5 Fantastic Ways to Use Old Greeting Cards [that won’t make you pull your hair out]

Who doesn’t like to get a greeting card?  I don’t know about you but when I open my mailbox and see something other than catalogs, junk mail, and bills, I get pretty excited!  Greeting cards mean someone is thinking of me, little old me, it makes my heart happy!  Feel free to send me a greeting card for any occasion.

If you’re like me, you read the card, get the warm fuzzies, feel special and then thoughts turn to – what happens next?  What am I going to do with this card?  If it’s Christmas time, 1.5 Billion other people are wondering the same thing.  Here’s how it looks by the numbers: christmas card crafts

Top 5 Holidays for Greeting Cards sent:

Christmas – 1.5Billion

Valentine’s Day – 143Million

Mother’s Day – 139Million

Father’s Day – 94Million

Easter – 57Million

You’ve got a few options.  Pssst, greeting card crafts is one of them.

Can Greeting Cards Be Recycled? greeting card crafts

While recycling them may be the easiest option, unfortunately, it’s the hardest.  If the card is just made of paper, with nothing extra like bows, metallic adornments, glitter, gemstones, etc. yes, you can throw it in with your paper recycling. If the card has any embellishments, toss it in the trash BUT first, rip off the back cover and recycle that.  Usually the back side of the card is just card stock, nothing extra and fancy.  chris

tmas card crafts

What About Photo Cards?

I love receiving photo cards at Christmas time.  It’s fun to see how all my friends have aged another year.  HA, I’m kidding!  It’s fun to see how the kids are all growing up and fun stuff like that.  Who has that one friend whose photo cards make you drool?  All the fun trips they took, their gorgeous children, the lovely home, all.of.it.  The question though, can those photo cards be recycled or do they have to go in the trash?  I was surprised to find out that for the most part, they can probably be recycled, if they pass the tear test!  Most photo cards are printed on regular paper and when ripped, will rip just like regular paper.  You can learn more at Earth911.

Upcycle Them With Greeting Card Crafts

Let’s face it, greeting cards are aesthetically pleasing so why not turn them into something else?  I scoured Pinterest to find some ways to use greeting cards that wouldn’t take forever and a day to make and wouldn’t result in you pulling your hair out.  If you start now, you’ll have them done in time for holiday decorating next year!  See all the ideas I found by hopping over to my Pinterest board but in the meantime, here are a few highlights:

Gift Tags by Milomade

Christmas Wreath by BHG.com

Good Wish Tree by Martha Stewart

Christmas Garland by CraftStylish

and if you’re feeling extra crafty, make new cards – Christmas Cards by Happy Strong Home

Donate Them

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital used to take donated greeting cards and turn them into new cards to sell.  They no longer do this however, you can check with your local senior care facilities and correctional facilities to see if they may take them.  Many times these facilities use the cards in various programs and projects that residents take advantage of.

As I’m sure you’ve gathered, I try to exhaust every possible resource before tossing things in the trash.  I do always go with the old cliche though, if in doubt, throw it out.

Do you send out holiday cards?  If you celebrate Christmas, do you send a Christmas card every year?  Let me know in the comments, I’m curious.  I don’t send holiday cards, mostly because I never have my act together in time.

Make it a green day!