A Solution to Your Christmas Card Pile

If you’re anything like me, you have a hard time deciding what to do with all the great cards and photo cards you receive each Christmas. I've been collecting my Christmas cards from the time I was married, nearly 19 years ago! Recently, I ran across an idea on another blog and had an “aha!” moment and knew exactly that’s what I wanted to do. And in about 40 minutes, I had my first project done and couldn’t be more pleased!

For this project you’ll need:

StoryBook Creator 4.0 Software
Winter Digital Additions
Corner Rounder 
Hole Punch
Scissors or 12" Rotary Trimmer
Tape Runner
Color printer
White Cardstock or cardboard and white paper
Ribbon or Binder Rings

First, I corner rounded all of my cards and photos using the Corner Rounder. Then I hole punched each of the cards, using only two of the holes of the 3-hole punch so that the holes were centered on the card. If the hole was going to go through an important part of the card or photo, I moved it to the side a little bit.

I measured the width and height of the largest cards. That dimension turned out to be around 6.5”x9”. I made the project with a 1” border around for folding over. That made the project 8.5”x11”. I used Winter P1 as my background, with birds and snowflake embellishments. I added text and shadows. You can see here how I added the tab guidelines so that I would know what portion of the design would be on the front of my cover and what would be folded behind. Remember to take into account where the hole punch will go when placing important items.

If you’re printing your cover design onto card stock, simply print, punch, and add it to your book. In this case, I printed onto paper and wanted something a bit stiffer for my cover. I recycled some 12x12 cardboard that comes with CM paper packs and cut it to 6.5”x9” (I used scissors, but you can use your rotary trimmer). Place the cardboard in the center of the back of the printed page and use a tape runner to affix the cardboard to the paper. Cut off the corners at 45 degree angles and fold each side down. Affix that to the back of the cardboard.*

I printed out a 6”x8.5” piece of paper with Winter P4 to affix to the inside cover to cover the remainder of the cardboard.  I did the same procedure, using Winter P2, on the back cover. Hole punch the covers.

 

You can use ribbon, ring binders, raffia, string, yarn --you name it-- to feed through all your cards and letters and bind them into a nice book. Use this method to bind together Christmas cards, baby cards, anniversary cards, or those Mother’s Day cards you just can’t part with. I know that I’ll be doing this project over and over, both traditionally and digitally, and maybe soon I’ll have an empty basket that I can fill with something else!

*If you want a rounded cover, you’ll need to skip the trimming at a 45-degree angle and carefully wrap the paper around the corner, folding in small increments and tacking down with bits of tape runner as you go.

 

Comments

[LBickford]

I have been organizing, and as I come across the cards, memorabilia, letters etc from different years, I'm putting them into appropriate piles. Then, I will make however many of these coversets I need, and have them DONE!

I have already made 3, and plan to make them for my grandson's cards, and even for shower gifts.

I, too, used to either scan them in, or make pocket pages, or include a sleeve to drop them into with traditional albums. but they are bulky, it takes a lot more time, and now I do digital, and dont' want to scan everything. So these extra little books are FABULOUS!!!!

Keep it up with hybrid projects like this - LOVE it!

[Robin Johnson]

Love LOVE this idea! Just made my first one today with my 2011 Christmas cards!!! I'm not stopping there! Thanks for sharing!!

[Leslie]

@Caren, you certainly could go this route. I finished this project in 1/2 hour. There's no way with scanning I'd finish it in that amount of time. Plus, I'd have to scan the outside of the cards, the inside of the cards, and often the backs of the cards to get all the writing in them. :)

[Leslie]

@sharon jasper, I included letters into my book as well. I put holes into the tops of them, folded the letters back almost in half so that the fold doesn't cover the holes, and then fold the letter back towards the book opening to make it the same size as the cover.

[Terry Giles]

Right after Christmas we go south for a couple of months. The Christmas Cards are always still in the basket I put them in as I got them before Christmas. Next year I will bring them along with me and work on it while I am down here. Having little projects to do get done down here better than they do when I am at home. Thanks for the great idea.

[Caren]

Why not take this one step further and scan all of the cards and letters and put them into a digital book?

[Sharon Jasper]

I've been doing this for several years except I put them into a CM album and include the letters I get and their family photos, too. In years to come, the letters will give readers a glimpse of life in our country. I love reading about how life was when my parents were alive so hopefully these letters will do the same.

[Carolyn Bodkin]

This is brilliant. I have boxes and boxes of birthday cards, Christmas cards, special cards from my husband, etc. I think I'll use rings instead of ribbon so I can add to the birthday and friendship 'albums' I'll make. Thank you for sharing this idea!

[beth]

I am definitely going to do this! I have saved piles of Christmas cards for many years and now I have something fun and creative to do with them. Thank you for sharing this great idea!

[Kristina Kaye]

This is a great idea for those who receive a lot of cards. I usually scrap a page that includes a pocket for my cards. It's a thick page, but it stays with my yearly album, so I don't have another book to store.

[beth@terpstrahome.com]

I am definitely doing this! I have saved piles of Christmas card for years and now I can do something fun and creative with them! Thank you so much for this wonderful idea!!!

[Lori]

What an awesome idea!!! I'm going to do this for my sons' birthday cards too!

[Anne Marie]

This is a terrific idea, Leslie! Love the cover, too.
I would love to see more hybrid projects covered in the blog or project center. Thanks for sharing your creativity!

[Lori]

I love this idea, but not just for Christmas cards. When my kids were born I saved all of the cards given to them and wrapped a ribbon around them. This would be a great way to pull them all together! Thanks!

[Stella]

What a great idea! I have a basket full of cards similar to yours just waiting for this! Thanks!!