Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose, and Upcycle Greeting Cards

Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose, and Upcycle Those Greeting Cards!

If you get those cute, fun, lovely, and beautiful cards sent to you in December and don’t want to toss them after the holidays, we have great ideas for you to recycle the Christmas cards.

Our family loves to receive Christmas cards.

Not just “enjoys” or “likes” but LOVES!!

When the first card of the season arrives, my daughters fight over who gets to open it.  It’s like that all season long.

Even my husband likes to have a chance to open them, so I hide away a card every few days until he arrives home from work.

Once the cards for the day are opened, they stay in a special pile for everyone in the family to read before taping them up on the large pantry doors in our kitchen.

In January, after all of the Christmas decorations are put away and safely stored until next year, the final solitary decoration of the holiday, our card covered pantry doors, is the last to go.

Before I started keeping these cards for crafts, taking them down and throwing them away was painful.

On this page, you will find a great collection of crafts that will help you repurpose your Christmas cards.

And don’t forget about the hodge-podge of leftover cards you have from the boxes of cards you’ve sent over the past years!

You can make some nicely coordinated ornaments and other crafts with those leftover identical cards.

We have a link to the directions for a lovely pine cone shaped ornament using themed and same-colored cards. You have to check that one out!  I was very excited when I found that classy ornament to make. So very pretty!

Many of you might remember that once popular hexagon basket made by lacing together Christmas cards but don’t have the instructions to recreate it. Never fear; our Christmas Card Basket tutorial has directions for creating one.

I kid you not; when we were going through old storage boxes, we found a hexagon basket laced together with bright red yarn that my husband had made when he was in the fourth grade!

Seeing the (very) old style of Christmas cards that were popular when they were made was a bit nostalgic.

Many of our ideas for you can be done with children, making them a great resource for teachers or parents who want a family-friendly project.

You’ll find ideas for various ornaments, Christmas garlands, wreaths, and even a tutorial on making gift card boxes!

If you find that you don't have the time and energy after all to get crafty with your old cards, keep in mind that St. Jude's Ranch for Children Card Recycle program accepts the fronts of recycled cards to provide teens with life and work skills. It's a worthy cause and a great place for repurposed cards.

Now, if you are ready to make something new out of something old, check out the links below!