Recycling Old Christmas Cards

What should I do with old Christmas cards? That question has kept me awake at night. I can not just toss them into the trash and I do not always make it to the stores that recycle them on time. Yet, I could not live with the guilt I felt throwing them away considering the time and amount of money that is involved in sending them.

Then one day, many years ago, I received a gift from a sweet little lady at our church. It had the cutest gift tag attached and I asked her where she found the tag. Come to find out, they were made from old Christmas cards. She is in heaven now, but would be pleased to know her idea is being passed along.

But first things first. With the cards I receive I place them into a basket and set the basket near our kitchen table. When we bless our food, we also pull out a card and pray a blessing upon the sender of the card. We might go through the stack two or three times before I decide to do the next step.

Sometime in January or February when the kids are bored with their Christmas gifts and begin to whine, "I'm bored," I place the Christmas cards before them with scissors and say, "Have a ball!" If you have decorative edge scissors or pinking shears, it makes it even more fun. I then instruct them to cut out pictures from the front of the cards. When they are through cutting, you will have a stack that looks similar to this.

After they are cut, the rest becomes trash and I can sleep at night knowing I threw out trash.

You can use them at this point for tags but if they are embossed it makes the back rough. I use scraps of card stock paper (construction paper is fine too) to fix the problem. Just lay the cut out on top of the paper and then cut around the edges leaving a border. You can stick the card onto the paper by using double sided tape or a glue stick.

Next, spend 30 mintues searching for your hole punchers that end up being in the bottom of your child's underwear drawer. Stand and wonder why for a couple of minutes until it troubles your mind, then get back on task.

Punch a hole in the top, corner, or side of the tag. Take some string, ribbon, twine, or even colored trash bag twists and use them as your attachment thingy. Simply write on the back the "To" and "From" and you have a cute gift tag.

Also, if you are lacking decorations for your tree and want to save money, these also make cute ornaments. The little lady who taught me this also made extras, placed about 25 in a ziplock bag and sold them in crafts shows, yard sales, etc. for .50 cents per bag, or just gave a bag as a gift when company stopped by for a visit.

Hint: This idea can also apply to old birthday, valentine, get well, etc. cards. You would then have gift tags for different occasion gifts.

This is a very kid friendly project and can not be made wrong. It teaches children several lessons, including but not limited to, thinking of others, recycling, creativity, over-coming boredom, and working with their hands in delight.

It works for me! Find more Works for Me Wednesday ideas at Rock In My Dryer.

Thanks for reading, Rosie

PS: If you are looking for the apron giveaway winner you can go here.

Winner For Apron Giveaway!

I have a winner folks for my first blog giveaway!

First, let me review how I selected the winner. Since I do not have a randomizer account I had to do this the old fashioned way.

Everyone who entered was required to e-mail me. After I closed the comments for the giveaway, I printed a list of those who entered from my e-mail account. I then gave everyone a number from 1-21.

Then I wrote with my dainty fingers the numbers 1-21 onto a sheet of paper, cut them into squares, folded them, and placed them into a cute bowl.

Next, I let my dog Oscar choose a paper and spent the next ten minutes chasing him around the room. He thought "Get That Darn Number" was a fun game. I ended up bribing him with liver paste to get the number from his slobbering lips.

Here is the number Oscar chose.


This number belongs to.......drumroll please!!!

:)

:)

:)

:)

:)

:)

Jesse and April Brown!

Congratulations! Sure hope you enjoy the apron. Please e-mail me at RosieReads@gmail.com to confirm and send me your mailing address within the next two days.

If for some reason I do not hear from the winner, I will play "Get That Darn Number" again with Oscar.

I plan, after the New Year, to do more giveaways. So check back often.

Thanks for reading, Rosie.

My Halls Are Decked!

What a busy weekend I have had. My Saturday was spent decking the halls without boughs of holly, as I have none; but the lovely two-inch snowfall we received while decorating Saturday did make the occasion more festive and Christmasy.

My Sunday afternoon was spent sewing. I usually nap, but I am making an amplifier cover as a Christmas gift for my Much Older Brother. Not only am I making a complicated three-dimensional cover with piping trim (that would have been way to easy and much less time consuming), I am hand embroidering a decal onto the front! I have been covered in metallic gold thread all afternoon. I love it and am totally in my element with a needle and thread in my hand.

I realize I have not posted anything lately about recently read books. That is because I have not recently read anything. Actually, I did finish The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. It was a charmingly good read (made me want to learn to knit) and all about women friendships. Women need women friendships. MDH is my very best friend ever, but sometimes I need to complain to another woman about PMS. Men just do not understand this subject.

Then there is The Death of the Grown-Up: How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization by Diana West. Doesn't that sound all warm and fuzzy? I told you I wasn't all fluff. The topic is weighty, but if you want to understand why today's culture is what it is, you might find the answer in this book. It is probably not what you think. Verrrrrry interesting (said with a German accent).

If you have not entered my apron giveaway contest, you still have a couple more days. I will close entries Tuesday evening, December 9, at 8:00 p.m. EST. The winner will be announced Wednesday morning, December 10. Thanks to all who have entered so far and for all the sweet comments. You make me blush.

My dad got through another round of chemo treatments last week without any problems. He continues to be abundantly blessed and without some of the really nasty side effects chemo can cause. Of course he feels weak and tired, but otherwise, he is doing great. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers for him and my mother. I know it because of your prayers, they are doing so well. We feel the prayers everyday and are thankful for your covering him daily with blessings so numerous. Please continue to remember them.

Thanks for reading, Rosie.

PS: Someone mentioned today that my site was hard to read with the black on red coloring. Therefore, I am making the font coloring lighter. Please let me know if this is better or worse.

Easy Recipe and Give Away!

Homemade Pimento Cheese Spread

1 lb. grated extra sharp cheddar cheese, let set until room temperature
1 lb. cubed Velveeta cheese, let set until room temperature
2 large jars of pimentos (do not drain off juice)
2 Tablespoons of chopped sweet pickles
2 Tablespoons of juice from sweet pickles
1/3 c. mayonnaise or more

After cheese has warmed to room temperature, place all ingredients in large bowl. Use mixer to blend ingredients. Increase or decrease juice and mayo as needed to make the pimento cheese easy to spread. You can use all cheddar cheese if you want to, but I use the Velveeta because it spreads easily. This makes a large amount so if you do not need 2 lbs. of pimento cheese, cut the recipe in half. Best pimento cheese on the planet, I promise. Let it set overnight to blend and it is sooooooo yummy.

This is great to keep on hand through the holidays to make quick horsd'oeuvres for unexpected drop in guests. Spread on celery, Ritz, Triscuits or make easy finger sandwiches to serve for refreshment after the church Christmas play.

This recipe works for me and I bet it will for you also! Check out more Works for Me Wednesday ideas at Rocks in My Dryer.

To serve your guests or family you could wear this cute hostess apron. This apron was completely handmade by me only a few days ago. It is crisp, fresh and feminine. It is reversible and can be tied in front or back as shown in the pictures. Keep it to enjoy yourself, give it as a gift this Christmas season or put it in your daughter's "hope chest" for future use. It would make a lovely gift for a busy mom, a new bride, or a grandmother.

Let me just say right here that I apologize for the skinny, boyish, hairy armed model, he did not enjoy this one bit. :)

If you would like to enter this giveaway, please leave me a comment and then e-mail me at RosieReads@gmail.com saying "please enter me into your giveaway" (this step is important as it gives me a way to get back in contact with you if you are the winner). You can only enter once. Your e-mail will be kept totally private and not given/sold to anyone for any reason. On Tuesday, December 9th, I will randomly draw a name and then announce the winner on Wednesday, December 10th. There are no strings attached (pun intended), you will not have to pay shipping cost, taxes or anything. I'll even package it pretty and include care instructions. This is just my way of saying Merry Christmas and...

Thanks for reading, Rosie.

GIVEAWAY OVER!

Day #30 - I Did It!

Today I met my challenge of the National Blog Posting Month's '08 30 Posts in 30 Days! I am pleased! What a sense of accomplishment. Is the world a better place because I of my effort? Probably not. Am I a better person? Maybe just a bit. This challenge did give me a goal to work toward and because I am a daily goal setter; I feel pretty good. It also taught Big I and Big C that no matter how old you get, you can still set goals to accomplish. Little ones or big ones, it doesn't matter as long as you are striving to accomplish something. I believe that once you quit trying, you dry up.

Anyway, thank you for all the support with your comments and cheers. It has been fun. To show my appreciation, I will be having a give-away tomorrow, so check back Wednesday for more info.

Thanks for reading, Rosie.

Day #29 - My Personal Attempt at Poetry

First Snow by Rosie
Blustery,
Blinding,
Snow
Falling rapidly to the ground
Only to be found
On warm, damp ground
Quickly melting to feed
The Earth's thirsty need
Watering the seed
That will bring spring.