This article is not about deportation.

I pretty much stink at recycling most of the time.  However, I do save and reuse two things regularly:  plastic shopping bags and Christmas cards.  This article is about the Christmas cards.

Every year my kids and I get out the old Christmas cards and make new ones.  This is a very easy way to recycle and do something crafty at the same time.

Here are the basics you will need…

• scissors
• glue sticks
• whatever paper you have on hand

You do not need a twelve pack of candy canes.  Those just happened to be sitting there.  We used patterned scrapbook paper for ours, but you could use cardstock or construction paper as well.  Some other things you can use, but aren’t really necessary are…

• decorative edge scissors
• craft punches
• ribbon
• glitter
• stickers

We go through the cards and cut out images and sentiments that strike our fancy and glue them to the insides of folded paper.  We further embellish them with punched images or ribbon or whatever.  It’s really, really hard to mess these up, and even your most craft-challenged child will be able to make something rather attractive and feel proud of their creation.

They turn out so nicely that you could proudly give them to your neighbors or co-workers or family.  This particular batch is going to the nursing home that the kids’ Sunday school classes visit once a month.

So, go forth and cut and paste, and the next time someone asks you if you recycle, you can answer YES!