Old greeting cards- are you a keeper or a tosser?

[gertdog]

Just curious to know what other people do with the greeting cards they receive over the course of the year- birthday cards, valentines, holiday cards. Do you keep them indefinitely? Keep them for a while and then toss them (when, why)? Toss them within a few weeks of receipt?

I am embarrassed to admit that I have 2 storage tubs full of cards. This needs to change!!! I'm pretty good about holiday cards- I note any change of address, keep the photos and any cards that have substantial notes/letters that I'd like to reply to, and toss the rest. But other cards seem to just get filed and then take up space... somehow it just feels wrong to toss someone's good wishes, you know? ;) Guess I need to get over that...

[sneezles]

I'm a tosser! Keep Christmas cards until the Epiphany but every other card is kept a week, at most!

[Angelina]

I only keep the ones my husband gives me, for whatever occasion. He's a very reserved, quiet guy, and yet when it comes to writing cards he gets very silly, drawing hearts and making arrows on the people on the card saying "You" and "Me". It's just so cute and adorable.

So when I get mad at him, I can remind myself what a sweety he really is, deep deep down inside...somewhere. ;)

Everything else gets tossed.

Angela

[Meganator]

I used to be a keeper (of everything), but I'm getting over that. I toss all of them (and DH isn't a card giver). For the holiday cards, I usually cut off the fronts and send them to one of those organizations that make stuff (new cards, I guess?) out of them.

[jmarie]

We send the front page of the card to the psychiatric hospital nearby. They use the cards for something...Maybe recycle them just using the backside of the front of the card for their message.

[suebear37]

I only keep the photo cards that people send us. It's a real hoot to see how the kids have grown up & changed over the years!!!

[LaraW]

I used to be a keeper, but now I'm becoming a tosser. I am becoming a bit conflicted with what to do with DD and DS's birthday cards. I kept all the cards we got when they were each born with the idea they'd go into their baby books, and then put DD's first birthday cards in there too....and then her 2nd birthday cards. Now we have her 3rd birthday cards that are still out, and she got a lot more of them this year because she had a birthday party.

Soooo, I don't know. Our church does a giving tree, and the "ornaments" they hang on the tree are the fronts to Christmas cards, with the recipient information on the back, so I may call our church to find out if we can donate our Christmas cards for this project.

One other thing I am wondering about is that my sister and 2 different friends of ours make their Christmas cards. I have very conflicted feelings about throwing out something like this, that took time to put together. Oh what to do??? I have saved them for the last 6 or 7 years with the idea I'll do something with them, but what?

I will say that I love looking through the old birthday cards I have. I did keep the last birthday card my grandmother sent me before she died 6 years ago (her funeral was a year to the day after I got that card), and I have kept Christmas cards that come to my kids from my other grandmother just b/c I want to have something to show them when they get older.

[Grace]

Oh man, I have no problem throwing just about anything else away, but for whatever reason, I keep cards!! :rolleyes:

I have piles and piles of them all over the place. It's ridiculous, actually. I need to go through and get rid of the bulk of them and only keep the ones that really mean something, or the ones with photos, as others have noted.

[AndreaU]

I keep cards... I teach 5th grade! I only keep the fronts, though, as long as there is no writing on the back. Every year I pull them out so the kids can make their own cards or ornaments with cut-outs from old cards.

[GingerPow]

All the cards from my children and my DH go into a special box. If I like the picture on a Christmas card, I cut off the front portion and use it as a gift tag on presents for the next year. Although, I must admit to not doing that so much these days and just tossing them after New Years.

[Canice]

When it comes to just about anything I'm a tosser! I keep a very, very few special cards - I have maybe half a dozen. Christmas ones stay around for a couple of weeks maybe, then all get pitched. I hate having "stuff" and I'm tossing the paper, not the kind thoughts. I guess if I were the kind of person to keep going back to the cards and feeling warm and fuzzy reading them, it would be worthwhile.

[jellyben]

I am a chucker by nature, so greeting cards don't last long in my home. Drives my mom nuts when she gives me a gift and I throw out the card with the wrapping paper! There are a few cute homemade items that my kids have made that I kept, but for the most part I am a merciless chucker.

[KristaMB]

I used to keep every single card I received, but now I only keep the ones with really special messages written in them, or ones from DH. A few years ago I made "ball" ornaments from old holiday cards, and I may do that again in the future. I have no idea what I will do with all the other cards that I have saved. I have almost a full hope chest of cards and mementos. I guess I should go through and recycle a good number of them.

As an aside, my favorite is an anniversary card from DH that has a message about Jewish wedding ceremony on the front. It talks about the chuppah, the breaking of the glass, etc. It's a lovely card, but we are not Jewish and he gave it to me in all seriousness. :) Hey, at least I got a card that year!

[testkitchen45]

A few years ago I made "ball" ornaments from old holiday cards, and I may do that again in the future.

Since I haven't asked my stupid question yet for today, and it's almost dinnertime, I'd better get to it: what are "ball" ornaments, and how do you make them?

There. I feel better.

I keep card fronts for gift tags & kids' crafts, and I keep all cards from DH and the kids, plus whatever other family cards have special messages on them. I have a few scrapboxes organized by range of years; cards and other keepsakes go in those.

[MusicMom]

I only keep Christmas cards because we cut them up to make gift tags the following year. DD and I did this last night with fancy scissors, hole punches, and stickers. I also keep the photo cards.

[HejazSunKat]

I hate clutter so for the most part I'm a chucker. Keep the ones DH gives me or anything a child has made but as for the rest, I enjoy them for a week or so and then out they go.

[BeachBum]

My DH and I each have a "sunshine box" which is a shoe box in which we put all cards notes, that we want to keep. Ones that go in the box are the ones that are sweet, mushy, significant...you get the picture. The rest get tossed without a thought.

[aggie94]

I only keep the ones my husband gives me, for whatever occasion. He's a very reserved, quiet guy, and yet when it comes to writing cards he gets very silly, drawing hearts and making arrows on the people on the card saying "You" and "Me". It's just so cute and adorable.

Ditto! My DH is neither reserved nor quiet ;) but I do get super sweet cards from him with romantic and/or silly sentiments, so I keep those. I've also kept sympathy cards that we've gotten when beloved pets have passed. Everything else gets tossed after it's read. :o

[peachykeen]

I also keep Christmas cards to make gift tags. I cut out whatever portion of the card I like - sometimes there are several things on one card. I use scissors with a scalloped edge, punch a whole in it and tie it with a string.

My mother's aunt used to make them and it was such a treat for us when she delivered our little bag. We'd all go through them to find the ones we liked the best or that matched the paper we were using or find those ones that were best suited for the recipient.

I've been making them for years for myself and have more than I could ever use - so I brought them to a family party over the weekend and let people pick out what they wanted. (I had separated them into categories: wreaths, toys, home scenes, Santas, etc.) (I know what your thinking: way too much time on my hands!! LOL) It was a good project for January when one of your resolutions is to get organized!!

As for other cards, I usually keep them and then when I'm trying to clean out a drawer or desk, take a quick peek and toss most of them (keeping the ones from hubby and perhaps a few others that are cute or funny or sentimental.)

[summer02]

I'm a tosser...except for holiday and picture cards. Holiday cards get recycled into gift tags. Picture cards get collected in an old tin since I don't know what else to do with them :o

I made some of these this year (are these the ball ornaments?) following the instructions in the MS holiday gift magazine - I made mine small to use as gift tags (talk about having too much time on your hands, but at least it kept me from eating cookies ;) ): http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas/card-ornaments.shtml

[KristaMB]

Since I haven't asked my stupid question yet for today, and it's almost dinnertime, I'd better get to it: what are "ball" ornaments, and how do you make them?
That's not a stupid question at all. I should have taken the time to link to the instructions in my earlier post, but I had my 5 year old breathing down my neck. :p

The link that Summer02 posted has some directions, but using a coin seems small to me. Summer, that takes a lot of patience to make small ones as gift tags. I bet they are cute, though. Also, I used images from a few different cards to make one "ball." I really wanted the images centered in the triangle. I think that with the size of the circle I used, I could maybe get three or four cut outs from one card. I got a little too detailed, I think. If I make them again, I'm not sure I will spend quite as much time on each one.

The hardest part of the project was figuring out how to make an equilateral triangle inside my circle template!:o

[Terri_A]

Yep - I'm a tosser. I throw EVERYTHING away!!! When you live in a small cottage with a 4 yr old who produces VAST quantities of artwork on a daily basis - you get accustomed to tossing. Anything that's tough to toss of hers lately I photograph or scan and keep a digital image of it then I can toss it without guilt!

We've been decrapifying the house for a few weeks and I've decided that we just keep tooooooo much stuff!!!

[Lauren]

As an aside, my favorite is an anniversary card from DH that has a message about Jewish wedding ceremony on the front. It talks about the chuppah, the breaking of the glass, etc. It's a lovely card, but we are not Jewish and he gave it to me in all seriousness. :) Hey, at least I got a card that year!

That is so funny! I'm in the "only keep the cards with special messages" camp. When we moved last year, I threw out the cards we received from our wedding that I had saved all these years. :eek:

[GADawg]

I used to be a keeper of them all, but now only save cards from DH. Christmas cards I keep until the next Christmas. I pack them up with the Christmas decorations each year and it is a nice break from the decorating to stop and look at them again!

[sab1976]

I keep sentimental ones and toss the rest. I do keep all Christmas cards though and cut them into gift tags.

[donleyk]

I keep the cards from the cat :D

I collect snowmen so if we receive a Xmas card with an especially cute one I keep it for framing.

I really like the idea for keeping the fronts of card for next year's tags. I will have to look closely at what I receive this year and the ones that look like they'd work I'll keep and recycle the rest. Thanks for the tip!

[testkitchen45]

We've been decrapifying the house for a few weeks
LOL!!! Your term, "decrapifying," is perfect!! :D

I can't do the multi-quote thing; it won't work, so--

Summer02 and KristaMB, thank you so much for the info on ball ornaments!! Those are really pretty! And since we're thinking about going from a 7.5-foot tree to a 12-foot tree next year, we'll need more ornaments; this also looks like a fun craft to do with the kids. Many thanks!! :)

[TKay]

Used to be a keeper. Now I'm a tosser. I just toss, toss, toss. Which may explain why I generally don't buy birthday cards if I'm giving a gift. I find it wasteful. I'll mail a card, but not attach one to a present. The only cards I keep now are special ones from or for my kids, and anything dh gives me. That usually means one b-day card and one Valentine's card each year. My plan is to ultimately have these framed in one giant art piece. Dh needs to get moving with the cards or we'll never have enough!

[LakeMartinGal]

I'm not much of a card person, so I only keep the ones that are funny or touching, like the one from 25 yr old DD2 that says what great parents we are...;)