It’s the end of January, which means that Christmas is firmly in the rear-view mirror. However, there is one small piece of holiday decor that I had not yet put away, and that’s my Christmas cards. The reason for this was that I was holding them to the side until I had time to try a new craft technique by turning them into a keepsake book. It turned out really cute, and I thought that sharing this with you would be the perfect way to close out January – if you’ve ever wondered what to do with Christmas cards after the holidays are over, then this is for you!
Like the Christmas tree napkins, this was another craft I saw on TikTok. I watched a video by a great creator that I thought I had saved to my favorites, but when I went to retrieve it, I couldn’t find it. There are tons of videos on this craft technique if you search for “What to do with christmas cards” on TikTok, but I could not for the life of me find the original video I watched, otherwise I would link back to the creator!
The idea is to take all of your holiday cards for the year, punch holes in them, and make a little book. I always keep every card I get, but I thought the idea of bundling them together by year was really fun. I didn’t have any binder rings on hand, so I ordered these multi-colored ones on Amazon. Some of the cards were made from pretty heavy cardstock, so I used two binder rings to reinforce it, and also so I could use red and green together for an extra festive touch.
One of the TikTok techniques I incorporated with was to take any photos you receive that are blank on the back, and hot glue wrapping paper to them to make the finished book prettier. We had received one family photo like this, and so I used my hot glue gun to attach wrapping paper to the back; I made a point of using a scrap from wrapping paper I had used this holiday season, as an extra little way to capture and commemorate the 2023 holidays.
I cut the piece of wrapping paper a little too small, and it didn’t look right. I then took a small piece of ribbon, cut it and hot glued it to the sides to cover the uneven edges; I thought this looked cute, and that way I didn’t have to cut another piece of paper!
I then cut a hole in the edge of this photo, all my Christmas cards, and also a yearly letter that was included in one of the cards. I put eveything onto the binder rings, and as TikTok suggested, I put a spare copy of our own annual card on top to serve as the cover, as both as a memento and also as a quick way to see what year the book is from. I then took the remaining ribbon and tied it around the binder rings as a finishing touch!
And there you go – a cute, easy craft! Now when I look back on these cards, I have them all in one fun little book, organized by year.
What do you do with Christmas cards after the holidays?
Great tips
I love these ideas! I always hate to throw away my beautiful cards!