Last year I ended up with a bunch of
Christmas cards that I did not want to throw stuff away, so I decided that I was going to attempt
to make something out of them. I saw something similar on my friend Tammy’s
site, but hers were way cooler since she has the tag punch that makes cool shapes. All I had was a pair of
pinking shears and a hole-punch. I am not very crafty, but it was fun anyway
and they work, even if they are not beautiful.
In an effort to get rid of stuff and
keep my suitcase storage unit life organized, I am trying to use
things I already have to aid me in wrapping and boxing and ribboning. It is
hard, because you don’t want to save too much stuff, thinking “I will use this
later” (just like the similar, “I will fix this later” and “I will make this
later” where stuff starts to easily pile up), but I hate to have to go out and
buy something that I know I could have easily already had.
Even worse is when you do save
something to use and then you can’t find it so you have to buy it again anyway.
This happens to me when I am traveling. For example, I went to Missouri in
June. It was HOT. As autumn started to arrive, I had to buy a couple of
sweaters even though I already had plenty at home. Since I was not going home
any time soon, it was the only solution, other than having some sent. However,
I solved it by buying them at the thrift store for two dollars each.
Oops, I got sidetracked. What I was
trying to say is that this year I not only saved the cards from last year, but
I made something out of them AND found them so I could use them again this
year (that last part is key). Score, score and triple score. I even talked my Dad into using some of
them! He’s weird though. He doesn’t care if they match the wrapping paper or
not. Doesn't he know they are supposed to match? (yes, I know, I am the weird one)
What you’ll need:
Pinking Shears
Hole-Punch (or you can buy one of
those punches at Michaels that make your card into a certain shape. They are
really fun. There are round, flower shaped and many more.)
Colored Pens
Last Year’s Christmas Cards
Cut the cards into different sized
squares (or whatever shape you want really.)
Punch holes into them. I couldn’t
decide whether to do it in the middle of the top or the corner of the top. I
ended up choosing the middle, but after using a few, I may use the corner for
some of them next time.
If you want, you can write “to” and
“from” on them now. I did some for now and then wrote on others once I wrapped
the gift. It’s up to you.
Now you have fun Christmas tags!
Attach the tags to presents using
ribbon. Voila! (matchy, matchy)
Do you re-use anything from last year’s Christmas? Do you make anything
crafty out of your old Christmas items? What
do you do with your old Christmas cards?