What to do with all those lovely Christmas cards! Too pretty to toss, too meaningful not to keep and too cumbersome to just collect over the years. I have a solution that I have used for many years. I make gift tags from the cards. It is easy and very eco-friendly . . . as in recycling.

This year I made more than 180 tags from about 45 cards (that’s two years worth). Any cards can be used . . . Birthday, Easter, Thank You, etc.I have a set of templates that I use, but you can use any shape you like, such as cookie cutters, or coloring book pages. I just like these because they look like luggage tags and don’t have any curves to cut.

I pick a card and lay the templates on. Simple as that! Having different sizes helps to get every inch of the design of the card used.

Then just cut them out. Be mindful of where you will punch a hole or where you will write a name. Sometimes that makes a difference.

Always look on the back of the card. Sometimes there are little gems there. (Sorry about the flash. I’m slowly getting this photography thing down!).

And don’t worry about everything being square and even. 

Sometimes cattywhompus looks cool!

Here is the front of a card I used. (Again, sorry for the flash.)

And the center of the same card.

These are all the gift tags I cut from the one card. Amazing isn’t it? They are all unique and all beautiful.

If you want, you can always punch attachment holes in the tags or just tape them on the packages. 

Here are more samples of tags from my Christmas cards. They are all ready for next year’s packages and gifts. What could be more personal and say Merry Christmas better than this?