The Great Christmas Card Experiment of 2018 (Part 1)

I love to send Christmas cards! I love searching for just the right card and then I buy enough to send to friends and family and others who I think would appreciate a holiday hello. I love to get the new postage stamps, although I also enjoy using stamps from years passed as well. But this year…

I decided to try something new – send only recycled cards or leftover cards from previous years. I have stacks of old cards that I’ve saved and have also received from friends who gave me cards that they received. I like the idea of keeping them out of the landfill – at least for another year. I must admit that I missed picking out some new cards to send, but I did enjoy giving new life to old cards. It was quite fun.

At first I imagined using my scrapbook paper to make new cards, but since I’m starting this in November and not in August (or some reasonable amount of time), I decided just to make them into postcards. Add some Washi tape and a few stickers and Presto Magico! A holiday card made for the occasion.

Some cards are perfectly made to be transformed into postcards such as the two above. But other cards had indents or ridges or something else that kept them from being postcard-worthy, so I took my craft punches and ended up with tags in three shapes (circles, tags and Christmas tree).

The next post will showcase some of the completed cards and the tags I created.

My holiday card routine includes special music (Pandora Holiday Classics), and a lighted candle or a holiday scented oil for my diffuser.  I get out my colored pens, or my fountain pen and holiday scented inks made by De Atramentis. The two scents I own are Christmas and Christmas Ink (Ink with coffee scent for fountain pens).

Here’s how I created the postcards:

1. Remove the front of the card folding at the crease and tearing off the front portion.
2. Use a paper cutter to cut the torn side and make it smooth
3. Decorate with Washi and stickers
4. Address the card and add a postage stamp
5. Mail

What does your holiday card tradition look like?