How to Repurpose Holiday Cards Into Christmas Decor and Gifts

Wouldn't it be great to repurpose Christmas cards that flood our mailboxes during the holidays? Friends and families go to great lengths to take amazing holiday photos, and it's heartbreaking to toss them after the holidays are over, and yet it seems pointless to store them. We tapped creative craft experts for ways to recycle holiday greeting cards. Read on for fun kid-friendly projects that help strengthen ties with those we love.

Custom Placemats

In this kid-friendly craft project, Sara Kappler literally offers your loved ones a seat at the dinner table. Make placemats Christmassy to use throughout the holiday season or generic to use all year long. In addition to holiday cards for this project, gather handwritten notes, drawings, and whatever else has meaning to you.

Your finished projects work well as kids' activity mats or daily placemats. "We've even been known to use them as tea party and special birthday party placemats," says Kappler. However used, they're bound to be great conversation starters and powerful reminders of the people who love us.

Supplies

• Stack of holiday cards and other decorative materials
• Scissors
• Glue or tape
• Placemat-sized paper or cardboard
• Self-adhesive laminating paper or clear packing tape

Directions

1. Look through your holiday stack, and then pick out and trim photo cards and other materials to feature in your collage.
2. Atop a placemat-sized paper or cardboard, arrange cutouts in a shape or cover the whole surface.
3. Use glue or tape to adhere cutouts onto the placemat as designed, and then repeat for the other side, if desired.
4. Use self-adhesive laminating paper or strips of clear packing tape to cover the surface of the collage. For maximum protection and to make them spill-proof, reduce air pockets and cover every edge.
5. Use scissors to trim edges.
   

Memory Book

Summon your inner crafter and assemble a holiday memory book to celebrate those you love, suggests Amber Kemp-Gerstel. Consider making it a tradition, and assemble one each year (or add to an existing one) to watch the people in your life grow and change.

Supplies

• Christmas cards
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Scraps of holiday wrapping paper, tinsel, ribbon, or other festive accessories
• Blank scrapbook with expandable spine
• Packet of page protectors

Directions

1. Cut away chosen photos from cards and set them aside.
2. Choose bits of wrapping paper and ribbon to add razzle-dazzle to your pages and secure them with glue.
3. Creatively glue photos on pages.
4. Cover your creations using page protectors to preserve your masterpiece.

Holiday Ornaments

"A great way to upcycle photo Christmas cards received from loved ones is to turn them into ornaments!" says Anna Olsen. Rather than tossing them in a basket, the Christmas tree offers a perfect backdrop to showcase beloved faces. Anna adds that this idea entails a bit of creativity but offers endless heartfelt memories throughout the season.

Supplies

• Chritmas cards
• Holiday-themed cookie cutters
• Scissors
• Hole-puncher
• Glue stick and/or glue gun
• Holiday fabric, decorative ribbon, chenille stems (also called pipe-cleaners) to use as hooks for hanging
• Beads, stickers, glitter glue, or other add-ons to embellish your ornament

Directions

1. Enlist a kid to use a cookie cutter to trace a holiday shape onto the holiday card—centering the family photo as the focus—and then cut out that shape.
2. Punch a hole at the top of the shape and attach a decorative ribbon, strip of fabric, or chenille stem to create a hook for hanging on the tree.
3. Add beads to the hook or glitter to the photo for a fun embellishment.
4. Adorn your tree!

Holiday Bunting

Transform holiday cards into the perfect Christmas decoration: bunting! Consider making a two-sided bunting depending on where you display it, how long you want it, and how many cards you have to repurpose. To make a two-sided bunting with a limited number of greeting cards, decorate one side with photos and the other with wrapping paper or non-photo holiday card designs.

Supplies

• Holiday cards and other decorative paper
• Construction paper in holiday colors
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Hole punch or paper clips
• Twine or string
  

Directions

1. Cut construction paper into the shapes you want for your bunting. They could be just one repeated shape or up to four different shapes displayed sequentially. Make sure the widest part of the shape is at the top, like an ice cream cone shape, for example.
2. Cut your holiday cards into shapes no larger than the construction paper shapes.
3. Glue your designs on the construction paper shapes. For a two-sided bunting, glue a photo or design to the back, too.
4. Punch a hole at each top corner of every bunting shape, and then run the string through the holes in your desired pattern and hang. Alternatively, simply attach each photo shape to the twine with a paper clip.

Festive Coasters

These holiday coasters make a great gift that anyone can use, and they serve as everyday reminders of the friends and family members we love. For extra points, make DIY coasters from a variety of coaster-sized cuts of material—like wood, marble, or ceramic tiles—but we don't blame you for buying the plain cork ones at the craft store for this easy project. Cheers!

Supplies

• Christmas cards
• Coasters
• Exacto knife (craft knife)
• Small paintbrush
• Mod Podge

Directions

1. Use an exacto knife to carefully cut the photo card to the shape of the coaster.
2. Use a paintbrush to cover the surface of the coaster with Mod Podge.
3. Place the photo on the coaster and smooth out wrinkles.
4. Apply another layer of Mod Podge onto the image and let dry.