How-to . . .Save Your Holiday Cards

For years I have been saving all the holiday cards that friends and family send to me.  I used to keep the cards with pictures and notes out of sentiment. . .unable to throw away a picture of my cousin's new baby.  But seriously - how many cards do we have room to save?

Not so surprisingly it was once again Ali Edwards that inspired me to save a "piece" of each card. . .all their cute little faces. . .onto a scrapbook page, added to my People We Love album.  So since 2005, I've been putting my cards on a piece of 12x12 cardstock.

It's a simple project that requires only a few tools: a square punch (you can use scissors to cut squares as well), a gluestick and a piece of cardstock.

I pile up my cards, dividing them by picture cards, regular cards and cards with extra embellishments.  then i start to punch . . .a square from each card - sometimes two. . .and if my mosaic gets filled up, I don't feel badly about the card or too that don't get punched.

I free-hand arrange them until I get a pattern and color palette I'm happy with. . .then I start to glue them down.

I use the extra embellishments to finish off the page.  and now i have a whole history to look through and see how everyone has grown.

2005 Holiday Card Mosaic

2006 and 2007 Holiday Card Mosaics

2008 and 2009 Holiday Card Mosaics

2010 Holiday Card Mosaic

My kids always ask me "who's that?" on the older mosaics and I tell them, and they don't believe me. . .it's a fun little craft and an easy way to preserve holiday memories.

What do you do with your holiday cards?

catch you soon -