Greeting Cards?

Greeting’s Cards; should they stay or should they go?

When it comes to de-cluttering and organising your home you will need to make some tricky decisions. This is particularly true when it comes to deciding whether items are keepsakes or clutter.

Greeting Cards are a great example of this. Given to us and our family throughout the year; they are a celebration of a range of events or special occasions and are often packed with beautiful words and memories.

Whilst greeting cards are special, over time they can build up and go from a lovely keepsake to annoying clutter instead.

But how can you sort out greeting’s cards?  Especially if many of them mean so much to you. We have put together a step by step guide to help you de clutter your cards.

Step 1- Look at why you are keeping them

Sounds like a silly question; but why are you keeping these cards? Is it because they are precious to you, or simply because you feel like you should?

Think of it like this; your child is turning 18, would they appreciate being given every single birthday card that they received throughout their childhood? The chances are probably not.

Step 2- How many cards to keep

We have already seen that there may not be a need to keep all of the cards that you are ever given. But how many cards should you actually keep? You can feel guilty about which ones you keep hold of and which ones you choose to throw away; but it is important not to feel that way.

Choosing which cards to keep can be tricky; after all, you may see them as a sentimental item rather than just a piece of card.

A good rule to work by is the giver; if it is a person who is no longer with you then you shouldn’t feel any shame about holding onto those cards. Many people choose to keep cards from their husband/wife or perhaps cards that they give to their children.

All that matters is that you pick a number which works for you.

Step 3- Where to store them

Once you know how many cards you are going to keep; the next choice is where you are going to store them.

Try to avoid the temptation to store the cards in drawers or cupboards with no order. Instead set out some proper storage for them. Here are some ideas of great ways to store cards:

• Put them in an album
• Hole punch the corner of the cards and put them together in a ring clip
• Frame those cards that are truly special
• Create a college of your most prized cards by cutting out the messages or pictures

Step 4- A digital memory

If you are really short on space, or simply don’t like the idea of keeping cards around your home then why not look at alternative ways of treasuring them?

Scanning cards or simply taking a photo of them means that you can store the images on a computer and not have to keep the physical card. This will limit the amount of storage space you need and also allows you to create photobooks or printouts of those cards that you love.

Step 5- Recycling those cards

So once you have decided that there are some cards you no longer need to keep, you might wonder what exactly you can do with them? Rather than simply throwing them away, why not find inventive ways that you can re-use them instead?

A popular way to use these cards is to cut out the picture part and use them to make tags for presents (especially useful for Christmas). Another idea is to use the cut out images for crafty projects for your kids; they can enjoy sticking the separate parts down and perhaps even make their own future greeting cards.