Monday, January 16, 2012

DIY Christmas Card Books

This Christmas my sister-in-law asked if I had any ideas on good ways to store/display/organize the many Christmas cards we receive each year. I didn't have any ideas at the time, but love me a good challenge so I started hunting for ideas! We wanted something cute, but that would be easy to do year after year. I googled and pinterested around and couldn't find much until my mom forwarded me a blog post one day with the great idea to make books for each year of christmas cards. I loved the idea & it seemed simple enough, so I created some covers and made my own version for my 3 years of cards... I'm in love!!



Once I tested things out and decided this was the way to go, I emailed my sister-in-law with the instructions and she began making her books.. Her house has lots of clean, pretty neutrals, so we decided to go that route for her covers and I think they turned out so cute! 



So many years of xmas cards with cute family pics to look at -- love it! 


As for instructions on making the books, it's really pretty simple.
1. Print your own 5x7 covers for each year on card stock or purchase them from me (see details & pricing at the bottom of this post!)
2. Stack your cover and cards as neatly as you can, turning vertical cards in the same direction.
3. Using 2 punchers of a 3 hole punch, make 2 holes in the top center of your cards.. I did 2 or 3 cards at a time, but I suppose you could do more if you have a fancy-schmancy hole punch. 
4. Use binder rings to hook your cards together (mine are the 1" size but you might need larger ones if you have more friends than me :) -- you can find the rings at office stores and I even saw them at kroger) 




**A good idea is to put your family christmas card as the first card after the cover for each year...


Once you're finished, you'll have lots of cute books to have out during the holiday season! There are many ways to display them. You could hang them on a wall...


Or display them in a cute basket...  whatever works best for you!


Hope this inspires many of you to start saving your christmas cards or if you're like me, to get them out of the dusty storage closet & into cute, organized books that can be displayed year after year! 

**As I said above, my christmas card book covers are available to purchase! 
Here are the details:
Choose between red & green or neutral. Fonts will be as shown in the photos of my sister-in-law's books (above). There are 9 fonts used that will repeat themselves throughout the years. Covers are printed on smooth white 100 lb cover stock. ***ALL PAST AND FUTURE YEARS ARE AVAILABLE!! I can go as far into the future as you'd like! :) Email me at eleanorboynton@gmail.com with the years and colors you would like and I will send you a paypal invoice to make your payment. 

Cover Pricing
1 to 5 covers - $3 each
6 to 15 covers - $2.50 each
16+ covers - $2 each
***US Shipping is $2 regardless of how many covers ordered

Please let me know if you have any questions! --Eleanor (Oh Louise!)

11 comments:

  1. such a cute idea, you should make birthday card covers too :)
    love ya!
    Becca

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  2. can I PLEASE give you 7 years of Christmas cards and pay you to do this for us??? Our current organization is by Ziploc. Yes, we are all about the baggie. This is such a fun idea!
    Let's meet at the coffee shop on Peavey to discuss.
    jenny b

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  3. I don't see the link to download the images. Did you change your mind about that?

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  4. I sent you an email a month ago and never heard back- still hoping you are providing these covers!

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  5. You've given me the good idea to make a Xmas mini album with old cards. If I make a separate cover & keep the fronts of all the lovely cards I'm sent & use the insides & blank backs for Xmas photos & journalling.

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  6. You've given me the good idea to make a Xmas mini album with old cards. If I make a separate cover & keep the fronts of all the lovely cards I'm sent & use the insides & blank backs for Xmas photos & journalling.

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  7. You are a Genius. What a neat idea. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Are you still making these for people?!!? I sent an email and would happily pay for ones i have and future ones!! Thanks! Rachel

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  9. I purchased 10 covers from you years ago and now need 2018-2028. How do I order again?

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