Handy Man, Crafty Woman

Over New Year’s and the weekend, we took down our Christmas decorations and I took down our Christmas cards.   I always put the photo cards in my scrapbook…but I was also looking at the other cards and thinking “What can I do with these?”

A few years ago, I cut everyone’s signatures out of their cards and put them into a scrapbook layout.  I thought it was a fun way to capture people’s writing, especially in the Intenet Age, where almost NO ONE writes letters anymore!

This year, I decided that I was going to take some of my punches, and punch some shapes out of the cards.  I looked through my punches, and decided to use my square maker to make some punch-outs:

I used these squares to decorate my scrapbook pages with the photo cards on them.  Great, easy decorations for a scrapbook page!  Sorry, I won’t be posting the scrap layouts here, as I want to keep my family, friends and especially their children’s faces “anonymous.” 

Another thing I did was to punch out some tags:

Just make sure that the section of card that you are punching out is blank on the back; so you can use the back side to write who the gifts are “to” and “from.”  The Creative Memories tag maker that I used also has the option to punch a hole on the top of the tag.  You can then tie it to a package with ribbon.  Save these tags for next Christmas!

Another option for Christmas cards is to send them to the St. Jude’s Ranch for Children.   This is an organization that helps neglected children.  Children and volunteers cut off the fronts of cards, then attach them to new white or ivory cards, and sell the cards to raise funds for their organization.  Very cool!  They accept cards other than Christmas cards, as well.   It says on the site that cards will be accepted this year until February 28, 2010.

What do you do with your Christmas cards?  Toss ‘em? Recycle them somehow?  Share your ideas here!

Today’s post is from my first Guest Blogger, Danielle!  Danielle is a “Wicked” Crafty Girl, she is way more crafty than I am.  Her scrabook pages are incredible; and she also makes crafty, home made decorations.  Here are some cute, easy Christmas ornaments that she recently made.  When I saw them, I told her that I had to show these on my blog.  You can make these with children, as long as they are old enough to be careful with the glass. 

Supplies:
- 1 clear glass ornament
- paper strips (I make them about 1 in x 6 in)
- ribbon to match

Start by rolling each paper strip into as tight of a ball you can. (I pull the strip as I’m rolling it to keep it really tight). Drop each piece into the glass ornament and continue to roll each piece until they reach the top, leaving a bit of room to get the top of the ornament back in.

Add a ribbon to the top so you can hang it on the tree, and add whatever “bling” you may want to use. I kept this one simple because I am going to personalize it for a family member with a white pen. Simple, but different and elegant. You can also add self-adhesive jewels to the outside of the glass, or glitter on the inside for a little pizazz!

Thanks, Danielle!