What a Great Idea!! Chrismtas Card Organization.

What do you do with the Christmas cards you receive each year?  I keep mine, and they end up in a box and get all jumbled up and mixed up with other years.  I like to keep them because I love to see the photos of family and friends and how the kids grow each year, and to see the handmade cards from my Stamping and arty friends and to help me remember people and their warm wishes throughout the years.   Well, as I was visiting a blog recently I saw this great idea!  Ashley Marostica is a Stampin' Up! blogger and demonstrator who does a lot scrapbooking and I like to check out her page ideas.  On this day she was showing what she does with her Christmas cards and I just had to copy her idea!!  








I grouped the cards by size and type to keep the look neater.  

Handmade art and cards on the top.

Some photo cards.

larger cards in the back.  And you can still open them and read them. 

I added the year on the front.  The numbers are from a Project Life by Stampin' Up! stamp set called Hello Baby.  The Project Life stamps are great for memory keeping, there are lots of month stamps and numbers for dates and ages.  
Check out all the Project Life by Stampin' Up! stamps here.

Here is how I put it together.  I started with some cardboard that I had saved from some other product wrap, like the hard cardboard that comes with some of the more fragile papers like the metallic foil paper, or the cardboard that is in some of the My Paper Pumpkin kits.  I always keep some of this around until I feel that my hoard is getting a bit big and then I thin it out.   I cut the heavy board in to 8 by 6.  You can look at your Christmas cards and decide what size works best for you. 

Next I cut some Designer Series paper one inch bigger, so in my case 9 by 7 inches.  I then clipped off the corners. 












Next I wrapped the paper around the board. I used a really strong adhesive so that it would hold up to the pressure, Fast Fuse.  I also added a nice liner for a cleaner look. 

Next I decided where to put the rings.  You can decide if you want two or three, depending on what size you make your book.  I added three rings, spaced at 2, 4 and 6 inches. 

I used rings I had from a previous project.  These are 1 inch and next time I buy some I will look for slightly bigger, maybe 1 1/2 as my book got pretty full and tight. 
To make the holes you will need a very sturdy hole punch.  I used a hole punch called a "Crop-a-Dial" that Stampin' Up! used to sell.  It was made by We Are Memory Makers and is available at some craft stores or online.  It will punch through the heavy card board and several cards all at once.  

 



The Christmas products used on the front were from the retired Holiday catalog, but these products are still available.  They are on the last pages of the Occasions catalog as "returning Favorites".


 

 












 Here is the one I made for 2014.  The papers are retired from 2 Holiday catalogs ago.  Check the clearance rack for great prices on retired products! 


I am going to make several more of these for other years using some of my left over holiday products.  This was a fun project!  Thanks Ashley! 

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