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March 4, 2012

Weekend Awareness: Christmas Cards

Yes, it's March. And I did in fact say "Christmas cards". No, I haven't finished sending my cards [for 2011], but I'm still working on it. Lovingly.

Still, I recognize that 99.9% of my friends and family have finished their 2011 holiday cards...or have long since abandoned ship.

And as nice as that beautiful crystal bowl, brimming with holiday cards and well wishes, looked on my counter during the month of December...I became AWARE that it was time to free that piece of kitchen real estate.

In [poor] defense, I was originally leaving it there until I finished my holiday cards...but the longer it sat, the less impact it had. My eyes had long since become used to skimming over the clutter, my hands, finding another place to work.

Too, I had mentally filed away a beautiful idea from Marcia to save the cards for the year.

Last week, I plugged "File Christmas cards" into my trusty list of weekly goals.

I am proud to say I accomplished that goal. I really love how it turned out, too!


I sorted through the cards I wanted to keep...all the ones with photos and hand-written sentiments. I hole punched the cards and used two binder rings to put them together. I made a simple cover for the "book" with card stock, and I loved it so much, I got it laminated.

The girls have so enjoyed going through, pointing out our friends and family, too.

This little project reminded me -- made me AWARE -- of how freeing a clutter-free counter is.

10 comments:

Andrea said...

I totally forgot about this idea from Marcia!! It is such a wonderful idea too!! I still have my cards stacked up on my counter waiting for my next move. I am so glad you reminded me of this! Yay!! Your book turned out marvelous! Love it!

Christina said...

I love this idea! When I got your card, it was so sweet and I didn't want to throw it out....awesome! <3

Marcia (123 blog) said...

I LOVE IT!

My best is when I inspire other people :)

Your book turned out so cute - love the beautiful cover and I keep imagining the girls paging through it ") Too darn sweet!

PS mine are only allowed to read Curious George and Corduroy when I'm with them :)

Anonymous said...

LOVE this idea.

...but really...i haven't seen a ton of people writing personal notes. what's with that? maybe just to us? i wrote something personal on each one we sent out.

too bad i already threw away the cards from this year.

but this would be a good idea for most holidays. and birthdays, right? how fun!

Julia said...

Genius! My girls loved looking at all the pictures of our friends! The cards, by the end of the holiday season, were very well "loved" :)

Johanna at The Baker Twins said...

I saw something like this on Pinterest, and just need to put it in action... good for you! Most of our old cards are in a box of 'mail' for the girls to play pretend with. Like your girls, Cam and Gray love to look at family and friends and play mail carrier along the way. :)

Cracks me up that you are still sending out Christmas cards, by the way. For the two years after the twins were born, I was the same way, but I sent out 'Happy New Year' cards instead. Maybe you could do Easter cards instead! ;)

Mandy said...

Little books are the best. I have it marked to do it with the girls birthday cards. They still have all their second birthday cards and they love to pull them out and read them.

Unknown said...

Great idea. I have mine in a pile on the kitchen counter still, too. I usually shove them in a cupboard and then come across them every once in a while. I can't bear to toss the photo cards away either. Our favorite ones and those of close family and friends, end up on our refrigerator so we can enjoy them all year long :-)

Renae said...

Looks lovely!

I do something similar, but I only keep the photo part of the card. I cut off the holiday greeting part, and put all the photos in an album that the kids and I look at fairly often. It's a nice way to keep everyone's names and faces fresh in our minds, especially since many of the photos are of people who live far away.

Great project!

Double the Giggles said...

Super cute idea! I cut out all the pictures we receive and cover a cork board in my kitchen with them, top to bottom... Sure, one might get a bill or coupon tacked to it throughout the year, but there will always be a new picture of friends/cousins/etc to put up the next year!