Saturday, 9 January 2010

Christmas Card Ideas

I don't know about you, but I always feel guilty about throwing away the beautiful family photos that people send me at Christmas. I know that time, energy, and money went into getting that picture taken, getting all the kids to smile at the same time, outfits to coordinate, not to mention the cards to be ordered, addressed, stamped, and mailed. These pictures are precious to me as they represent the people that I love (and who love me), and now that we live out of the country, the people that we miss.

So, I've found an easy and purposeful way to use these photos: I make a collage. Last year, I bought one of those boards that have the pins and ribbon across them. And last week, I cut out all of the photos that were sent to us and stuck them into it. I did this last year, and I plan on doing it for many years to come. It is now hanging on our kitchen wall, and it always brings a smile to my face. I have also started recycling Christmas cards. This is a trick I learned from my Granny who has been doing it as long as I can remember. I rip off the front cover of all of the Christmas cards given to us, with the intent of using them next year as gift tags. To be quite honest, I never understood why my Granny did this. I always used to wonder why she wouldn't just go to the store and spend $1 on 100 sticker gift tags like the rest of us. But, I now really like this idea! It reuses the cards, therefore creating less waste, and it makes very unique and beautiful gift tags. And, it's free!

These are not very creative or original ideas... I know. But they are meaningful to me, and perhaps someone else could benefit from them.

1 comment:

krista said...

I love your display of pictures. It makes me regret not being able to send printed pictures to everyone like I used to.

I had a friend who cut the front off of the Christmas cards her family received, glued it to a blank index card if it had writing on the back, and addressed it as a postcard. In the message area she wrote that their family had prayed for us that day. I thought this "prayer card" idea was a great one to do some year. :o)