Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Twice!)

Photo by eelke dekker

Well. It's that time again.

Time to put the Christmas cards away. Did you know that every year, 7 billion greeting cards are exchanged in the U.S.? (Truly, the government should start its own line of cards to pay down the national debt. Anyway.)

Some home managers are very ritualistic about this--carefully marking in their address books who sent them cards and who should never receive a card again. Christmas cards are about so much more than sending cardstock with gilded messages.

Make no mistake.

So what to do with the cards you received this year?

Here are three of my favorite ideas:

1. Cut off the back of the cards and use the front of the card as a postcard or one-sided note. (If you're feeling really crafty, glue on a piece of colored paper for a bit of layer and "finish" and then write the note on the paper.)

2. Throw the cards into the craft bin for your children. Or better yet, allow THEM to embellish the cards to give to friends or family. (This will allow them to experience the joy of giving "real" cards to people they love.)

3. Find a non-profit group that accepts old greeting cards. (There are many.) Schools, clubs, and organizations often use greeting cards to create collages or other works of art.

Happy weekend!