What do you do with the Christmas cards you receive?

[Lyd]

I've struggled with this for so many years. I LOVE receiving Christmas cards from our friends and family every year. And, I want to keep them (or at least the family photos and letters that come with them if not the card itself). I'm wondering if I should put them together into some sort of book kind of like a December Daily/Holiday Faves deal. Or something else.

Do any of you keep the Christmas cards you receive from year to year? And, what do you do with them?

[Darcy Baldwin]

We keep ours in a Prayer Basket we keep at the table. Each night we pull another card/photograph/index card to pray for that person/family member, specifically, and cycle through them throughout the year. Each year's cards go in a special box in our Christmas trunk if there is a photo involved, or a letter. A random signed card is usually not kept.

[Lyd]

I love that Darcy! What a great way to remember your loved ones all through the year!

[NeverendingJen]

We started this last year
http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/...ard-books.html

[Lyd]

Yes! That's exactly the kind of thing I'm thinking of doing. Thanks for the link, Jen!

[maryinaz]

I save them during the season, but end up throwing them away during the first part of the year.

I like Darcy's idea though - how sweet.

[JuliaM]

Cards and photos we hang up around the house until the Christmas decorations come down. After that, the cards go into the recycling bin and we keep the photos. If there are any letters (which is very, very, very rare), they've probably been dropped into the recyling bin after being read.

[Tracyfish]

Originally Posted by NeverendingJen

We started this last year
http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/...ard-books.html

I just did this with the 2011 cards I found in a box. I'm going to do it again after this season.

[kelley]

I usually save them, but we hardly get any! I guess most of Chris and my family members are too lazy to do cards LOL. I do love when I get some though, I wish I got more. I'd love to be able to make a book of them like that. And I also love your idea Darcy - that is really special! I literally probably get only 5 cards a year. I need more friends!

[nun69]

love that idea Jen....I have all of my 2011 cards together and was going to put them on a single "o" ring and just decoratet the little ring and then sit them out everyyear....I love that so many people are going to doing photo cards because I like to see how much/or how little people change each year

[Txcorey]

I keep the photo cards. I haven't done this in a few years, but I have just stuck the picture cards or photos, on a piece of cardstock and include it in my scrapbooks. I just kind of puzzle piece them together and glue them on. Nothing fancy, but it's with the other Christmas pages for that year and they are out of the way.

[*Celeste*]

we have french doors between the kitchen and living room. i hang them there. i don't save them unless it's my neices and nephews.

[seatrout]

I always use my christmas cards to make present tags for the next year

[rach3975]

We hang them during the season, then end up recycling most of them. There are a few that we save and keep near our photo albums, like photo cards for the people we're closest to. Honestly, though, we don't get many. Neither my family nor DH's does cards, and it seems like fewer friends are doing it each year as their kids get older and they feel less need to share photos of how they've changed. I love the ideas here--I'd do one if we got more cards!

[Lyd]

Okay - you all inspired me to action today. I got out the chipboard that I just ordered for my Holiday Memories album and made myself books for 2010 and 2011. I need to design covers and stuff, but I already have all the cards punched and put in the books. Yay!! I'll hang the 2012 cards on our door until the season is over and then get them put into their own book.

I think what I may do for coming years is create a book for each year, not just for Christmas cards but for other things too - wedding announcements, baby announcements, graduation announcements, etc. We get a handful of those every year, and I always think I'd love to keep them, but I don't know what to do with them. So, I'm going to have a book going for each year and include the Christmas cards as the final part for each year.

[pewtertm]

If it's just a signed card, I save the fronts for Rachel's art stash. Photo cards are kept; newsletters are iffy, depending on who sent them and the info in them.

[kristijoy]

I have a box where I put all the family photos (with the dates on them!!) I save the actual cards for doing collage projects with kids. I don't save the letters.

[kim21673]

What an awesome idea Darcy and Jen!!!!

[KateD]

I made those oing albums last year and I love them! Being military, we tend to get a lot of cards and letters and I really enjoy looking at the ones from past years. I'm so glad that I saw that album idea because it helped me get the cards out of the storage box and into a format in which I can enjoy them!
I didn't even bother doing a scrappy cover; I just picked a photo card with the year on it for the front of the album I may go back sometime and make cute covers for the albums. But for now, this is good enough.

[mnjenlittle]

Everybody has neat ideas.

It is actually the only paper scrapping I am doing now. I have an album that I scrap with the photo cards, baby announcements, graduation and wedding announcements too.

[Paula]

We keep ours until after the season. Then we throw them away.

[Tree City]

*I* don't keep them, but my 5yo DD keeps her favorites (usually the ones featuring pics of her friends rotfl). She puts them on her bulletin board in her room. I just found one from 2 years ago--it had fallen off the board and landed under her bed.

[MamaBee]

Since we only get like 5 - my family and friends are way cheap to spend the money on cards and mailing... so the ones we do get, I save the photo - and if it's a family member and they wrote something in the card, I'll save it - otherwise if it's just that they signed - I throw it away.

[color of my heart]

i'm gonna make one of these: http://pinterest.com/pin/17521886021993641/ to display them.
we don't get a ton of cards yet, but i plan to make a wreath one year out of clothespins once we start getting more cards.

after christmas, i'll put them in a drawer. but, i take the photos out and hang them up.