One More Seasonal Tradition: Scrapbooking Holiday Cards

2009HolidayCardsPhoto

One of my last holiday traditions each year as I am cleaning up & putting away is to get out my square punch and attack our holiday cards.

My goal is simple: create a collage of faces and designs from the various cards we receive throughout December. I grab my punch and go for it. Over the years I have used different sized square punches depending on the number of cards. This year I used the Extra Giga from Marvy Uchida.

I did a little searching in my archives and found this post talking about the process back in 2005. Here's an excerpt:

Since I am all about simplifying I came to the conclusion that I do not need to keep all the Christmas cards I received this year. I loved getting them. I celebrated each one that came through the mailbox. And now that Christmas is over I would still like to have a bit of a record of the cards from this Christmas, but I certainly don't need to hang on to them all.

It is ok.

How do I decide which part of the card to punch? I think what I have always loved about punching is that I am taking a bit of something and bringing it together with other somethings to create an entirely new something. When I was punching I tried not to think too hard. I laid my punch with the metal side up, slid the card in, and moved the card around using the window as a guide. When I saw something that looked just fine and I punched. Some of the photos were too large to get everyone in the square and that was totally OK. My vision was to bring together a bunch of bits of this year's cards - not preserve each one in its orginal state.


One thing I noticed this year is that people had their photos on all different kinds of papers: metallic, shiny, canvas, etc. This was definitely more of a trend than in years past.

And as much as I love doing each layout individually it is almost more fun to see all these layouts here together. Here's a look at the past card layouts from when I first started this process:

2004:

MerrychristmasBOTH

2005:


2006:

Christmascards06_low

2007:

2007HolidayCards_Low

2008:

I found 2008's layout in need of a little assistance. When I found it in the 2008 album last night it was two pages with only the top two rows of photos on the second page. I decided to trim that off and attach it to the top of the full page (and use the Fiskars Apron Lace punch along the bottom).

2008HolidayCards_Low

2008flipup

2009:

2009ChristmasCardsLayout
What do you do with your holiday cards? Keep them? Toss them? Make something with them? Donate them? If you do donate them I would love to hear more about it.

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246 thoughts

  1. Noreen says…
    01/07/2010

    Cool idea!! Thanks for sharing =)

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. Myra says…
    01/07/2010

    I took all of the traditional cards, cut cirles from them and made 3 ornament balls. I'm going to have to use your idea to scrap my photo ones, instead of tossing them into a box like I usually do, never to be seen again.

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Joy Buss says…
    01/07/2010

    I LOVE that idea Ali! I enjoy all.my Christmas cards and want to be able to look at them again!

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. Lori S says…
    01/07/2010

    I have always kept them, but never knew what to do with them. Thanks for the WONDERFUL idea!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. Karen says…
    01/07/2010

    I have the same plan as you had. I am going to use my square punch too! I have cards saved from past years but have not tackled the project yet....maybe i will do that this weekend. thanks for sharing yours!

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. Lara says…
    01/07/2010

    LOVE this idea Ali!!!! I think I'll do this with all our photo cards so much more creative than collecting dust!
    I typically send all cards after the holiday to St.Jude: http://stjudesranch.org/help_card.php

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. Laura says…
    01/07/2010

    Thanks for sharing this -- what a lovely idea.

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. Linda says…
    01/07/2010

    I love this idea. I have saved so many cards with photos, and the letters that accompany them, but haven't done anything special with them yet. I think that I'll do this and add it to my Christmas layouts for that year!

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. Emily says…
    01/07/2010

    something fun I've done in the past is take some of the cards (boxed ones) cut them into basic shapes, or cut around the main image to make lacing cards for the kids. It's a pretty simple thing that they really like to do.

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. Laura says…
    01/07/2010

    I plan to include the photo cards we received from our closest family & friends, probably intact, in my December Daily album, but might try a collage with some of the other "regular" cards -- thanks for sharing your technique!

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Susan Raihala says…
    01/07/2010

    I have a whole scrapbook dedicated to the photos people send...it's a great place for seeing how all the children have grown over the years! Like Lara, I send the card fronts to St. Jude.

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. HeatherC says…
    01/07/2010

    In the past I too have scrapped them -- however I have never used artwork from the cards -- just the photos -- i like that. Also, I like how you just used your square punch rather than try to crop each individual photo. I also create little name labels that I put on each photo -- I am thinking this may not be necessary -- hmmmm don't know.

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. Susan says…
    01/07/2010

    what a wonderful idea. i have tons of cards saved because i feel guilty throwing them away, this is the perfect solution. happy new year!

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. Nerdgrl says…
    01/07/2010

    Every year, unfortunately, we seem to get fewer and fewer cards. And what we do receive tends to be computer generated. I do, however, try to make a LO each year, using a smaller square punch (hmmmm...I wonder where I got the idea?). Usually, it's just a page, but I do like the idea of making it a two-pager with just the year on the first page.

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. Erin B says…
    01/07/2010

    I was just wondering what to do with mine this year. I think I may lift this idea. In 07 I square punched my favorites and added them to my Dec daily and in 08 I put an pocket at the back of Dec daily to hold favorite cards (I recycle the rest). This year the Dec daily just didn't happen for me so I need a new plan for the cards. thanks for the idea.

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. allison Gottlieb says…
    01/07/2010

    I have been doing the same thing ever since this idea appeared in one of your books. I keep the layouts, along with a layout featuring our family card, in a Christmas album. During the holidays, I display the past few years on my magnet display boards (IKEA) so that everyone can enjoy them. I always get lots of compliments, and it's fun to see how everyone has changed over the years...that is as long as they send me a card every year.
    I also love using the non-photo cards in this layout...it's just like patterned paper!
    Thanks for the GREAT ideas!! Keep 'em coming!

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. Tappin' Tamara says…
    01/07/2010

    I love what you do with your cards and I will definitely try my hand at that this year! I have saved all the cards from the past several years and they are just mixed up in boxes that are in storage...I am embarassed to say that the other day I happened upon some that were still hanging by clothespins on the twine that I used to string them up in our windows! Now that I have succeeded in doing the DD album, I really think I will follow through with the card LO, too. I am thinking I may do these to fit into the DD album...Thanks for all the inspiration!

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. Susan says…
    01/07/2010

    I cut the cards into pieces 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 to make them into artist trading cards. After embellishing, they go on my 7gypsies spinner to display next Christmas.

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. elisa says…
    01/07/2010

    at the end of the season, i take my favorite ones, glue them back to back, punch holes in them and put them throughout my december daily album.

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. heidig says…
    01/07/2010

    I make a little book out of five white 9 x 12" envelopes (from Staples)that I fold in half to make 10 pages. I cut the picture cards to paste to the pages and the cards with no pictures get a bit of ribbon attached to them and are tucked inside the open end of the envelopes. I've been doing it this way for 3 years and love looking back through the books to see how everyone has changed.

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. Loretta Artful Yogi says…
    01/07/2010

    I keep a few pics intact of our immediate family then use my punch for highlights like you do. If i really like the crd I'll use it along with funny calender pages to next year's Dec daily. I add the collage to my 12 x 12 album as my Dec Daily is already too full. Do you add this to your 12 x 12 or Dec Daily?

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Stacy says…
    01/07/2010

    Wow Ali! Another totally cool idea!! Typically I rubberband my cards together and hang on to them. The photocards stay up for several months after Christmas. Right now they are taped to my kitchen pantry. Once in a while I toss the regular cards in the recycle bin. Quite honestly, I never knew what to do with the cards, but now I do! Thanks for a great idea!! P.S. My word for the New Year is "abundance". It's already on your list from yesterday. Here's how I'm looking at it: I have an "abundance" of stuff (clutter) in my home and plan to spend the year purging like crazy. I have an "abundance" of blessings and plan to record them in a journal. I have an "abundance" of photos that are still in boxes and envelopes. I plan to get them in albums this year. I have an "abundance" of daily stuff on my stay-at-home-mom plate. It's stressing me out like crazy. I plan to purge some of that stuff too. I have been putting way too much pressure on myself. This is big for me. I love my little word and I thank you for inspiring me to do this.

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. Leslie Murphy says…
    01/07/2010

    I scrap mine in a 2 page layout. Love loving back at them from year to year. We're a young family, and my children enjoy seeing how their cousins and friends grow older each year. I currently mix my pages in with my albums chronologically, but eventually I think I'll pull them out into an album of their own.

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  24. tara says…
    01/07/2010

    i love this idea -- i have a pile of cards that i just can't bear to throw away. this is perfect.

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. Valerie says…
    01/07/2010

    I have a "through the years" scrapbook where I put the picture cards I got for the year. Its a great way to see how families grow and children grow up!
    -Valerie

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