Recycled Christmas Card Crafts

Here's some fun things to make out of the Christmas cards you received this year - I hate throwing out all the pretty cards and love that they can be used again:

* gift tags: simply cut out the image you like and punch a hole in the corner, add a ribbon or cord.

                                        

* bird hanging: download a bird silhouette, trace onto the card and cut out. I cut the wing out of a different part of the card for contrast and glued it on. poke a hole in the top and bottom, string a few beads onto 2 short pieces of thin wire, then attach thru the holes you poked. I made a loop in the top wire for hanging, and to keep the beads on the bottom wire, loop the wire back thru the beads (see the picture).

* initial tag or tree ornament: use a stencil of the letter you want (I played with fonts and sizes on my computer and then printed out the one I liked), trace it onto the backside of the card and cut out. hole punch the corner and tie on a ribbon.

*small notebook: using the whole card including fold, cut the card into the size of the book you want. this one is 4.5"x 4". fold the inside of card up 1/2" (I made a score line first to get a sharp crease but you can just fold it) and trim the front of card up about 1/2" (the front of card tucks into the fold of the inside card - adjust how long the front of the card is to fit into the inside fold). cut a few pieces of scrap paper a little smaller than the card, I did them 4"x 3.5", put the pages into the folded up part of card and staple. close the book by fitting the front cover under the fold.

fold one edge of the inside of card 1/2", then trim the other side to fit into the fold
(I drew a line where I will cut to fit)

*gift box: this snowman card only needed an inch off the bottom to fit exactly on this box. find an image or whole card that fits on your small boxes and trim, then glue onto the box top.