A Simple Idea to Keep Old Christmas Cards Organized


Any organizing resolutions out there? Any New Year’s diets kicking off today? Anyone putting the Christmas decorations away this week? Any I-love-these-cards-but-have-no-clue-what-to-do-with-them kind of people tuning in? Well, we haveย almost ALL of you covered today with this Christmas Card Organizing Tutorial. I can’t help with the diets, but the organizers… I have your back!
The organizing train is about to leave the station…. ALL ABOARD!!!

How to Organize your Christmas Cards

A Christmas Card Book is a great way to keep old Christmas Cards organized and accessible so you can look at them again and again!
Here’s your chance to save those adorable cards, stay organized, and create a coffee table conversation piece that will take you and your guests down memory lane year after year after year.
By the end of the season, our Christmas Card Shutter board was looking like this…
Christmas cards are great but by the end of the season they can get a little out of hand.
… full of lots and lots of holiday cheer! I definitely did not want to discard all of these adorable family photos and merry wishes, because let’s be honest here, looking back at those old school Christmas card photos is the BEST! My solution?
Use the DIY Christmas Card Book method to keep your cards organized and all in one place!

Last year I started the tradition to bind all of the Christmas cards I received throughout the holiday season as a lil’ holiday flip book. This is definitely not an original idea (I see it all around the blogosphere) but I selfishly wanted to blog about it just to motivate myself to DO IT. Putting in a few extra minutes to create this book was not on top of my to-do list but I pushed myself to suck it up because I loved looking back at last year’s memories (and it’s only been a year!). I also loved setting this little cutie out for my holiday guests to enjoy. I can only imagine how much more my guests and I will cherish these books as time passes.

I just used whatever holiday paper and letters I had around the house to create my 2012 masterpiece. No need to go out and spend a lot of money on this simple project; heck, you could probably even repurpose one of your holiday cards as a cover if you’re really creative!
Make a Christmas Card Book every year so you always have those holiday memories easily accessible.
This year, I went with the same motto- no buying, just making do with what I had around. If you do need to buy material, here’s what you’ll need.

Christmas Card Organization Supplies

  • about 4 large scrapbook pages (double-sided offers more combo opportunities!)
  • numbered stickers
  • glue
  • scissors
  • hole punch
  • ring (or two) to hold the book together
All you need for a Christmas Card Book is a hole punch a ring to keep the cards together!

Rookie Tip: Make sure you purchase a ring(s) that fits the size of the stack of cards you want to bind together. Go with the larger ring if you have lots and lots of cards and a smaller one if you’re still new to the holiday card scene. I used a small ring and the cards fit perfectly.

I like to stack up the Christmas Cards by size before I make them into a book. It's so much neater that way.

To kick off this simple project, I stacked all of my cards by size (approximately). This is a completely personal preference, but to me, it helped to organize the book by size.

Then you just use the hole punch to make a hole in each card! Making the Christmas Card book could not be easier!

I then hole punched each card and fished it through the hoop. #helloweddingnails

Once the holes are punched in each card, just thread them on your ring!
Just hole punch and then slip each card on the ring until all of your Christmas cards are in the book!

I repeated that two-step over and over and over again until all of my cards were clipped together.

Voila! A Christmas Card Book is made in three simple steps.
Use lightweight cardboard and a scissors to create a cover for the Christmas Card Book.

I then used some lightweight cardboard (almost like extra heavy cardstock) I had around the house and cut out a front cover and a back cover. I just eye-balled the size to make sure all of the cards would be hidden by the front & back covers.

Use leftover Christmas Paper wrapping to add color to the cardboard cover of the book.

I traced the cardboard pieces onto two sheets of paper. (one pattern for the front/back covers and another pattern for the inside of the front/back covers).

Glue the Christmas paper to your cover on the front and back sides. Isn't this wrapping paper with little fir trees and red and green houses so cute?

I glued the paper onto the cardboard, this way the front and back cover would be BOTH decorative and more sturdy.

These cardboard covers make the photo book more sturdy, plus they add a simple decorative element to the Christmas Card Book.

I did that once again on the opposite side of both covers…

Punch a hole in the cover and add it to the clip - that's it!

… and hooked the sheets onto the clip. Now all that was left to do was cut out some extra paper and add the 2013 number stickers.

I like to use number stickers to signify the year that the Christmas Cards are from. I just cut out some more wrapping paper and added it to the front of the book along with the numbers.

To finish off the very non-traditional Christmas look, I added a pop of red washi-tape and called it a day.

Here is the Christmas Card Book for 2013!
I added the ampersand onto 2013 as a symbol of our wedding that year. Just a small touch on the back of the Christmas Card Book!

In honor of the big wedding in ’13, I had to add a little “&” trademark onto the back of the book.

Love how the "&" sign looks with the Christmas wrapping paper.
DIY Christmas Card Book for 2013's holiday season!

Now that all of my cards are bundled and organized, I’m excited to pack them away and pull them out next year as a quick reminder of how lucky we are to have such amazing friends and family in our lives.

Two Christmas Card Books - from 2012 and 2013.
Plus, I can’t wait to lay both of my flip books side-by-side for my holiday guests to peek at as well. I suspect organizing your x-mas cards may not be on the top of your priority list, but trust me when I say, I’m very grateful I pushed myself to get ‘er done. If you’re anything like me, let January be the kick in the pants you need to climb aboard that organizing train & get rolling…. it’s time.

Bridget


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.