Frugal Babe

A rich life without a lot of money

  • Home
  • About me

Homemade Ornaments From Recycled Cards

November 10, 2009 By Frugal Babe

Every year, I make Christmas ornaments for our five nieces.  I love making them, and the girls tell me they love putting their own ornaments on the tree.  Some years I’m stumped for ideas, but last week I came up with an idea that I really like, and I’ve made three ornaments so far.  Here’s a picture of the first two:

100_7584

In my craft stash, I had kept a pile of old Christmas cards (this goes against my new clutter-free lifestyle, but my craft corner is exempt).  To make these ornaments, I cut squares and rectangles out of the cards, used a needle to punch small holes all around the edges, and then stitched them together with embroidery floss.  Each one took me about an hour to make, and they are a thoroughly enjoyable project. 

Overall, we’re planning to skip Christmas this year.  Our son is only 18 months old, and gets just as much pleasure out of a drawer full of wooden spoons as he would from a tree piled with presents.  So we plan to skip the tree and all the craziness this year.  But the ornaments for my nieces is a tradition that I enjoy, it’s stress-free, fun, and in this case, turns old Christmas cards into something new and pretty. 

Filed Under: family, gifts, hobbies 14 Comments

Comments

  1. Saph @ frugal wife blog says

    November 10, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    That is so neat!! I’ll have to try that if I can find some cards. :)

    Reply
  2. mc says

    November 10, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    Great idea. That would also look cool with playing cards from an incomplete deck

    Reply
  3. Kelly says

    November 10, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    I might have to steal that idea! I have tons of old cards saved. I had originally seen the idea to turn them into cute bookmarks. I have also recycled them into cards. But this sounds like a great idea for a gift to send to my and my husband’s grandmas!

    Reply
  4. Alissa says

    November 11, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    What a great idea! And good for you for skipping Christmas… that’s something I would love to do but I’m not sure I’m brave enough. :) At the very least we’re going to have a very scaled-down one. I read this online somewhere and thought it was great. Each person gets 4 gifts: Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. Nice and simple. :)

    Alissa

    Reply
  5. Kelly says

    November 11, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    Thanks for the reminder Alissa! I couldn’t remember how it went…couldn’t remember the wear part! I think this is perfect and how I am going to shop for my daughter and any future kids…and probably my husband too!

    Reply
  6. Notes From The Frugal Trenches says

    November 11, 2009 at 1:06 pm

    Those look fabulous!

    Reply
  7. julie says

    November 11, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    love those ornaments–might have to try a few…………

    Reply
  8. gorillabuns says

    November 14, 2009 at 9:48 pm

    i do have to say, this year we ARE skipping our traditional Christmas just due to our circumstances.

    i so love your idea. i must use this idea to get rid of my hording tendencies!

    Reply
  9. Kelly says

    November 18, 2009 at 11:20 pm

    These are absolutely adorable. What a great way to recycle Christmas cards.

    Reply
  10. Kaimana Pine says

    December 27, 2009 at 9:59 pm

    Very cool! It definitely should be tradition make our holidays a sustainable one. Your effort is very much in line with Kokua Hawaii Foundation and Kanu Hawaii’s campaign to Simplify the Holidays. It is said we produce 25% more trash during the holidays than any other time of the year. http://bit.ly/STHkanu09

    Reply
  11. Wren C says

    December 29, 2009 at 9:55 am

    Cute idea—a more lasting way to decorate with Christmas cards than just stringing them up on a line with clothespins, which is what I usually do. This year I cut up old saved cards to use for gift tags. More ideas for reusing, recycling X-mas cards and other items for gifts and decorations here: http://trueadventuresinmoneyhacking.blogspot.com/2009/12/give-homemade-wrap-homemade-how-to.html

    Reply
  12. Judy Ransom says

    January 6, 2010 at 1:07 pm

    How adorable! I found another way to recycle Christmas cards – Shimmering Christmas Card Ornaments – http://judyransom.com

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Great eBooks:

Recent Comments

  • Chris on Still Here, Still Frugal!
  • Cassie on Still Here, Still Frugal!
  • James High on $20 Window Well Makeover
  • Kay on Still Here, Still Frugal!
  • BigMama on Still Here, Still Frugal!
Shop for Fashion Dresses on DHgate

Organifi coupon

Recent Posts

  • Still Here, Still Frugal!
  • Goodbye, mortgage!
  • Achieving our goals, thanks to long-term frugality
  • Still here!
  • An update from our frugal corner of the world

Blogroll

  • Brave New Life
  • Budgets Are Sexy
  • Early Retirement Extreme
  • Green Baby Guide
  • Kristen’s Raw
  • Mr. Money Mustache
  • Nature Moms Blog
  • No Impact Man
  • Penniless Parenting
  • Personal Budgeting
  • Pleasantly Poor
  • Sense To Save
  • Simple Mom
  • Stop Buying Crap
  • Surveybag
  • The Good Human
  • The Thrifty Chicks
  • Tight Fisted Miser
  • Ultimate Money Blog


  • See Store Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Amazon Coupons
    • Apple Coupons
    • Best Buy Coupons
    • Buy.com Coupons
    • Dell Coupons
    • HP Coupons
    • Newegg Coupons
    • Office Depot Coupons
    • Staples Coupons
    • TigerDirect Coupons
  • See Category Deals
    • All Deals
    • Laptop Deals
    • Netbook Deals
    • Cell Phone Deals
    • TV Deals
    • GPS Deals
    • Camera Deals
    • iPod Deals
    • Tablet Deals
    • eReader Deals
    • iPhone Deals
15db082c30119ed7e7f5415c3f279e86-332