Design Crafters

While it’s not an incredibly heated debate, there is some interesting discussion about what to do with Christmas cards at the end of the holiday season. Do you save them? Do you toss them in the trash? Or is there some happy medium that I haven’t thought of?

Speaking for myself, I am in the Saving Them camp. Each January 6 (Epiphany, of course), when I take down Christmas decorations and put away my ever-increasing boxes of Christmas things in my attic, I also take down that year’s batch of Christmas cards that I’ve received from friends and family. I put them on display in my home from the very first card that appears in my mailbox right through to early January. I love all the variation of cards, from the peaceful winter scenes to the smiley family photos (isn’t it fun to watch the kids grow up in each year’s Christmas card?). So when the cards come down, I stack them together and tie a red Christmas ribbon around them, and store them right alongside other perennial Christmas favorites like a Nutcracker soldier that really cracks nuts and the jingle bells that go on the dog’s collar.

Considering the growing trend to be as Green as possible, though, I may change my habits at the end of this coming holiday season. You’ll hear many people talk about the wisdom of recycling Christmas cards, of giving new life to the cards that would otherwise end up boxed in the attic or in a trash bin somewhere. I like that idea very much, but only if I can still keep the cards with family photo on them. Those are too precious to recycle!