons.

When you know to whom you are going to give the bookmark, write a message on the back and sign it along with the year in which you are giving it.

Christmas Ornaments

When you give these away, they will end up hanging from someone's Christmas tree, so make them the shape of a Christmas tree ornament.

Star

Round ball

Oval ball

Heart

Christmas tree

Directions:

Cut yourself a stencil for each shape you want to make. For the round balls, you can just use a round glass to trace the shape.

Using the shape of the stencil, cut the same pattern from two cards.

Glue them back to back with white glue.

Punch a hole into the top of the ornament.

Attach a wool hanger.

Alternate hangers:

used plastic twist ties from groceries like loaves of bread

Opened up paper clips

Honoring the Sender

If you want to honor the person who sent the Christmas card to you, you could write the name on the ornament before you hang it on your own tree.

Greeting Card Poll

Homemade greeting cards are special, because they display the love and care of the person who created them. Do you make your own cards or do you buy yours? Check the first answer which applies to you.

I even sell some of the greeting cards which I make.
I make most of the greeting cards which I send or give away.
I make some of my greeting cards.
I buy all greeting cards.
I don't send or give away greeting cards.

See results of this poll

© Traute Klein, biogardener