Sentry Page Protection
3 Ways to Pretty Up and Recycle Card Fronts
I know some of you have already done this, but recycling last year's Christmas card into gift tags and even little gift card holders is simple, easy and quick. It's also a good way to keep some money in your gift budget! It may only save you $2 or $3 but that money can be used to buy materials for another gift on your list, and keep you on budget.
This year we had some really pretty Christmas cards and I wanted a way to recycle them and keep the "pretty" on them.
First I cut the fronts from the backs. Actually I very carefully ripped them apart, but you could cut them if you wanted to.
Then I put them into piles:
Pile A: gift tags
Pile B: gift card holders
Pile C: present toppers
This year we had some really pretty Christmas cards and I wanted a way to recycle them and keep the "pretty" on them.
First I cut the fronts from the backs. Actually I very carefully ripped them apart, but you could cut them if you wanted to.
Then I put them into piles:
Pile A: gift tags
Pile B: gift card holders
Pile C: present toppers
Sorting the card fronts as they were pulled off the backs made it easy to see what they should be recycled as and saved a lot of time later.
For gift tags I was looking at medium sized images or greetings that could easily be separated from the rest of the card front. I looked at the backs too - quite a few of the cards had lovely images on the backs that would work well either as tags on their own or layered onto another tag or present topper.
For gift card holders, I was looking for images that could be folded without looking absurd. Smaller and all over patterns work best but if you are careful with cutting and placement, most card fronts can be used to make gift card holders.
For present toppers the cards with larger, all over images work best. I use dies to cut them from the card front. Ovals, circles, squares and rectangles work, but sometimes a fancier die, perhaps a large bauble or ornament will work too.
For gift tags I was looking at medium sized images or greetings that could easily be separated from the rest of the card front. I looked at the backs too - quite a few of the cards had lovely images on the backs that would work well either as tags on their own or layered onto another tag or present topper.
For gift card holders, I was looking for images that could be folded without looking absurd. Smaller and all over patterns work best but if you are careful with cutting and placement, most card fronts can be used to make gift card holders.
For present toppers the cards with larger, all over images work best. I use dies to cut them from the card front. Ovals, circles, squares and rectangles work, but sometimes a fancier die, perhaps a large bauble or ornament will work too.