DIY-How to Recycle Old Greeting & Wedding Cards

DIY-How to Recycle Old Greeting & Wedding Cards

‘This post is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter’. When we talk of ways to recycle old greetings and wedding cards, we should first know why we have to recycle paper. Paper is an important resource that is easily and cheaply re-used. Most materials that are not recycled cost many times more to dispose of than to recycle them, both money-wise and in environmental harm wise. The environment is what helps our ecosystem grow and flourish. If we do not protect our environment we’re putting the lives of humans, animals, plants and crops in danger. Sharing how to make DIY-How to Recycle Old Greeting & Wedding Cards.

Trees and Environment

The trees that paper comes from are a key resource; and they absorb carbon dioxide, which we exhale into the atmosphere.  If there are no trees this carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere causative to global warming and climate change.  It is in our hands to keep as many trees as possible. Each one of us needs to live a sustainable life and help to preserve the environment.

Recycling Paper

It is also true that recycling paper uses much less energy than making new paper. Hence, recycling paper conserves natural resources, saves lots of energy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and also keeps landfill space free for other types of garbage that can’t be recycled.

I learned the art of folding paper at the age of 5; my favourite was making paper boats and floating them in the rainwater puddles in front of my house. The rivulets at that time seemed like the mighty Amazon River! We, my cousins and I, would tear the paper from old used notebooks and make lots of paper boats. That was our way of reusing paper. I also liked to make a purse, dunce caps and aeroplanes from paper.

Homemade glue

In school when we had our annual day or any other function, we were taught to make our own colourful streamers from sheets of coloured paper. At that time, we didn’t even have a fevicol tube or glue stick to stick the papers. We made glue from rice paste…boil rice or rice flour in water till it becomes a paste and the starch therein becomes transparent and sticks like any glue.

The feelings of accomplishment and of making something ourselves made us feel very proud. I rarely waste paper; printed paper on one side is used as a jotting pad which I make by stapling folded sheets of paper. We used to preserve empty pages from old school notebooks to make rough notebooks.

Photo Frame

My grand nephew (all of ten years) gifted me a beautiful sketch of Gurunanak Devji and I wanted to hang it in my room so that I could see it all the time. Actually, I contemplated going to the frame house and getting it framed, but then it would look very professional and impersonal. I tend to hoard the wedding cards that I get as I hate throwing away the wonderful invitations and wasting the fine paper. It’s a sizeable collection. I took them out and set about making a photo frame from a hard cardboard card.

All I needed was old wedding cards, a pair of scissors, glue stick, small piece of string, a pencil and scale for measurements. I chose a chocolate brown and dull gold for the frame and pasted it on all four sides with gum. The header I gave a broad border and embellished it with an Ek Onkar sticker cut out from another card. On the reverse side, I put two small bits of cardboard with a small string in it to be hung easily on a nail. All this did not take much time and it was so easy to make and I am proud of my accomplishment and I also gave a fitting display to Sahej’s art! Now it proudly hangs right opposite my bed and it’s the first thing I view every morning.

Envelopes, Gift Tags and Bookmarks made from Recycled Wedding Cards

This gave me a much-needed impetus and I sat with all the cards spread in front of me, contemplating what all I could do with them. I decided to make gift cash envelopes, gift tags and bookmarks. I chose those cards that were good enough and looked fancy. After folding them into envelopes, I embellished them with flowers, stones, strings, etc. You would just need, a scale, pencil, glue, old cards, ribbons and other baubles to decorate them.

DIY-How to Recycle Old Greeting & Wedding Cards

I made them in two ways-square and rectangle some with rounded edges. Envelope-folding is easy. Just take a rectangular or square card and fold it into 3 with the edges folded inside.

Part A & B should be the same size while C is smaller.

Then fold 1 cm of the margin on both sides.

Cut out the margins A & C. Leave B as it is.

Fold A over B. Now fold B over onto A from both sides and stick all sides with a glue stick. Fold part Cover the folded part A. Stick a small piece of the double tape to close the envelope. I like to make Rakhis too at home, but I found this online Rakhi store this year. They have an amazing collection.

Cash Envelopes

Envelopes and Bookmarks

I made bookmarks by cutting long strips and embellishing them with quotes, flowers and ribbons.

Gift Tags

Next, you can make small tags for your gifts, place cards or coasters or create your own collage art! Gift tags were a hit and I gifted them first, Later I got many orders for more.

Let us all do our bit. As humans living in this world, it is our moral obligation to make sure that it is protected. This is the only place we have to live and we should want to treat it with caution and respect.