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Hello there!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  I took some much needed time off and spent time with my family.  We had loads of company for Christmas and then headed off to OH to visit Eric’s family.  We had over 10 inches of snow while there!  My girls were ecstatic!  More on that later this week, plus a wrap up 2012 and some hints on what’s coming up in 2013.

Today, I have two exciting things for you.  Jen from At Home in the Northwest is back!  She has some wonderful ideas for those holiday cards that we all hate to throw away each year.  I’m also guest posting over at my friend Erika’s blog, BluLabel Bungalow.  Along with a successful design business, a new baby boy to round out her family of 6, Erika is a fabulous friend.  She has been writing a wonderful series called Motherload Mondays.  I’m honored to be participating today.  Enjoy!

 

Hi Everyone! This is Jen from At Home in the Northwest!  Now that Christmas is over,  I’d like to help you figure out what in the world to do with your pile of Christmas cards.  Here is a glimpse of what I have to deal with this year…

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…and unfortunately, that’s only a portion of the Christmas cards!

After I take down all of my Christmas decor, I typically pile up all of our Christmas cards and put them in a big envelope.  Then they go in the closet with all of the previous years cards.   I have huge aspirations of doing something with them eventually… I just can’t bear to throw them away.  So I started doing some research and came across several great ideas of what to do with all of those cards.  Here are some suggestions….

1.  turn them into a contact image on your smart phone

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Ashely at Under the Sycamore had this great idea.  Simple take a picture of a Christmas with your smart phone.  Then you can use that picture as the contact image for the family or individual. Isn’t that resourceful and fun!?
2. punch holes to make a little book
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Close to my Art  shared this oh so simple idea.  Just punch a few holes in the cards and add metal rings to create mini Christmas card books.  My kids would LOVE looking through this every year.
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Eighteen25 also offers a free download if you want a decorative cover for your Christmas card book.
Click here to read more about her book covers and to download the template.
3. make a photo album
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If you have small children, it would be fun to make them a photo album, similar to Naturally Chic Mama.
This would be extra special if you lived far away.  The little album could serve as a great way for the kids {and you} to look through pictures of your friends and family back home.
Or if you choose to put more time into your project, you could scrapbook the pictures.
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What do you do with your the past years Christmas cards?  I think my go to idea is going to be the metal rings with holes punched. It seems quick and easy to accomplish.
Happy 2013, everyone!
Thanks for having me here today, Lori!
jen

5 Responses

  1. I used to save all the photos but with Facebook, digital pics everywhere-I gave up on that. Photo Christmas cards get tossed. Pretty card fronts get sliced off and are used to decorate packages and become gift tags for the next year. I’ve even bought a box of cute Christmas cards on sale cheap, cheap just so I could cut off the fronts and decorate packages. An $8 box of 20 cards on sale for $2-4. is much cheaper than buying individual tags or decorations.

  2. I too save all my cards and throw them in a basket. Love the idea of using the photos for your phone contact picture…brilliant! As for the non-photo cards…I save them and use them for tags on next years gifts. Simply cut out the fun holiday images on the front, and write your greetings to the recipient on the back…simple!

  3. LOVE the idea of punching holes and adding metal rings to create a keepsake each year! Look forward to doing this…our cards are still out and staring at me! Thanks Lori and Jen!