Christmas Card Carnage

Decluttering today is focussing on addressing some of the clutter that is created by the festive season.  At first I thought I should start with the clutter that has been around so long that it has its own postcode.  But on reflection I think it is wiser to keep the decks clear rather than adding more clutter to the problem.

This morning I started by tackling my Christmas Cards.  It is really easy to hang onto them all for sentimental value or chuck them, losing vital information.  So, I decided on a practical approach to these this year.  I gathered them all up in a pile and then went through them taking a note of any addresses and who had sent us a card.  So I now have my list for next year.  I have a new address book on order, so when it arrives I will put any addresses into it.  I set aside any particularly nice cards or those that had special messages in them.

I then got busy with the scissors and have created gift tags from cutting out attractive sections of the cards - this created 29 gift tags, plenty for next year.  With some of the cards I have kept the front complete and plan to use these as Festive Recipe Cards.  I think these will make great gifts, I plan on giving the recipe, the ingredients and a sample of the finished product.  I have ended up with 11 recipe cads which is great haul.

The scraps and any leftover cards are all in a carrier bag in the car ready to be dropped off at the Christmas Card recycling point at the local supermarket.

Just a small task but has made me feel great and already ahead for next Christmas! Can't be bad.

The Decluttter Diarist