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Recycled Christmas Cards

November 16, 2011 By Spoonful of Sugar - 27 Comments

One way to save money this Christmas is to make your own gift tags out of recycled Christmas cards. This is a great craft idea that kids can help with and would be perfect for them to attach to gifts for friends and teachers.

Use a shipping tag as a template, and trace a tag shape onto a Christmas card. Cut it out, punch a hole, and stick on some reinforced rings to strengthen the hole. A quick and easy activity!

I wish I had saved more Christmas cards last year for other Christmas Card Craft projects. Martha Stewart has a lovely roundup of ideas on her site.

Here are some of the other recycled gift tags we have made over the past few years:

Postage Stamp Gift tags
Christmas Tags for Bridge Lovers
Paint Chip Gift Tags

Do you have any ideas for making gift tags or Christmas decorations out of recycled materials?

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway to win a set of gorgeous Incomparable Buttons valued at $10. We have 10 sets to be won and entries close on Sunday Nov 20.

Filed Under: Christmas, Paper Crafts Tagged With: card making, recycle

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Comments

  1. two hippos says

    November 16, 2011 at 3:32 am

    lots of brilliant ideas!

    Reply
  2. Janellybelly says

    November 16, 2011 at 2:46 am

    Gorgeous (& Green) idea 😉

    Reply
  3. Sharon Manning says

    November 16, 2011 at 3:01 am

    Great idea!

    Reply
  4. Susie says

    November 16, 2011 at 3:20 am

    Fantastic!

    Reply
  5. Nicky says

    November 16, 2011 at 3:30 am

    I’d like to make some permanent gift tags for use within our family every year out of fabric with a motif, oolour and message particular to the recipient!

    Reply
  6. Mela! says

    November 16, 2011 at 3:39 am

    I Love your Blog (and Christmas Cards :D)
    Zuckerwolke (:

    Reply
  7. Rachael Rabbit says

    November 16, 2011 at 4:57 am

    I save all our cards to recycle – hubby thinks I am mad – the photo cards people send aren’t so eat to recycle though … I so had this on my list of ‘to-do’s’ for this week – need to be more ahead of the game!

    Reply
  8. Vickie says

    November 16, 2011 at 5:01 am

    To recycle Christmas cards is so fun! We have made ornaments, boxes, tags! I have saved every card we have received for the last 31 years! We are slowly using them up, though!
    We also have a group of people who ask for old cards for them to recycle and sell for their organization!!!

    Reply
  9. Stephanie says

    November 16, 2011 at 5:11 am

    Great idea with the recycled Christmas cards. My daughter made paint chip gift tags her first year in college…2004. Perfect for the poor college student! :o)

    Reply
  10. notes of sincerity says

    November 16, 2011 at 5:35 am

    Good morning. :0)
    Please drop by my blog where you will see a few tags that I made too. :0) I love your tags! Too cute!! Have a great day. Sincerely , Trish

    Reply
  11. Simone de Klerk says

    November 16, 2011 at 5:41 am

    Yum yum post!
    The ornament you link to is great, but, lots of work ;o)

    Reply
  12. Cheiro de Vanilla says

    November 16, 2011 at 6:11 am

    Just adorable, I love simple ideas that adds so much.

    Reply
  13. Terriaw says

    November 16, 2011 at 6:56 am

    I love this idea! I have been wanting to make something using shipping tags lately, so this is perfect. I have saved my Christmas cards for a couple years now, hoping to find just the right project to reuse them. This one is just perfect.

    Reply
  14. Sheena says

    November 16, 2011 at 7:12 am

    Cute idea! I like the paint card idea too.

    Reply
  15. em's scrapbag says

    November 16, 2011 at 7:28 am

    Fun, green, and very cute!

    Reply
  16. Celestial Charms says

    November 16, 2011 at 8:59 am

    These are so beautiful and such a great idea. I’m besotted with the beautiful aqua blue background one, with the shiny white tree. Stunning!
    Maureen

    Reply
  17. Lynne says

    November 16, 2011 at 9:23 am

    Those tags are super! We made the Martha ornaments (on your link) several years ago, it was a fun project and we still put them on the tree every year. Thanks for a great idea!

    Reply
  18. Happy Cottage Quilter says

    November 16, 2011 at 10:05 am

    I love this idea. When my children were little, we would take our Christmas cards, cut off the fronts and paste them to construction paper and make a new card. These cards were taken to the Nursing homes for the Elderly. The children would distribute the cards and sing Christmas Carols. It was always fun and the senior citizens always enjoyed the visits from little people.

    Reply
  19. Kiwifruit-Shiree says

    November 16, 2011 at 11:22 am

    another fabulous idea!

    Reply
  20. Veronica says

    November 16, 2011 at 2:39 pm

    Great idea….Love your blog….

    Thank you

    Reply
  21. Susanne says

    November 17, 2011 at 6:10 am

    Isn’t it great when you can save money and reuse something! And the best part is that I have a scrapping punch in just that shape. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  22. Suzie says

    November 17, 2011 at 9:05 am

    Love the ideas!

    Reply
  23. Jodie @ The Haby Goddess says

    November 19, 2011 at 2:16 am

    Love this idea! I feel so guilty throwing out all of the goorgeous cards I receive so now I have the perfect use for them.

    Reply
  24. Rhissanna says

    November 25, 2011 at 12:17 pm

    These are lovely ideas. I have a stack of red and green paint chips for my Steampunk Sherlock study ( a decorating project thatis so over-the-top it has its own blog) and at last, I have a use for them!

    Reply
  25. carlottalittlekitchen says

    December 7, 2011 at 12:42 am

    Bellissimi!!! …and also a great idea. Xxxx

    Reply
  26. Pamela says

    December 10, 2012 at 7:45 am

    Here from Esther’s Card Creations. I’m happy she posted your link–your tags look like such fun.

    Reply
  27. Heather OCain says

    December 19, 2012 at 8:45 pm

    I use flower punches to make flowers for the “bow” but I like the tag idea!

    Reply

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