Do You Save Your Christmas Cards?

When I was little I used to help my Mom by putting the postage stamps on the envelopes of the Christmas cards. That was back when we had to lick them...yuk.  One of my favorite things, (not the licking part) was waiting for them to come flooding in from all over the country! My Dad was in WWII so they had friends from many states and this was their once a year catch up with each other. We had a huge family and cards went out to them too. She must have sent 100's out. Christmas cards decorated the house - placed on lamp shades, hung from book shelve edges, I don't know why but it was very touching for me even at such a young age.

We would always save our Birthday cards in scrapbooks, do you remember those big ol' hardcover ones?

Geesh, we had tons of scrapbooks.

I think I may have one left in my cedar chest but after graduating High School who needed those "baby" things anymore. Yep, I tossed them. Of course now I wish I would have kept them. I sure have gotten sentimental as I've aged.

As a young adult I sent out my fair share of Christmas cards. I would always have them ready by Thanksgiving, so I could mail them the next day. I wanted everyone to receive mine first! LOL

Then stamp prices went up, people cut back on the tradition due to the cost. It was sad.

I would find some way to recycle the beautiful cards. When my kids were little, I would cut out the pictures from the front of the card, punch holes around the perimeter, give them some yarn and have them lace the cards. Made for cute little Grandparent gifts. I'd also make gift tags for the next years gifts.

This year I decided to keep my cards - the few I receive (sadly most from companies I do business with :( ) ,and make a Junk Journal or Smash Book whatever you want to call it.

 I have already started one to look through when I'm feeling down - it's an ongoing process and I add to it as I please. It's a cheer me up book.:) I add things to it that make me smile - a movie ticket, a napkin....you get the idea. But that's for another post.

So back to the Christmas cards ~

The biggest thing you must remember is there are

 NO RULES

you make and do to it what you like!

I picked the largest card to place on the outside,

placed the others inside. They get placed inside each other. This is called a signature.

I did keep some out to decorate with.

I didn't insert them according to size, 

I just stuck them in - 

with the outside card being the largest you won't see the other cards edges when all is done.

You have some options when it comes to making the signature.

You can staple the cards in the middle (my stapler doesn't reach that far)

or

stitching

or tying with yarn and gluing.

Since I don't receive many cards I only made one signature. If you receive a lot of cards you may want to make more, so as to not have too thick of a signature.

Now I wanted a sturdier cover to put these in.

Look what just happened to be laying around ~

I removed the top and bottom flaps from the cracker box.

Found the side seam and opened the box up

I cut off the extra side flap

I needed to make sure the cards would be covered by the "cover"

By leaving the one side of the box intact (spine) with so much room left, I thought I could keep adding to it each year

 Once the box was cut to the correct size I wanted to cover it.

I hadn't put Christmas wrappings away yet 
and found this gift bag laying on top.

It seemed to be a good size to use.

First followed the seams and opened it up so it was flat, then  I cut the handle off

Glued to the front of the box, 

I used a fake credit card to make sure it adhered good, work any bubbles out, and flatten seam creases

Inside front

Completed outside

The cover!

 Hey, creative minds make a mess,
so I've heard ;)

Embellish as you please or not, it's all up to you.

Add mementos from the season ~ we purchased a Norfolk Island Pine, so I included it's tags and even used the paper it was wrapped in for some of the ''pages'' backgrounds.

I left some cards with messages as they were, so I can look back on them. I only wish I had thought of this a few years sooner.

I used a gold sharpie to write 2016 on the first card

Signature tied to cover

Front embellished, bells added to ties 

Back

There's plenty of room to add more signatures for years to come,

Can't wait until it's nice and fat, lol

If you're into Scrap Booking, Journaling, Smash Books, Junk Journals, Art Journals, etc. my cousin has some great supplies in her shop!