What to do with old greetings cards?

This must be a perpetual problem for most people... ever feel guilty about tossing those old cards in the recycling bin? Nope? Lucky you!

In my decluttering purges I am coming across lots of stacks of cards. Normally they get taken down when my husband points out that the relevant celebration was 4 months ago. Then they get put on a shelf or in a draw and left, never to see the light of day again. Then last week, oh no, I threw some out. Oh the guilt! Somebody bought that, spent precious pennies (how can a card cost £3?!), took the time to write a thoughtful note, and posted it. I should be grateful and not throwing them out.

So what should I do with all those cards... holiday cards, thank you cards, birthday cards, anniversary cards, wedding cards (should really be keeping those!), invitations, RSVPs, new home... the list goes on!

The only solution (so far) is one my mother taught me. She has never ever bought gift tags for Christmas. Instead that crafty Mum of mine cuts up old cards into wonderful shapes and sticks them on the wrapping! Unfortunately this doesn't get rid of them all. So here are a few more ideas I've thought up or found through the wonders of the internet:

1. Cut them up and use to make new cards (could look quite tacky if you aren't careful!).

http://gratitudecoaching.wordpress.com/

2. Photograph and catalogue them electronically before recycling so you at least have a record of them, as done by http://gratitudecoaching.wordpress.com/

3. Create a scrapbook year by year to remember the events by, cutting up the relevant cards as you go along. This would particularly nice to do for a child I think.

4. Turn them into bookmarks.

5. Turn them into fun postcards.

6. Give them to a local nursery for crafting supplies.

7. Make placemats or coasters (http://www.wikihow.com/Put-Old-Greeting-Cards-to-Use)

http://www.wikihow.com/Put-Old-Greeting-Cards-to-Use

8. Turn into gift pillow boxes (http://www.wikihow.com/Put-Old-Greeting-Cards-to-Use).

9. Turn into a notebook or portfolio of cards (http://www.wikihow.com/Put-Old-Greeting-Cards-to-Use).

10. Use to make table place cards.

That's it so far. Nothing really stands out as wonderful except the pillow gift box idea. Lots of people out there indicate that you will regret not keeping cards from your nearest and dearest should they pass away. So maybe I should be rethinking this whole thing! Maybe shoebox storage is the best solution!

On a related note, to save all my friends and relatives the same dilemma, I might just not send cards this Christmas, just a letter update (I like to do this every year) and a note stating that I'm donating the money I would normally spend on cards to charity instead.... wonder how that will go down!


Thanks for stopping by,
Rose
Let me know what you think... leave a comment or send an email to passthecaffeine {at} gmail {dot} com.