Sunday, January 10, 2010

Grab Your Scissors, It's Craft Time!

For years we have been recycling our Christmas cards and calendars. "That British Woman" did a lovely post on this last year (see it here) and I would like to add my two cents worth and show off some of the beautiful tags I made out of this year's cards.



We always seem to get a least 100 cards every year. Hubby is very popular at his job and this is why there are so many. What a waste it would be to just throw them away so I take some of the best cards and do a little magic on them.



I like to use scrap-booking scissors to cut out the tags. You can buy inexpensive pairs at the dollar store if you're lucky. The patterned cut from these scissors will help to hide any out-of-square corners if, like me, you have a hard time cutting straight lines. Don't forget to look at the backs of the cards too because they may have pictures which are perfect for the smaller type tags. You can dress them up with ribbon or plain string for a rustic look. Use a hole punch to give the tags a place to tie on.

I also do the same thing with old calenders because, honestly, some of them are just too pretty to throw out. I think a great idea for Eco-friendly companies who publish calenders should imprint wild flower seeds inside the paper and you can just cut the calendar up and scatter the pieces in a field. Maybe I should patent this idea!!!



I have a beautiful calendar from 2001 (it's from the Holly Pond Hill series by Susan Wheeler) and I want you to see how I trimmed it up to make a background for my bulletin board. I'm going to use a different picture every month, plus I'll use the extra border that was around the pictures in the calendar for bookmarks.



I also wanted to show off a wall hanging I snagged after Christmas for half price. I really wanted this for Christmas but it wasn't to be. I was really happy to get the last one afterwards, though. The price was an added bonus. And yes, it is a little wonky and crooked but thats okay with me, I like things like that. It's making Hubby go all cross-eyed though.



The witch can be very crafty at times and I look forward throughout the year to share some more craft favorites with you all.

5 comments:

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I read what "Gill" had done with the Christmas cards and think that what you've both done is so imaginative and creative!! I am not that way, and I really admire people like you (and Gill) that are!! I look forward to "stealing" some of your ideas this year!! :-)

PS: Thank-you for your kind comments on my blog! I am still pretty new to blogging and thoughtful your notes really mean a lot!

Canadian Saver said...

Oh very creative indeed!! I love that last piece you got... like you say it's not perfect, but it's really really pretty!!

Thanks for sharing with us!

Gill - That British Woman said...

I love your gifts tags, I like the price too.......free!!

Gill

Ria said...

I like that idea! I've got a load of old Christmas cards lying around from past jobs and coworkers who probably don't even remember me by this point, and I think I might do this for next year's gifting season. It's a great way to reuse old cards!

Gill - That British Woman said...

that's for your thoughts, they were very helpful.

Gill