by April Welch, The Mental Clutter Coach
With all this talk of fund-raising I thought we could shift gears a bit and answer one of the most asked questions when it comes to clutter:
What to do with Christmas cards after the holidays?
Here's why it's hard:
Christmas cards {or any other season's greetings} are emotional clutter.
Friends and family put a lot of effort into sharing their updates with you. Pictures of the growing family, newsletters that document the year, hard earned money spent on printing and postage.
"How dare you just discard that?"
Right?
Um. No.
I give you permission to appreciate all of those things, then discard, at-will, when the season is over.
Too hard? How about these ideas:
Recycling Christmas Cards:
As any VolunteerSpot reader knows, I have a borderline unhealthy relationship with Pinterest. But of course, this benefits you. Here are some fantastic ideas I came across for recycling those Season's Greetings:
save all the old picture cards you receive,
punch a few holes in them and add rings to keep them together...
use as coffee table books at the holidays
Holiday Card Ornaments
Chair garland
Gift tags
When all else fails, drop them in a shoebox for the next school project that requires miscellaneous images {like the beginning of the school year when the Pipsqueak was assigned to create a collage on the front of his planner to "customize" it}
For the tech-savvy:
If tossing items after they've served their purpose is a natural habit for you ... but you want to hang on to some of the memories ::
- take a picture of the picture:
- using your smart phone or a scanner, make a digital image out of that family picture your best friend from high school sent.
- create a screen saver:
- at the end of December collect all the pictures from the year that represent good memories ~ including those holiday family pictures from others ~ and save them to a folder titled "Highlights from (year)" then instruct your computer to use that file for the screen saver.
- Wa-lah! You can now enjoy memory lane each time your computer is sitting idle for a bit.
No matter what solution seems right for you be sure to keep the guilt factor in check.
So often clients have held on to clutter due to the emotional pull they feel. Truth is, if you asked the person who sent the card if they wanted you to hang on to the clutter or have a better quality of life? I'm sure the sender would tell you "toss it!!"
How about it? Join me over on the VolunteerSpot Facebook Page and share your strategies
What do you do with Christmas cards after the decorations are all put away?
Keepin it Tidy,
April
April is a Mental Clutter Expert | Mom of 2 boys | Wife to 1 Fireman | Horrible Cook | Loyal Friend | National Public Speaker who gives you permission to be imperfect.
