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Original poster

What do you do with Xmas and birthday cards!

17 replies

Wednesdayafternoon · 09/01/2022 09:54

Just that really.

I feel so bad throwing them all, but at the same w the pile I have from Xmas and January birthday already is so overwhelming me! My mum keeps every card and always has done so she can "look back". I have found comfort looking and Nanna and grandads hadnwirtting in the past I suppose....

But help!

OP posts:
elQuintoConyo · 09/01/2022 10:06

Recycle.

I have kept a few very old ones from GPs now gone. I'll keep DS's for him until he's old enough to decide what he wants to do with them (he's 10).

Otherwise they're chucked. I don't have the headspace for worrying about them. They decorate the house for a while, then they're gone.

MoonOnaStick69 · 09/01/2022 10:07

I revived but take pics of cards and email to myself so I still have the memories

FelicityPike · 09/01/2022 10:10

I would like to say I recycle them…..but in reality I put them in carrier bags in the loft.

dementedpixie · 09/01/2022 10:10

I put them in the recycling

middleager · 09/01/2022 10:12

I have kept the ones from GPs for my kids, but they are 15 now! Our parents are in their late 70s and 80s now though and I don't want to start throwing them out now.

Burnt0utMum · 09/01/2022 10:13

I've kept a very few special ones particularly from grandparents or for the kids first birthdays but everything else I get rid of. I can't stand all the paperwork we have to hold onto so get rid of whatever I can.

newyear2022 · 09/01/2022 10:13

Scrapbooks - have cut out the signatures and letters in a lot of them, cut out some of the numbers or pictures from the front, and then stuck into scrapbooks (my mum kept every card for me from birth to age 21…. there were about 250) . Lovely to look back at. Chucked out the rest .

I’ve kept a few intact that were letters from relatives that have passed away however .

Need to do similar with my mum’s wedding cards, she’s been divorced three times as long as married and still has all her wedding cards and gift tags and acceptance/regret things !!!

SkepticalCat · 09/01/2022 10:15

Keep the most recent card you received from special people and then recycle previous years'. I know what you mean about finding comfort from seeing handwriting of special people. Someone close to me has advanced dementia and I regret not keeping one or two of their birthday/Xmas cards to me.

If you can be bothered, cut the pictures from the Xmas cards and use as gift tags next year.

DinosApple · 09/01/2022 10:15

I still have cards from my grandparents and great grandparents, not all, but some. It is lovely when I come across them and can remember them.

We also kept all MILs cards. She died in 2020, but had been unable to write for the last 5 years of her life. They will be special to the children when they get older.

ancientgran · 09/01/2022 10:17

Put them in the recycling. At my age the idea of having a collection of cards from 70 Christmas/birthdays is a bit mind blowing. I have enough clutter to deal with as DH is a hoarder.

MsMarple · 09/01/2022 10:19

I keep a couple of special ones from family members and I cut up the others and use some for gift tags, some as postcards for competition entries, and others I give to someone who makes new cards out of them by cutting/sticking bits onto blank cards.

mogkat · 09/01/2022 10:21

I keep the ones most special to me - so from husband, son, parents etc.
But ones from neighbours, colleagues etc I recycle. Although some years I have cut them up and reused them as present tags or as arts and crafts.

milkysmum · 09/01/2022 10:26

Straight in the recycling bin!

MintJulia · 09/01/2022 10:28

I cut Xmas cards up for next years gift tags. Anything else goes in the recycling.

Ninkanink · 09/01/2022 10:45

I’ve kept all the cards from my grandmother. I keep cards from my children and from my husband (they don’t give me Christmas cards, mind, i just mean general cards, birthday etc). Beyond that I keep any whose artwork I really love which usually amounts to a few each year.

InconvenientPeg · 09/01/2022 10:50

Christmas, I keep them for a year, incase anyone dies and i want to keep their signature/ final card (this has never happened😄), then bin the previous year's when I'm putting away the Christmas secs. Birthdays I bin as soon as possible after the birthday. Not a fan of cards at all.

IvyIvyIvy · 18/05/2024 08:20

I cut them up to make gift tags. Zig zag scissors or straight, whole punch and stick a colourful ribbon through. Somehow doesn't seem as bad as sticking in the bin or recycling. By re-using you are helping the planet and wrapping a gift in a truly personalised way- passing on the love :) bit like the Japanese use and re use fabric pieces for wrapping

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