Best Ways To Recycle and Reuse Greeting Cards

Today, even if conversations are just a click away, the trend of sending greeting cards and postcards on festive occasions, or birthdays have not taken a back seat. Greetings are nice to receive and even send; they have strong memories attached to them and some hold on to them for years together. They contain thoughts that would bring up nostalgic memories when you read them a few years down the line. However, when they start to pile up, they might put you in a confusion whether to throw them or keep them. Well... this Buzzle article will surely sort out your confusion and help you put these old cards to better use. Try some of the craft ideas mentioned below to clear out the heap of greetings collected; at the same time holding on to the sentiments attached to them.
Recycling and Reusing Greeting Cards

Key fob- Cut the front of the card into small designs. Like the one in the picture alongside. Next, punch a hole in one of the corners and tie them to a raffia ribbon. The raffia ribbons curl up giving the whole craft a beautiful look. You can now fix the ribbon in the ring of your keys. Your key fob is ready!

Bookmarks- Cut the front side of a greeting card into a long strip. Use the craft scissors with zig-zag edges to do so. These scissors are available in any stationery store and hardly costs you anything. Once you have cut out the strip, punch a hole in the upper corner of the strip and weave a woolen thread through it. In case you do not have a woolen thread, use a ribbon or a colorful string.

Coasters- For making greeting card coasters, you have to use the part of the card where the contents are usually written. Those cards which have a foil coated on them make for the best coasters. Cut the card in a circle, triangle, rectangle or square, whatever shape you like (just make sure your cup fits in that area). You could laminate these cut pieces to make them durable.

Envelopes- Greeting cards can be used to make envelopes, although these envelopes can be used to store discs only. All you have to do is paste the edges of the cards together and just leave one side open, so as to insert a disc or any small item which the envelope can accommodate.

Framed collage- Words or contents in the greeting cards are full of meaning and have the ability to create nostalgic moments. Cut the one's that mean a lot to you and create a collage of all those messages. You can also paste a picture of the person who wrote it to you and make the collage all the more meaningful.

Refrigerator magnets- Cut out a few images or designs you like from the old greeting cards. Use small pieces of cardboard to cover the back of the images you have cut, so as to thicken the image. With the help of some glue, paste a powerful magnet on the cardboard and let it cling on to the refrigerator door.

Lamp shade- Making a greeting card lamp shape might be a little difficult, but it doesn't hurt to give it a try. You will need four old cards in this case. Cut the front face of each of them and punch holes on the left and right side of the card. For sewing purpose, make sure all the four holes on the cards are aligned properly. Also poke the front face of the card with your pin, which will allow the passage of light highlighting the picture. Sewing all four cards together, it should look like a cube. Once you are done place a candle in a glass holder in the center of the lamp shade. It looks simply amazing, try it!

Gift tags- Trim out a part of scene on your old greeting card. Look for bright colors or some specific pattern that would highlight the occasion it is used for. Check that the other side of the image does not have any contents. Now, punch a hole in the corner of the image and insert a raffia ribbon through the hole and tie the end of the ribbons to create a bow. Use it as a pretty gift tag!

I am sure you might be amazed by the many things you can do with old greeting cards. So, pick any craft idea from above and try it and if you are of a crafty nature, I insist you try all the above ideas. Reuse greetings, it is an eco-friendly option after all!