Recycling Ideas: Gift Cards
January 2nd, 2010 | Link
Last Christmas, lovely Jane gave me a desk calendar where each month was a hand-printed card by a different Houston artist. I liked some of them so much that they got stuck up on my bulletin board for several months after the month on the card! So at the end of the year I couldn’t bear to toss them all, and I came up with this idea to give them a new life.
From each of the cards I liked, I cut a 2-1/4″ by 3-1/2″ rectangle from the artwork and rounded the corners. The ties are linen thread leftovers from all the bookbinding I did last year. (The card above is January: it’s a letterpress piece, and the tracks in the snow are recessed in the paper – beautiful!)
I got multiple gift cards from some of the months, like December, where the design allowed for two cuts.
(I also got two copies of December and a couple of other months, so I got to make two sets!)
I think the card above is March (march hare?) – it reminds me of the creepy bunny in Donnie Darko…
July? (Edmond thought this was Jabba the Hutt, but I think it’s just a toad.)
I’ll have to save this one for next time I have a gift for my sister-in-law, April.
Boo! I think this one was letterpress too. I love letterpress.
Making these tags is a great idea for recycling calendars, cards, or just about anything! I’ll have to remember it. (Good way to use those scraps of linen thread, too.)
I keep calendars I especially love and reuse them when the calendar is identical some other year. For instance, 2007 was identical to 2001, so I got out a calendar I had saved from 2001 and reused it. Saved money and I got to see all those great photos again!
Some years are easier than other to do this with. This year is the same as 1999. Next year is identical to 2005. But in 2012, because it’s a leap year, you’d have to find a calendar from 1984, 1956, or 1928!
Awesome idea, Shannon! I am totally going to copy you. I wish I had some sort of cutting device that was that perfect shape…
I have a corner rounder, which makes rounding the corners a snap – I did all of them stacked together at once. The cutting was more time consuming, but I find using a straightedge and utility knife to cut pieces of paper down into smaller pieces of paper oddly fun.
Also – the frog was for Valentine’s day! February. The artist did a print of the frog and then had women add lips to the print by kissing each one.