cards are for keeping

Storytime: 
Many years ago, a friend they told me they didn’t keep any of their cards they received because they didn't really know what to do with them. I was surprised and really sad for all those beautiful cards going to the trash so quickly. Years later when I designed my first greeting card line, I wanted to find ways to encourage people to keep or reuse them. That's why every Lucy Loves Paper card shows on their back, a small text box with ideas on how to reuse or store them! My hope is that people like my friend will get inspired to keep these little works of art spreading joy for weeks, months and maybe years to come. ~ Lucia

Here are some of my favorite ideas on how to keep your favorite cards or give them a second life:

STORE YOUR CARDS

  • PHOTO ALBUMS are one of my favorite ways to store your cards. Small 5x7 albums are great to save each card individually on a page. Bigger albums allow to make arrangements with several cards on each page.
  • BIG BINDER RINGS are another good idea. You'll need to hole punch the corner of each greeting card to keep them similarly to keys on a key ring.  In this case it might be a good idea to laminate the greeting cards so that they hold up better over time.
  • AIRTIGHT BOXES are a very common solution. It might not be the best if you want to organize in categories but you may choose/make a beautiful box that can easily be kept on a shelf or under the bed. Just make sure the boxes are really airtight to protect your favorite cards from dust and other elements.
  • CARD ORGANIZERS aka "card boxes" are usually meant to store and categorize unused greeting cards, but why not use them to store the most beloved cards you receive? The great thing about them is that they usually include tabs so you can organize cards by categories.

REPURPOSE YOUR CARDS

  • MAKING POSTCARDS is some of the easier ways of reusing your greeting cards. People usually write on the inside right so you can just cut over the folding line, separating the two sides and use the left (that includes the main image) to make a postcard by adding your message, address and stamp on its back.
  • FRAME IT AND MAKE A BEAUTIFUL ART. It's as simple as that! Just put your most beautiful cards inside cute, small pre-made photo frames and give these little works of art the permanent display they deserve.
  • MAKE GIFT TAGS out of your most charming greeting cards. You will need at least twine and a hole puncher. Cut rectangles out of the prettiest images, punch with the hole puncher to add the twine. You may also use a tag or border punchers to make even more unique gift tags.
  • SCRAPBOOKING is a neat way to repurpose your cards. You may either cut out small parts of the card's illustration or use the whole card to help decorate your scrapbook page. 

Do you have more ideas on how to reuse and repurpose your greeting cards? Share them with me!