Receiving Birthday Cards – It’s the Thought that Counts

Remember when you were a kid and received happy birthday cards from your grandparents or aunts and uncles? What was the first thing you did when you took the greeting cards out of the envelopes? You looked to see if there was any money in them! Don’t deny it. Even if you weren’t so obvious as to shake the birthday cards upside down to see the cash fall to the floor, you surely peaked inside, ever so slyly. Once you saw the money, you thanked them and went on to open the next envelope without even reading the card; You may even have received a little reprimand from your embarrassed parents.

Now as an adult, I read every word in all of my birthday cards, even if they don’t contain cash! It means so much to know that a relative, friend, or coworker took the time to choose a card and send it to me. The gesture lets me know that I’m in the thoughts of my friends and family, especially if they can’t be with me to celebrate the occasion. As I go through all of my birthday cards, I sincerely appreciate the sentiments wishing me a fun day and success in the year ahead. Maybe money can buy some happiness, but so can sincere and thoughtful greeting cards!

Crafting Greeting Cards into Placemats

What can you do with old greeting cards? I bet you are thinking: “make Christmas ornaments!” That’s fine for Christmas cards but what about those all purpose cards and birthday cards received throughout the year? And what can you do with that pile of your children’s birthday cards that are collecting dust in your drawer? It would be such a shame to throw away greeting cards after receiving and reading them, so let their beautiful designs and colors inspire you to use them in creative ways.

One thing that you can do with your children is collect all the birthday cards they receive and make placemats. This would make a great gift for any family member and this activity will spark your children’s creativity, making them use their noggins. It is also a great geometry lesson!

You will need old birthday cards (or really any kind of all purpose cards), scissors (child-safe please!), construction paper, glue, and either a laminator plus laminating paper or clear contact paper.

First, help your children cut out different shapes from the greeting cards. Then have them lay out the shapes on the construction paper so they can measure their picture before gluing (I warned you this would use math!). Once they have decided on the picture they want, glue the different shapes onto the construction paper. If there is room, they can write a message to the person to whom they are giving the placemat or they can just embellish their picture. Finally, either run the placemat through a laminating machine (most office supply stores will laminate for you), or use clear contact paper to cover the placemat so it can be wiped clean.

And there you have it….a great gift for anyone in your child’s life, created by reusing personal birthday cards and all purpose cards! Come to think of it, using old Christmas cards would also make your holiday table look great too!