What to do with cards?

[Ally]

Today I received a Thank You note in the mail. My first thought was that it should go directly into the trash, but then I thought about it. It's a pretty card, It makes me feel good, maybe I should display it for a week or two before I toss it.

What do you all do with:
Special occasion cards
Holiday cards
Etc?

My in-laws kept a perfectly tidy house and saved all the Christmas cards in boxes in a storage room in the basement, organized by year. They saved other cards too. Before they died they gave DH a large envelope containing cards and letters DH had sent to them over the years.

My parents kept cards too, but my mom was involved with working with children and crafts at church and would often use the cards to make these crafts, or cut them up and make gift tags out of them. My mom is a little bit of a hoarder. She has a whole room, or more filled with stuff like that.

[dtesposito]

I used to save a lot of cards I received, but since I saved almost everything, that was par for the course.

Now, I save just a few cards that mean a lot to me--either it's from a special person (usually someone who doesn't send a lot of cards, so having just one or two is special) or a card that has a really meaningful handwritten sentiment. There really aren't that many of those, they all fit in one fat file folder in my file cabinet.

I will display a card that I get if it has a particularly good picture on it, but after a few weeks I get rid of it.

And, I will make bookmarks out of some cards I get, but I no longer save every card in case I will someday make bookmarks out of them. For example, after Christmas is over, I immediately choose any to make bookmarks from, I make them, then I'm able to recycle the rest.

Once upon a time I thought it would be great to make postcards from them, I made a bunch, and after several YEARS realized I never used even one of them--I don't send postcards, if I want to write something to send I'll send a letter. So I stopped that.

Diane

[ramatama]

Guess I am a combination of Ally and dtesposito (above.)

Have saved very special cards with sentimental / meaningful writing in it. Maybe a shoe-box full worth. Holiday cards get made into gift tags, I give the ones with religious motifs to my MIL.
Previously i would glue a pretty card onto an envelope if I was using envelope to give money. I still have several left.
(Won't do that anymore, or until those get used up.)
Now I recycle:
If the card has lots of blank space, I cut it in half and use it to scribble reminders on them...on the back part.

[cando]

Ally, I am curious what your DH did with the cards that were given back to him?
Also, I used to save all the cards, but do not anymore. I will display them on the mantle but then I either recycle them, toss, or if a particularly good picture on it... will put in my "memories" box for scrapbooking. (which I haven't done in years... ). With a thank you card, I will toss after reading and only display if it is really special. Also, I am guilty of leaving them on display too long, so don't know that is something I would recommend.
CD

[Layla]

I used to save them all also. Now I just save the following

Newsletters from relatives or friends, often they have photographs, those go into my photo/scrapbook box.

Most of my cards I keep for a brief period, some go in the trash quickly now. I just cant keep all that stuff anymore.

My husbands gma passed away last yr, she saved all her cards and rubber banded them together with a piece of paper on top that said CHristmas 1985, or birthday, anniversary, etc. And then there were lots of loose ones.

I actually am very glad for family history purposes she saved them all. I went to clean out her leftover stuff the relatives didnt take. In the box I found letters from the 1940s, newspaper articles, some fascinating family stuff, old photos, letters written by relatives we never knew.

And then the cards. I did sit one by one with a keep and a trash bag pile. Dont get me wrong I threw away A LOT of the cards. Many just signed, some may have been kept if it had a letter from a relative of the past in it or some interesting family info.

Also a lot of the cards Im keeping are the 50s-60s cards. I buy and sell vintage and collectibles and do crafts and a lot of the neat looking cards Im keeping for future projects.

I basically sorted it all out, threw away about half of what was in the box of cards. Kept the other half.

For myself personally? I display bday cards for about a week then toss, keep usually ones from the hubby or kids.

Christmas cards I tape up on fridge or back of front door to look at and take down after holiday and toss or put photo cards/letters in a rubber band bundle in my photo album box.

Thank u cards or nice cards of encouragement, have a bulletin board over my office desk, they may go up there for a bit to view, then I will toss.

[Di]

I can't toss cards. I keep them and then let kids make new cards using them, or cut out pictures from them for crafts, or I just look through them and smile at the memories. I especially can't toss them if they have personal notes in them. I have a few pieces of correspondence that date back to the Civil War and they have really caused me to think about how things really were back them. I have one box of saved correspondence. I don't consider it hoarding. Words mean things and I cherish them. I don't want to cause anyone to hoard something that doesn't mean the same to them. If you feel OK tossing anything then DO SO. I am really not attached to very many "things". I have a doll collection, I have beautiful crystal pieces, and I have a smallish sewing stash. I have tossed out furniture, clothes, toys, kitchen equipment, small appliances, etc. But when something is truly sentiment and not sediment then it stays. For a very long time I had a lot of trouble distinguishing between the two. Basically to me sentiment fits in a reasonably small area and does not contribute to the clutter in a home. If you value it, you will contain it and preserve it. The junk that gets in your way and keeps you from enjoying the functionality of your home is clutter and it can go. You can tell how much something means to you by the way you treat it. If you read it and toss it you might as well toss it in the trash then and not let it pile up. I have discovered that a lifetime of correspondence -- especially in today's digital and electronic age, will fit in a small Rubbermaid tote and will fit on a closet shelf. My correspondence box is on my closet shelf, so is my photo box, and my genealogy box. The space is dedicated to them and the contents don't escape to become just "stuff" Keep the things that you LOVE, let go of the things that needlessly clutter your life. Hint, if something totally fills a room and/or overwhelms you then it is "stuff"

[misssue]

If I only saved cards like your inlaws.. I would not be in this fix! I am working at purging all this. For years I only saved the Christmas cards from the year before, for the next years list. Now, few people do cards in my circle.

For me, I have saved letters my gram wrote me, and I have to find them all and put them somewhere that honors them! I have no kids, so I do not have that. I am divorced and now when I find cards he sent me for occasions, I now toss them. I could not for awhile but now in the clear, out they go. I have learned that in the end of my life, I probably am not going to be going through cards and reading them. I have yet to deal with 30 years of pictures from my marriage. For now, I put them all in a rubbermaid tub. For me, it is not about him, but many like my wedding photos, are all the people who are no longer with me... and happy occasions. I hope to pare them all down. He wanted none.. I always think of people who say if there house was on fire they would take their photos..for me that means I would have to be able to grab them. I have learned it is the memory not the stuff..

[Ally]

Jun 20, 2012 12:57:10 GMT -5 cando said:

Ally, I am curious what your DH did with the cards that were given back to him?
...
CD

My husband is NOT an organized person, so they ended up in a pile. We did look through them. Some of the cards were funny. It was interesting reading the old letters from when he was in college.
I'm sure they brought up a lot of old memories for him. I'm not sure if it came down to it whether he's keep them or not. He seems to have very different thoughts on most things than I do. I would like him to keep a few to give to DD if she would want them.
He inherited a ring that contained the diamond his father had given to his mother. After many years of marriage, his dad bought his mom a ring with a larger diamond. She had the first ring diamond set into a men's ring. DH keeps telling me he wants to sell it. I keep telling him that I think we should save it for our daughter to do with as she pleases after she graduates from college, gets engaged, or something.

[rededen]

Cards, hmmm. My mother and aunts would cut out parts of old Christmas cards and use them for tags for presents for the next year. Some cards I do keep because I like the design and have aspirations of one day making a quilt ... or using the design in something else. But there again, I actually do ask myself, "Red, are you really going to use this in the next 6 months?" Invariably the answer is 'no' so I chuck them.

[eagle]

Sadly, all the great ideas of what to do with cards or other things that accumulate in our homes, just re-inforce the tendency to save for 'someday I'll have a use for this' syndrome. I'm just not very good at follow through in these cases.

I admire the person who can keep old Christmas cards, etc. & re-use them within a short timeframe (one year for Christmas cards) leaving no mess behind. But that's not me. If I save them, they end up not being used for anything but filling up the box of Christmas stuff.

I can't even buy Christmas cards on sale at the end of the year and remember to use them for mailings the following Christmas. But then, I just don't mail Christmas cards at all anymore. Solves that problem.

One of the things I tend to find when going through old boxes of stuff is miscelaneous cards. Cards that were going to go into a scrap book, or cards that were so important to me at the time that I felt I needed to keep them as a reminder, or cards that I displayed for awhile then tossed into some indescriminate pile before it ended up in some helter-skelter-type box.

I now do try to throw them out after diplaying for a brief period of time.

[seekingpeace]

Di Dreaming - you said "sentiment not sediment" ... I am going to print that in a large font and stick it over my computer screen! Thank you!! That is a lightbulb moment!!

Cards, I used to save them all... in fact I saved all my kids "most important" school papers thinking that some day they would be thrilled to receive these over flowing boxes. Then I gave them the boxes ... which they looked thru and tossed!! I'd moved those boxes several times! I recently had a lot of letters that my high school best friend had written during our college and early marriage/baby days. I tossed most of them, but kept a few with her telling me all about the joy of her new baby girl. Baby girl is nearly 30. I sent them to her and she was pleased, I don't care what happens to them now!
I also sell online vintage stuff.. I cut the front of the card out and include a simple "Thank you, enjoy!" written on it, in every package. Personal touch and outta my house!
I have saved every single letter my mother ever wrote to me... except any where she was angry at me.. I threw those out when I received them! I have letters from my long deceased grandparents and aunts and will keep those. Friendships have come and gone thru the years and I tossed all those.
Now we have a door to the family room where we hang any cards and enjoy them for a few weeks and then toss.
All this is not to say that I don't still have plenty 'o boxes of sediment mixed with the sentiment!
but now I have clarity, Thanks, Di Dreaming!

[Di]

Seekingpeace, it took me many years before I was able to determine the difference between those two things. I had an immense amount of sediment in my life. I spent a lot of time and angst getting rid of it. It feels good to finally be able to tell the difference between the two. And don't forget, life is always about change, what is extremely sentimental to you TODAY may become sediment 2 years from now. Don't ever be afraid to reevaluate and toss.

[flymomrn]

Scan them into a file on your computer or a memory stick. You can save thousands of cards/memories that way without taking up any real space and they never get sticky, moldy, or dusty.

[Layla]

I saw a segment on tv, wasnt so much cards, but one could still do the same, but make a photo book, you can make them through so many websites now if you have a scanner, and you can put everything together and disregard items and create a book.

Its something i plan to do with a lot of the drawings and things my sons did growing up. Or you can make mugs, mouse pads, duffle bags, etc. Frame a piece of art they made. The craft stores sell double sided frames where if you want to frame a letter front and back and hang it up, you can still see both sides.


Ive seen some really neat craft ideas as of late using stuff from your own family I plan to put into action soon and will have to post some pics.

[downandout]

cards for birthdays or small holidays (like valentines day) are displayed for no more than one week then tossed. christmas cards are displayed during the holiday and are disposed of when the holiday decor is taken down.
we dont keep any cards of any kind because they can accumulate and we already have problems with stuff. besides we can remember that so and so sent us a card and thats enough.