While you may get a thrill at receiving Christmas cards and decorating your living room with them, they’ll all sadly have to come back down again by the time the second week of January rolls round.
Instead of stuffing them in a drawer or popping them in the recycling bin, why not repurpose them into some wonderful decorations and accessories for next Christmas?
From festive bunting to bespoke gift tags, discover some great ways to recycle your Christmas cards:
Seasonal postcards
Instead of tossing them away, why not turn your old cards into postcards instead?
Simply cut along the fold in the card and you are done – it’s even easy enough for the kids to help out with too! Use the blank side to write your message (don’t forget to leave room at the top for the address) and send them out as quirky alternatives to cards next year.
You could even use them sooner as fantastic thank you notes for this year’s Christmas gifts.
Merry bunting
Reuse your best Christmas cards by transforming them into decorative Christmas bunting for next year.
All you need to do is cut equally sized triangles out of your Christmas cards and then attach them to a length of ribbon by punching two holes on either side of the base of the triangle and feeding the ribbon through.
Simple but effective, they’ll look great draped around your home come December 2019.
A magical Christmas wreath
If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, have a go at turning your old cards into a colourful paper wreath. Not just eco-friendly, these bright decorations will also last for years too.
There are several ways to create a card wreath but our favourite is a holly leaf wreath. Start by creating a holly leaf stencil out of cardboard and then use it to cut out a selection of leafs from your cards. Using a Styrofoam wreath ring purchased from a craft shop, attach a toothpick to each leave with superglue and then stick them in the foam base in layers.
Glorious gift tags
To add a more personalised touch to your Christmas presents next year, why not recycle your old cards into some fantastic gift tags? Select cards with great patterns or with a fun image and cut around them in a shape of your choice. Use a hole punch to add a hole to one end and then use some ribbon or twine to tie them on to each gift.
Festive bookmarks
For all the bookworms in your family, adding a festive bookmark to their gift makes the ideal finishing touch. Simply cut out a rectangular or oblong shape from your old card fronts, punch a hole at the top and tie on some ribbon. For a more elaborate design, use a piece of plain card as your base and cut out shapes and figures from your cards to stick on in a nice pattern.
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