Christmas Card Clean Up

With Thanksgiving 2015 safely tucked into the history books we can now move on to Christmas!! The cards will start arriving any day now and with Christmas, my Husbands birthday, and our Anniversary so close together, the stack of cards gets to towering proportions. 

Here's a little project the kiddo's and I like to do on those blustery winter days while we are drinking our hot chocolate and thawing out after doing chores.  

Things you will need:

The old greeting card

A sheet of card stock -I have black on hand so I'll use that today

Elmer's school glue

Scissors

Pens, markers, colored pencils, or crayons to create your own personal message
Hot chocolate (very important)

First off chose the area of the front of the old card you would like to see on the new card. Here I have a Christmas card that I am cutting around the dove, the star, and the pretty banner design for arranging on the new card later.

Inside this card is a really nice shadow image of the dove and star. I like this so Ill cut it out as well. Not sure where I'll put it but I'll find somewhere.

Cut your card stock to a size that when it's folded it will fit into a card sized envelope. I found a pack of 100 card envelopes for a quarter at the thrift store so I'm using one of those. My card stock measures just big enough so after it's folded in half it comes out to be just a bit smaller than my envelope.

Unfold your card stock and lay out flat. You can then arrange and rearrange your cutouts on the bottom half of your card stock. Remembering they need to be arranged with the fold as the top.

Now grab some Elmer's for gluing in place. You won't need much more than a very thin layer around the outside edge of your cutouts. Much more tends to cause them to warp. Let dry for about an hour.

Once the cutouts are securely glued to your card front, flip over your card and do the same on the inside. Making sure your design falls on lower portion with the fold at the top. Then let dry. Here I added a bit of the plain white I saved from the old card to write my special message on.

All that's left to do now is to include your own special message straight from the heart. Here I'm using a calligraphy pen but feel free to use gel pens, markers, or whatever medium you’re comfortable with.

When I got my message all personalized I thought some glitter would be a nice addition. I dug deep into the Halloween supplies and found my hair spray glitter. A quick spray and VOILA!! A card fit for the Queen, or my Mother, same status in my book anyway. I hope she likes it. Mom that is, not the Queen.

Oh, one more very important detail. Don't forget to mail it! I once made a beautiful card for a friend’s birthday; I put it up on the shelf so I could admire it before I sent it. I admired that card for a whole year before I got it mailed.

Come back and visit us again for yet another little way to make use of those old greeting cards!!

You won't want to miss it!!

Barb