Ways to repurpose used Christmas cards and scraps of gift wrap

 

 It was recently brought to my attention that I've apparently never written a comprehensive post on this topic.  So it's time to do just that!

There are so, so many ideas out there and I have made many of them.  There may even be too many good ideas to share in one post.  We will see how I do with this one. 

Gift tags are, of course, one of the more obvious uses for your Christmas cards. And there are lots of ways to do that.  But here is a post of some of the techniques I've used: gift tags.

A very novel use of Christmas cards is to make little boxes out of them.  This post  tells just how to do that very simply.  I had tried making these boxes in the past, only to find that it was a very complicated process, involving the drawing of many lines and folding them at intersection points, etc.  This procedure is much simpler and more straightforward, and the boxes are just so cute you may find yourself addicted to making them.

Ornaments are also a great way to use Christmas cards.  This post shows how to make an ornament and also a pin!

Two Victorian style ornaments

Pin made using a Christmas tag

 The following posts have other ideas using gift wrap or Christmas cards: Juice-can lid ornaments; ornament from Mason-jar lid.

 

My granddaughter and I made Christmas card banners one year and they were so much fun to do.  I've been wanting to make some similar ones only for winter.  I could use wintry Christmas card scenes. card stock in shades of blue, navy ribbon, and use snowflake buttons in between the individual pennants.

 One of the first real craft projects I made with used Christmas cards was this one: Christmas card "kissing ball".  I made many of these for gifts over the years.  These are a bit time-consuming but I think the results are worth it.  The one I made for our home has lasted well and has taken on a real vintage look over the years.  It has had to be re-glued in places a few times, but that's a simple matter and easily taken care of.

Below, you see the "kissing ball" hanging in a doorway.

The kissing balls can also be made smaller, using, if I remember right, 1 1/2-inch circles, to produce ornaments that can be hung on the tree.  To do that, I would either simply use glitter on the edges and/or use tiny colorful beads at the intersections.  I've made these smaller ones in the past and just used glitter, but small colorful beads (in place of the mini Christmas balls used on the large ones) should look nice too.

So there you have a few ideas!  I've got more thoughts buzzing in my mind, and I know somewhere I have another couple of pictures I could use, but those will have to wait for a less busy day.

A fun little crochet project -- granny square trees!

 

I've had this project saved on my Crafting for Christmas board for some time.  I like simple granny square style projects and these little trees look easy and fun to make.  

Here is the link: Granny Square Trees.   (The designer has named them "Grandma Trees", which is sort of fun.)  This tutorial uses the Australian crochet terms, but the author includes US terms in parentheses and it really didn't look too confusing, so I gave it a try.  

I decided to try making one with some pretty Christmasy green yarn from my stash.  You can see it has a bit of sparkle to it.  I used an F hook and it seemed just about perfect.

 

The tutorial, done with clear photos of the various rounds and stitches, is super easy to follow.  I just took it step by step and I was very pleased with how quick it was to make a tree.

 

I think that a number of these, strung together to make a garland, would look really nice.  I initially thought of stringing them together on matching green yarn, but I've also had the thought of red and white bakers' twine.  We will see!  These trees are so quick to make that I probably will make a bunch of them and make a garland.  Maybe two!

Glorious garlands part 4

 

One final post about Glorious Garlands, the little booklet I found in a 1999 Family Circle magazine.  There is actually even a bit more to this booklet, mostly on choosing fresh greens for a garland and on making other projects with fresh greenery too.   I plan to share a couple of posts concerning that information in December.

 
As you can see, this page has a Red Roses garland... 

 This consists of silk (or even real!) roses attached to a cedar garland.  The suggestion is to hot-glue pin backs to the base of each rose, to weave them into the greenery.  The article notes that although real roses will dry over time, they will still look pretty.  But think of the cost!

.... and a Sleigh Bells garland.

This fun garland has many types of small bells strung on wire and fastened onto a juniper garland.  I wish I had thought about this when I was finding package upon package of jingle bells in my parents' attic!

As I mentioned before, a faux greenery garland would be the way to go with any of these designs that you want to work on this July.  A brief search online reveals faux garlands made to resemble all types of greenery.  Some are quite pretty.

This ends our 2024 Christmas in July!  I hope you found some inspiration here and that you've had as much fun as I have!

Glorious garlands part 3

 

 Here are a couple more ideas from the Glorious Garlands booklet I found in a Family Circle magazine from 1999.  As mentioned previously, it's so hard to think of this as vintage ... but it is!  25 years ago is vintage by any standard.

Today I'll share ideas from page 3.  These can easily be made using a faux garland rather than the real thing, which you would obviously want to do if you are making these now, in summer.

One is an angel wings garland ...

This is made by attaching a string of lights to a white pine garland and then attaching purchased pairs of gossamer wings, and halos made of chenille stems, to the garland in such a way that the lights glow through the filmy wings.  

I think I would just buy a pre-lighted faux pine garland and I think for halos, if I chose to use them, I might get some gold or white rings like the type used for cafe curtains.

The other is a seashell garland.

How perfect for summer, really.  If you pick up shells on your vacation you could use them for this.  (Although, if you do this, I highly recommend soaking them in water with some bleach added, then letting them dry in the sun, just to kill any odors.)  Or you could just buy a bag or basket of shells which would be all ready to use.  It's suggested to use a boxwood garland for this one.  I've seen some nice looking faux ones on Amazon for under $14.

Hope one of these garlands sparks some Christmas inspiration for you!

More glorious garlands

 

Here are a couple more glorious garlands from the little Family Circle booklet from December 1999.

 
These are made without greenery and include a fancy fabric garland --

This one is made by cutting fabric scraps into strips that are 2" by 7", then tying them to a length of cotton cord , working outward from the middle toward either end.  This one reminds me of rag garlands I used to make back in the day.  The pictured garland seems to include some metallic fabrics and maybe even some tulle, making it much fancier than rag garlands.  This also suggests making a garland for a child's room, using alternating red and white strips of fabric to resemble a candy cane.

-- and here's a sparkling stars garland. 

 For this garland, it's suggested to spray-paint wooden stars and a lightweight length of chain in gold and silver glitter paint.  (I didn't even know this came in a spray paint.)  Then if necessary one could drill holes in the stars and use wire to attach them to the chain.

I think I might try this one by making stars out of cardboard and painting with metallic paint, then maybe even adding glitter.  They could be glued to a length of metallic ribbon. 

Since these two garlands don't involve greenery, they would be ideal to make now, during the summer.  Have fun with these ideas!

Glorious garlands

 

 I recently came upon this little booklet which had originally come bound inside a December 1999 issue of Family Circle magazine.  It's hard to think of something from 1999 being considered "vintage", but it actually is -- that was 25 years ago!  

I am planning to use several of the ideas from this booklet this month, as some of the garlands are not made from fresh greenery.  Others of the garlands are made with fresh greens, so I'll share those for December Daily when the time comes.  I have already written and scheduled a few posts for December!

But for now, let's take a look at an idea or two, shall we?

These could obviously be made using a faux evergreen garland as well as a real one.

 
This cozy cabin garland looks like fun.  To make it, you cut cottages out of cardboard and then paint them as desired.  The ones here are white, gold, and a sort of barn red.  It's suggested that contrasting pieces of string can be glued on to outline windows and doors, but I'm pretty sure I would use paint pens instead.  

It doesn't say to make holes in the houses, but one would have to, it seems to me, to hang them.  It's suggested to secure houses on the garland with a twist of floral wire, rather than ordinary ornament hooks, which could shake loose.

Then there's this golden garland of gilded nuts.

This is something you could do even now.  Drilling the holes in the nuts, assembling and spray-painting the garland could all be done outdoors at the picnic table!

The houses for the cabin garland could be cut out, painted, holes punched in the tops, and stored away safely until December and time to add to your evergreen garland.

So, there are a couple ideas of glorious garlands to make for Christmas!  I will share more next week.

Simple banner display for Christmas cards

Photo from Kristyn at Lil' Luna 

What do you do with your incoming Christmas cards as the holiday season arrives each year?  We get cards from some people who are so prompt!  Their goal must be to get their cards in the mail for December 1.  We exchange cards with others who are invariably late; it's often January before we hear from them.  Most people fall somewhere in between those two extremes.

As our cards arrive, our usual routine is to tape them up in the front hallway.

But I'm always open to new ideas for displaying our cards, and this Christmas card banner from Kristyn at Lil’ Luna (seen at top of post) is very pretty.

Kristyn started with a simple paper banner of punched 2-inch circles of decorative paper strung on ribbon or tulle.

Photo from Kristyn at Lil' Luna

Then, as the cards arrived, she clipped them to the ribbon using mini wooden clothespins, as seen at top.  What an easy solution!  It looks pretty before and after the cards are added.

I have plenty of Christmasy scrapbook paper and some tulle ribbon on hand.  I think all I would need is a 2-inch circle punch, so I am going to keep my eye open for sales.

I'm thinking a person could make one of these simple banners with the paper circles and tulle now, then stash it away (be sure to write down where you stashed it).  It will  then be ready to hang the first of December.  Whenever your cards begin arriving, you will be ready to add them to the banner.  Sounds like a good idea to me!  What do you think?

A lighted rag garland

Rag garlands are a great way to use up fabric scraps, especially Christmas fabric scraps.  (Who wants to waste even small pieces of lovely Christmas fabrics?  Certainly not me!)  I made some rag garlands many years ago and have always enjoyed bringing them out every Christmas.  Above, you see the garland I always put above my kitchen sink window.  Below, is a rag garland I have used in my living room.  I interspersed silhouette ornaments made by my daughter with other handmade ornaments on this garland a couple of different years.

However, for a long time I have wanted to try my hand at creating some lighted rag garlands.  I had vague ideas of tying the rag strips to a string of Christmas lights, but wasn't sure it would work out safely.

This simple tutorial from Brenna at Life After Laundry has given me the courage to give it a try.  You'll find it here:  Scrappy Lighted Garland.

Photo by Brenna at Life After Laundry

I've had "lighted rag garlands" on my Christmas crafting list for years.  Now it looks as if I can cross off that project.   Summer might just be a good time for the low-key project of cutting rag strips and tying them onto the garland.   Maybe others would enjoy trying this simple idea as well!

Lighted garland at Christmas time

Love this little card from my friend Susan

Over the past couple of days I have switched out the items on the lighted evergreen garland above the picture window.  Now it is all snowflakes and icicles.  Some years I put those on at Christmas time and leave them up until February, when I add some red felt hearts.  But this year I couldn't find my box of snowflakes and icicles (I've located it now, however) so I added some different, random items for a Christmas look.  I showed these photos, or some of them, on my regular blog, but I know that not everyone reads both blogs.  So here we go.  I don't think I have taken any photos this year that show the entire garland; just bits and pieces.

This little sort of "basket" (at right) made from a Christmas card is from my friend Ann in New Zealand.  Gotta make some of those!

The little assemble-it-yourself chalet was from my friend LJ a few years back.

I won this adorable mitten in a giveaway by Linda Stubbs at Prairie Flower Farm a few years ago.

This ornament is new this Christmas from some of  my local grandkids; the snowflake is one I was able to find.

This delightful apron card is made by my friend Edna.  Notice the little oven mitt at the top!

This photo of a card from my friend DJ does not do it justice.  It's a beautiful card and I love how it utilizes very small scraps of Christmas fabric for the tree.

Hope you've enjoyed these glimpses of my evergreen garland!  All of these fun items made me smile whenever I looked at it this season.

A fun after-Christmas buy

One of the house lights

My hubby and I are not "shop until you drop" type people.  Only rarely will you find one of us at a Black Friday sale, and our world does not fall apart if we can't make it to an after-Christmas clearance.  Still, we enjoy checking the clearance sales if we happen to be in a particular store or in the vicinity of one.

Marshalls is one store that I will check the after-Christmas clearance in if it works out.  We like to pick up holiday coffee and freeze it.  This year we only found one type -- peppermint bark -- but we did pick up a bag.  I also found some sweet little gifts that will be perfect to include in a friend's Christmas package next year. 

So we only picked up a few items, but our favorite is this string of little house lights.

the label from the package

The lights strung above our photo wall

We found it impossible to get a good photo of the whole string.  You just cannot see the detail of these cute little houses.  I think they are made from balsa wood; from some light, thin wood, anyway, and are obviously laser-cut so light shines from the doors, windows, and trim.  They are battery-operated so you could put them anywhere.  Best of all, they would be appropriate to use at any time of year, not just Christmas!

Another close-up of one of the houses

Hope you've enjoyed this look at our after-Christmas find!

My "Crafting for Christmas" Pinterest board

A "Pinterest project" I made previously

I've been doing a lot of pinning lately and thought it might be nice to share some of my Christmas boards on Pinterest with all of you.  I know I've done this in the past, but have added so many pins to my boards of late (mostly just from blogs and newsletters I get via email).  Since crafting for Christmas is on many people's minds right now, I thought I would start by sharing my Crafting for Christmas Pinterest board.

I just love crafting, period, but never more so than at Christmas time.  I like to see that my kids and grandkids have gifts handmade by me.  Sometimes the ones for my grown kids and their spouses are just kitchen gifts -- candy, cookies, jar mixes -- but there is usually something handmade for everyone.  My goal this year is to get the handmade gifts done by the end of November (all except the kitchen ones).

Then, I should (ideally) be able to spend the first part of December crafting some fun decor items and baking.  I thought that by sharing the Crafting for Christmas board first, other people might find some inspiration for things they want to start right away and complete by Christmas!

Edited to add: I had actually posted this a week ago, but decided that I would edit it to add some links and pictures for some of the nifty ideas on my board.  Here goes:

Let's start at the front door with this creative Christmas Church Wreath from Homespun With Love.

Photo by Homespun With Love

 Isn't it gorgeous?  I love this and would really like to make one.

Now, let's go for a few simple ornaments.  I so enjoy making ornaments and like to add a couple of new ones every year, if I can find the time.  This Tart Tin Ornament by Indulge Your Shelf is so sweet!  The page these were on seems to be gone from Indulge Your Shelf -- I pinned this a couple of years ago -- so the link probably won't work.  But I think they look easy enough to replicate without instructions.

Photo by Indulge Your Shelf

I have a bunch of these little tart tins (brand new) that were my grandmother's.  These ornaments look so simple, and I have plenty of bits and pieces on hand that could be used to trim them.

You noticed the sheet music on the ornament above?  Here is another easy-looking ornament that uses sheet music: the Sheet Music Christmas Ornaments from The Graphics Fairy.

Photo by The Graphics Fairy

So cute, don't you think?

For some pretty Handmade Holiday Napkins, check out  bhg.com.  The simple embroidery patterns are free and downloadable.

Photo by bhg.com

These napkins would be a lovely gift or add an heirloom touch to your own holiday table.  You could certainly add whatever sayings you prefer to these.

Some special Christmas art is so nice to display at this special time of year.  Here are two ideas: Twinkling Christmas Canvas Art from Clean & Scentsible is so pretty.

Photo by Clean & Scentsible

I have seen twinkling art pieces and always admired them.  It's nice to know how to make my own.

And then there is this Simple Christmas Art by Just a Girl and Her Blog.

Photo by Just a Girl and Her Blog

So pretty and meaningful!  Looks fairly easy to make, too.

Just a couple more ideas that I couldn't resist!  First is the Car in a Jar Snow Globe

Photo by It All Started with Paint

 from It All Started With Paint.  Isn't it just so cute?  It seems to me that I need one of these.

And then, lastly, this masterpiece from Elizabeth at Creative Breathing: Seasons Greetings Shadowbox.  The photo below is only a partial view.  You can see it in its entirety on my Pinterest board.  I did find, in clicking my link to make sure it worked, that I got a "the page you are looking for in this blog does not exist" message.  Don't worry.  Click the "shadow box" label in the right sidebar and you can find it easily.

Photo by Creative Breathing

I had made a Christmas shadowbox with vintage bits & pieces a few years back and I was thrilled with how it came out.  But it pales in comparison to this.  I just ache to get out my materials and craft another one!

Okay, that should be plenty of Christmas crafting inspiration for now!  Enjoy!