New Uses for Old Christmas Cards

For Christmas this year, I wanted the kids to make or pick out a gift for each family member.  I also wanted to reuse last year's Christmas cards because it seems like such a waste to toss out the ones we received.  So, I did some on-line research and found some fun ideas that I will use with the kids this year.  Below are my favorites from a website that listed 10 crafts for old Christmas cards.

CHRISTMAS PLACE MATS. Cut out pictures from your favorite Christmas cards form past years. Make a collage with the pictures or arrange the card fronts in rows. Glue the cards/pictures onto a sheet of paper. When finished, have the place mats laminated (or use clear contact paper) and you’re set! Don’t forget to write pertinent information on the back before you laminate, such as the year and names and ages of the kids who made them. These make great gifts. (We made these for our family for Christmas breakfast!)

PHOTO FRAMES. Make simple photo frames to hang on the tree or place around the house. Measure the photo you want to frame, then cut out an oval, rectangle or other shape from the front of the card to go over the photo. Tape the photo to the inside of the card front. Open the card slightly to stand it up. Or, glue the card closed and punch a hole near the top, thread with ribbon and hang it on the tree. 

CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENTS. 
-Select a picture you can cut out, such as a reindeer, angel or Santa. Glue the card closed and let dry. Cut out the picture, punch a hole near the top and thread with ribbon. Or, cut the card into an interesting shape around the picture, such as a diamond or teardrop or star.
-Cut out pictures from the cards. Glue them onto ornament shapes cut from construction paper, lace paper doilies, felt, painted cardboard, craft foam, etc. Punch a hole near the top and thread with ribbon or yarn.
-Ignoring the picture on the front of the card, cut a spiral, starting large and spiraling inward to the center of the card front. When finished, pull the spiral slightly so that it will hang three-dimensionally like a Christmas tree. Use a pin to poke a hole in the top center of the spiral and loop some thread to it for hanging.

We're planning to adapt the picture frame / ornament idea by cutting out a frame from cardboard.  After we cut out the pictures we wanted for the place mats, the kids tore the rest of the cards into small scraps of paper.  

We will use a paste-water mix (just water down the glue a little bit in a bowl) to paint the scraps onto the cardboard (coating the cardboard first, and then coating on top over the layered scraps).  Then we'll paste a picture of the kids on the back so it's visible through the whole in the cardboard frame and we'll thread a ribbon on it to make it an ornament. 

Our Christmas card scraps, ready to go:

My sister did this on a larger scale for Lily's birthday party this year: 

The finished product:

Of course, our Christmas ornament frames will be much smaller and probably shaped like Christmas trees.

NEW YEAR's TRADITION for Christmas Cards:
Another tradition I heard about in recent years and really, really want to start in our family this year comes from the book Let's Make a Memory by Shirley Dobson and Gloria Gaither.  It's 15 years old, but it's a great book ideas to make wonderful new holiday and every day traditions.  In the book, Shirley Dobson describes how she and her husband, Dr. James Dobson (of Focus on the Family ministries) save the Christmas cards and letters they receive and reread one or two each night at dinner time starting New Year's Day.  This allows them more time to really let the message of each card or letter soak in.  After they read each card or letter, they pray together for the family or individual who sent it to them.  I think this is an awesome way to start the new year and honor the effort each person takes to bless us with a card or letter.