Christmas Card Recycling Ideas

Don't throw those Christmas cards away! Recycle or up-cycle?

Now that Christmas is over, you are probably packing away the tree and Christmas decorations. You may have received a bunch of cards from last Christmas and are ready to throw them out. Don't. Leading up to Christmas all the different holiday cards arrive in the mail. Friends and family are in various stages of life, and their cards are a little peek into their lives and personalities. Stack the cards to enjoy them each Christmas with some of these great ideas.

1. Decorate your house next Christmas.

Think about setting up a Christmas card wall that includes the Christmas cards you have received over the years. These could be those special cards from special people. Not only would this give you the chance to recollect on the messages and the people who sent them, the beautiful graphics of the card would provide a great Christmas display.

2. Decorate your own candy holder.

The graphics on the front of the card could provide eye-catching designs for a Christmas candy holder. If you have old tin cans, you can paint these with green or red and then stick cut out card fronts all over.

3. Create a Christmas ball.

Cut out the front of several cards to make similarly sized pentagons. You can glue these together to make a hanging ball.

4. Show your love on Valentine's Day!

There are a lot of Christmas cards that come in red. You don't even need the graphics for this one. Cut out the back of the red Christmas card to form the shape of a heart, or a cupid. There are a lot of stencils for you to use with this particular project. Send these to your spouse, children or significant others!

5. Make personalized Christmas gift tags.

People usually leave the back of the card's front empty. You could cut out the graphics on the card and use the back to write your own messages to server as gift tags for next Christmas!

6. Create your own unique bookmark.

Christmas cards are made of thin yet very sturdy cardboard, making it a great bookmark material. Cut out the graphics and punch a hole in it. Run a ribbon, twine or string through the hole and voila! you have a great looking bookmark!

7. Reuse them as Christmas postcards.

For those Christmas cards where the inside front is left without any writing, cut out the front of the card and use the card as a postcard. For added effect, draw a line down the center of the card. Then you can use the left portion for your message and the right portion for the recipient's address.

You can also use these postcards as a thank you card for all those gifts you have received!

8. Turn old cards into scrapbook material.

If you keep a scrapbook, the graphics on these old Christmas cards can provide the best background for your Christmas page. You can create picture holders, stickers and frames using old cards.

And confetti!! If you are a scrapbooker, you already have several hole or shaped punches available, but if not you can find them at your local craft shop. Just find a star or any other shape that tickles your fancy, and punch away! Store them in zip lock bags for use at parties throughout the year!

9. Old Christmas cards make the best Christmas ornaments!

Simply find a figure or graphic that you can cut out from old Christmas cards. Have a card with a particularly cute Rudolph or an endearing Santa Claus up front? Then cut it out and tape a looped string behind it. These would make your Christmas tree a lot more interesting and bursting with variety.

10. Gift Wrap!

If you enjoyed turning your Christmas card into gift tags, you can probably use the larger designs as accents for your gift wrapping. Next Christmas do away with simple gift wrappers by gluing cut out graphics on them.