As you know, I’ve been saving used Christmas cards for quite a few years now, and a lot of the older ones have elements on them that can’t be recycled, like glitter. So here’s another fun idea for upcycling some used Christmas cards – a winter tree box card!
All of the elements, including the main box card itself, were made from upcycled Christmas cards. I used my Cricut Explore to cut the box card out, together with a simple tree template, then cut the remaining pieces out by hand.
The four decorative panels came from the front of a large Christmas card. There were lots of embellishments stuck to it with foam pads, so I tried to save as much of the lovely little tree pattern as I could.
The larger trees started life as a picture of a red squirrel! Hard to believe, I know, but here is the card as I was cutting them out using the tree template.
The reddish-brown colours are so rich and earthy, and the little sprinkling of snow makes them perfect for this winter card.
With the scraps of card that I had leftover, I cut some little tree shapes out using a craft punch, then glued them around the base of the box card.
I glued a white panel to the back of the box card, and left it blank, so that it could be used for a handwritten message.
Here is a view of the back, where you can see some of the handwriting from the original Christmas card. I chose to leave it like this to show that it is upcycled and totally unique!
I took the gold ‘best wishes’ lettering from another Christmas card, which I first had to soak in warm water to remove it. Then I punched a scalloped oval out of another card, inked around the edges with vintage brown ink and glued the gold lettering on.
I am really pleased with how this box card has turned out; 100% upcycled and 100% unique! Will you try something like this?
Happy crafting!
Suzanne
Esselle Crafts 