Do you always have a pile of used holiday cards when January first rolls around?
Do you feel guilty for pitching them and adding to the landfills?
Do your children get cabin fever, even though it's only the second day of vacation?
We can solve all three problems for you! You'll occupy the kids, and keep all those cards out of the landfill. Read on to learn how to make boxes out of your old holiday cards.
These directions are really simple, so its an easy project the kids will be able to master easily and quickly, It's good even for your preschoolers! If you put them to work long enough, you'll have a stockpile of pretty gift boxes for next year, and happy, occupied kids for most of the afternoon. The best part is, this craft requires really minimal supplies. The main component is something you were going to be throwing out, and you already have glue and scissors in the house, which means you don't have to spend any money on this craft!
How to Make Boxes
When you're ready to teach the kids how to make boxes, gather them together, and grab the following supplies:
- Christmas Cards or Birthday Cards
- White glue
- Scissors
- Pencils
- Ruler
Instructions On How to Make Boxes
Step 1: Cut the card in half along the fold. One piece will be the top, and the other will be the bottom.
Step 2: Cut ½ inch of one long side and one short side of one piece.
Step 3: Turn the cards over, so that the blank side is up. Using your ruler, make an X on the card.
Step 4: Fold both sides in so that they meet in the middle, and crease.
Step 5: Fold both ends in so that they meet in the middle, and crease.
Step 6: Unfold the halves to show the X. Starting at the corner, cut along the X until you reach the new crease lines.
Step 7: Fold the sides to the inside.
Step 8: Fold end points to the inside.
Step 9:Fold ends over side points.
Step 10: Glue corners.
That's all it takes! You've learned how to make boxes from old cards!
Other Things to Do With Old Christmas Cards
If you've made enough boxes for your liking but still have old Christmas cards lying around, here are some other great suggestions for what to do with them!
One cool thing you can do is make a scrapbook with all of your old Christmas cards in them. This is a great way to keep the cards organized, while maintaining the memory of all your friends and family's well-wishes for the holidays. You can flip through the scrapbook whenever you want, and add more cards as they come in.
Another idea is to turn them into bookmarks! You won't be able to easily preserve the original messages sent by your loved ones with this craft, but this is a great way to handle a surplus of old cards. Cut them into strips as wide as you'd like. Laminate them if you want to prevent paper cuts! Old cards will give you tons of bookmarks to use.
Finally, you can make mini puzzles out of your old cards! This one is especially fun to do with kids. Cut each card up into squares. Then, toss all the squares together and really mix them up. From there, piece the card back together! This is a free way to give your kids a fun time on a boring day. Keep all the cut-up cards in a box so no pieces are lost.
Of course, storing your old cards as-is is perfectly fine, too! You can do whatever you want with the old holiday cards that you have. There are so many options out there to make something fun or useful, or you can just maintain them as-is and keep them in a special box!