Every day now our mailbox at StoneGable is filled with Christmas cards! We LOVE getting them!
But what do you do with all of them? We want to cherish and remember all the friends and family that thought about us this Christmas season and shared their love and Holiday wishes through the mail.
Here’s a pretty and creative way to display and do something nice for everyone that sends a Christmas card your way…
Why not collect them in a pretty bowl? As Christmas cards flood in, I tuck them in a large round dough bowl filled with faux greens and Christmas balls and keep them displayed where they can be seen and shuffled through.
Easy and pretty and meaningful!
My family loves to see who is sending cards or pictures and we all want to catch up on any “news”!
But what do you do with them after Christmas? Here’s a wonderful idea I got from Victoria my WONDERFUL daughter-in-laws mother…
Victoria keeps all the cards she receives and each night after Christmas before dinner a card is picked and everyone at the table prays for that family! I love this idea! What a wonderful “gift” to give back!
Her whole family can enjoy a Christmas card all over again… even if it’s May… and remember the sender in prayer!
Here at StoneGable, we are adopting and adapting this idea! I’m going to start keeping all cards, not just Christmas ones and letters too… and they are all going in the bowl after Christmas.
How about you? Maybe we can start a new Christmas card tradition…
Want to join in?
Remember to
I sort through our Christmas cards at the end of the holiday season and keep those from dear friends and family with personal notes, photos, etc. Using scrapbook supplies, a hole punch, and 1-inch metal book rings, the “keepers” are combined into a mini-album with a pretty cardstock cover. I keep the little booklets in a basket on a bookshelf.
I sort through our Christmas cards at the end of the holiday season and keep those from dear friends and family with personal notes, photos, etc. Using scrapbook supplies, a hole punch, and 1-inch metal book rings, the “keepers” are combined into a mini-album with a pretty cardstock cover. I keep the little bookletboo
Yvonne, after Christmas I make ‘to/from’ tags and punch a hole for ribbon and save them for next year’s giving to a nearby township, along with other things (i.e. wrapping paper, bows/ribbon, holiday decorations – you get the idea), in helping the residences have a Christmas. And depending on the pictures on some of these cards they are framed and placed about with the other holiday decorations in the house. Inexpensive holiday artwork and I remember who gave the card even years later!
Beautiful idea Julie!
Our cards are hung on a pretty ribbon which I like because we can see each card easily. Most of the card we get now are the photo cards. We save these each year into a photo album . I love looking back at these photos. The personal handmade ones we receive are saved to use in my scrapbooking pages. I’m fairly new to your blog and just LOVE it! Great ideas and wonderful photos!!
Our cards hang on the louvre doors between kitchen and dining room. My husband even tapes a little extra piece of paper to the back of those photo cards we receive so we can hang those, too. We, too, send the front of the cards to St. Jude after the holidays. As a former preschool teacher, I used the front to let children “create” their own new cards and decorations for the tree. You may consider donating your cards to a childcare or Sunday school class.
How nice! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Merry Christmas. I have followed you every day and feel like we are friends. Looking forward to 2019!
Hello Yvonne,
I love the idea of saying a prayer for the sender. I’ve never been one to be able to throw out my cards. After Christmas I generally sit and take another look, then I generally keep the decorative half of the card and use them for shopping lists during the year. Some of them lend themselves to making bookmarks. I have a small pair of scissors that make e decorative edge and have used them on the cards to make up gift cards. Also, nursing homes are often grateful for these cards as they use them for activities with the elderly. As for cards from my husband and close family, I can’t bear to part with them.
I love the idea of sending cards to nursing homes. Just call before to see if they need them.
I keep my cards for a year after checking then off in my Christmas card list. For the new season I review them to read the personal messages. Sometimes I keep certain ones for the art work. I remove any personal information.
Then they are recyled to a thrift store where the charity sends them to places for the disabled to use them for gift items et al. Sounds like a lot to do, but I enjoy it.
I love your daughter-in-law’s mother’s tradition…we all can use prayers!
Will use this as a wonderful opportunity to pray for families. It means a lot to send and receive a Christmas Card. People don’t send cards like they use to. I display them on a beautiful card holder and anyone can read them when they visit.
I LOVE this idea. I am definitely going to adopt this as well. What a wonderful way to make your dinner prayer even more meaningful.
I post my cards on the basement door which basically is in the middle of my house so we walk by it constantly and think of all of our friends and loved ones, especially my son and daughter-in-law that live in Seattle. if anyone has suggestions of what to do with the front of gift cards from past years besides make gift tags, I would love to hear from you.
I have kept years worth of the front of Christmas cards with the thought that I will do something other than make gift tags with them but so far haven’t come up with any ideas. Any suggestions would be appreciated. As for the current ones I put them on my basement door which in in my kitchen so every time you walk from the kitchen to the family room you see them and think of the friends we have. Especially those we can’t be with like our son and daughter-in-law in Seattle.
Oh my goodness, what an awesome idea to pray for the families you received cards from.
I love to re- read Christmas card throughout the month. I thank God for those people in our lives and pray for them in the coming year. Thanks for the display idea!
I put our Christmas cards between the table top and glass top covering table top. We enjoy looking at them every meal.
My mother encouraged my sister and me to create gift tags from the previous year’s Christmas cards as part of our holiday preparations. I still select a few for our grandchildren to craft when they arrive before Christmas. Like Lorraine mentioned, a way to bless “others many times over.”
Many years ago I had a friend at church who would collect everyone’s cards. She would use tiny pinking shears etc and make the most beautiful gift tags and gift cards . They were mounted on lovely card stock, some had glitter or little ribbons. She would work in this project all year and then sell them during the months of November and December. She donated all the proceeds to one of the church ministries. Christmas cards that blessed others many times over!
I wish I’d thought of doing that when my children were little. What a beautiful, meaningful tradition.
One thing I’ve saved the past few years are the stamps off the Christmas card envelopes. They’re colorful and festive and theres sonething kind if charming about seeing the date and place stamp across them. Funny thing is, I’ve no idea what to do with them! I’m sure I’m sitting around the table with just the right group who might offer some ideas. I’d love to hear some!
I keep my cards in a basket and
after Christmas I cut them up and
use them for gift tags for next
Christmas.
Wonderful idea….what a blessing to the sender.
I love the idea of keeping the cards and praying for the family that sent it in the new year! It’s a great way to remember to pray for loved ones who aren’t a part of my immediate family. Thank you for sharing this idea.
I have a friend who makes her cards into placemats using clear contact paper on top and a colored contact paper on the bottom. She then uses pinking shears along the edges.
I send mine to St Judes Ranch.
https://www.stjudesranch.org/contribute/recycled-card-program/
You and your readers have posted some lovely ideas for those beautiful and expensive cards.
great idea! praying for each other is the best gift!
Love the Christmas card idea!!!
I not only say a prayer for the family, I choose one card per week (or two cards – depending on how many I receive each yr) and then I send them a note card letting them know they are in my thoughts and prayers. Sometimes people get a big boost just receiving some snail mail – particularly older people who may not use a computer or they can’t see well. Letters and cards are just something nice to receive.
I love the idea of praying for the sender. I keep my cards until the next year. I cut up the front of the card to an appropriate size and use them as gift tags. They are so pretty it’s a shame not to recycle them someway.
after Christmas I cut shapes out of the cards, punch a hole in the top and use them as name tags on gifts and gift bags!
i put them in a bowl and each week choose one to pray for that week.
Longaberger Basket company makes some lovely Christmas Baskets that I use to put the cards in that becomes part of a festive display along with Santa statues, greenery and candles. After the first of the year I remove the front of some of the cards and glue them to plain colored gift bags to use the next year for presents. Just some added ribbon and tissue paper an I have next years gift bags.
Yvonne, I like to hang my Christmas cards up on my sunroom French doors that are always open. Everyone likes to see them. I put the letters in a basket that hangs on the door handle. Then after Christmas I also put them in a bowl and pull 2 or 3 a day to pray for them and read the card again. I then place all the picture cards in my photo album. The cards I cut down to make gift tags and notes for next years Christmas gifts. I am enjoying your creative ideas, Yvonne. I am praying that you take care and get well soon. Love Ya,
This is a beautiful idea, I love it! You never know who all is praying for you. Thanks for sharing. Dawn
Yvonne, I am always looking for family traditions to pass on to my grandchildren and this is one of the best! Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful idea…and thank your friend too!
what a beautiful and thoughtful idea.
Oh what a wonderful idea .. a great new tradition.
What a wonderful idea! I used to hang my cards around doorways but the last few years I have been just putting them all into a basket.
-Shelley
SUCH a thoughtful tradition to begin.
That is a very sweet idea Yvonne! I love it.
That is a fabulous idea!!! Thanks for passing that on, to pray for the people we get cards from. I keep our cards on a Santa basket, that I have hanf=ging on the end of the counter. Everyone can see them there too. XO
I love the idea of praying everyday for a card sender. I have sent my used cards, whether they be Christmas, get well cards, or birthday cards to the St. Jude’s Children’s Ranch. I just cut the top page off and send it on. I usually wait until I have a box full of them and then send them off. The children at the ranch use the tops to make new cards and then sell them 10 for $10. The ranch is in Boulder City, Nevada. I just checked the website and they have enough cards to last them until June. For those who are procrastinators like me it’ll take that long to get mine off to them! Here is their link: https://stjudesranch.org/about-us/recycled-card-
program/
On behalf of everyone at St. Jude’s Ranch for Children – thank you so much for sending your cards to our kids! 🙂
What a fabulous idea. I love it. Hugs, Marty
This is a WONDERFUL idea. Thank you. I’ve shared it with all my Facebook friends. Merry Christmas.
That is a wonderful tradition….thank you for sharing!
That’s a wonderful idea!
~Yvonne~
I keep my Christmas cards in my reindeer antlers. My dad made all of us (6 families) these 3 feet tall reindeer, the face he traced by using his boot, and the antlers he count slits into and this is where the cards go, he painted them brown and put a red nose on them. My dad passed away in his sleep in 1999, and we all have our reindeer that we will treasure always!
Have a blessed day
Paula-In.
Dear Yvonne I love the holiday tradition of praying for families who sent who have sent cards, lovely…
xoxo
Karena
Scalamandre Giveaway!
I am pretty new to your site and have certainly enjoyed my time here. I thank you for sharing great ideas, beautiful pictures and interesting articles. I find your site beautifully displayed with different fonts and graphics. Please share with me where you find all of your wonderful fonts and graphics for your site? I would so appreciate it. May God’s grace cover you. Linda
Thanks for such a lovely comment, Linda!
I use picmonkey for most of my fonts and Christmas graphics. Here’s the link…http://www.picmonkey.com/
I would love to join in that idea. That is a beautiful tradition. We say our prayers before dinner but this way you can also specify someone special in your sphere. Marisa
What a lovely tradition to have. . I keep mine in a Santa holder and when I have coffee in the mornings I pick a few out to read again.
Hugs
Kay
LOVE this idea, Yvonne. And love your idea for displaying the cards too. I never know what to do with mine.