Upcycled Christmas Cards: Garland!

I have hundreds of Christmas cards from years gone by.  I just can't recycle them, yet they are clogging up drawers, desks, and bags here and there in my house.  I was brainstorming ideas on how to use them in a craft project.  So, I came up with garland.  

Grab a pencil and a round item that you can use to trace the area you want to cut out.  I used the top of a small round plastic to go container.  A lid or rim of a cup would work, too.  Outline the area to be cut.  I had my kids do the cutting; although not perfectly straight, it adds a cute touch knowing that they helped with the project.  

Select some beautiful ribbon.  I had some pretty red satin ribbon with gold snowflakes on it, so I used that.  I did not pre-cut, I just unrolled a bit and started gluing.  Put a spot of hot glue directly on one side of the ribbon and adhere one of the card cut-outs.  Leave about a 2-3 inch space between each one.  I glued 3 and then reversed the ribbon and glued 3 more on the backsides, too.  That way, when you hang the garland, you won't have to worry about hanging it just right so the back doesn't show.  

Continue this process until you have used all your cutouts.  I ended up gluing 42 circles, or 21 two-sided sections.  I added it to our tree, but I think it would look equally cute across the top of a window or on the wall.  You could even mount it and use clothespins to hold cards from this year!