Handmade Upcycled Greeting Cards

21st May 202621st May 2026 EsselleCraftsLeave a comment

Welcome to another fabulous upcycling project! ♻️ This time, I’ll be showing you how I turn used wall calendars into these stunning greeting cards!

Three handmade nature greeting cards made from upcycled wall calendar images.

Some of these cards are currently available in my NEW Etsy shop and come complete with a recycled brown Kraft envelope.

A handmade butterflies and bees greeting card made from upcycled wall calendar images.

To make one of these cards, you will need:

* used wall calendar
* square greeting card blank measuring approximately 15cm x 15cm / 6″ x 6″
* square metal die measuring approximately 4cm x 4cm / 1.5″ x 1.5″
* die cutting machine
* sticky note
* pencil
* ruler
* eraser
* craft glue
* brayer

If you are not using a metal die, you can make a simple template by cutting a 4cm / 1.5″ square of card.

Watch my video tutorial showing how to make the greeting cards, and be sure to follow the tips below.

TIP 1 : Cut around the photos on the back of the calendar carefully, making sure that you leave a small border.

TIP 2 : Use a sticky note to hold the metal die in place. This is so that the glossy surface of the photos doesn’t pick up any scratches from the cutting plates.

TIP 3 : Arrange the photos in a 3 x 3 formation so that they look balanced. I like to put similar colours on opposite sides and, if there are animals, I like to face them inwards towards the centre.

TIP 4 : Lightly draw two diagonal lines with a pencil from corner to corner to find the centre of the card. After gluing the first photo in place, any visible lines can then be rubbed out.

TIP 5: Leave a gap of approximately 0.5cm / 0.2″ between each square.

Very often, the front and back covers of a wall calendar are printed on glossy card, which gives the greeting cards a lovely, shiny, professional finish!

Don’t forget to check out my NEW Etsy shop for these cards and other upcycled gifts!

How to make upcycled greeting cards from used wall calendars

Happy upcycling! ♻️
Suzanne

Upcycled Greeting Cards: Winter Tree Box Card

7th Dec 202418th Feb 2025 EsselleCraftsLeave a comment

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!

Upcycled Winter Tree Box Card by Esselle Crafts

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

3D Papercraft Projects · Christmas Papercraft · Upcycling Projects

Upcycled Greeting Cards: 3D Box Card Idea

11th Nov 202418th Feb 2025 EsselleCraftsLeave a comment

I love upcycling. I love being able to turn something that would otherwise be thrown away into something else and giving it a whole new lease of life. Take this adorable owl pop-up box card for example!

Upcycled Owl Greeting Card, 3D Pop-Up Box Card

I created the card from used greeting cards, gift tags and other repurposed materials. This is the front of the original greeting card, and as soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what I needed to do!

On the original card, the owl in the top right corner was already cut out and raised up on dimensional foam. I carefully removed the owl from the card with the foam still in tact, then carefully cut around the other five owls.

I then used red-liner tape on the back of those five owls to attach them to strips of repurposed acetate (food packaging).

For the box card, the main structure was originally an old book cover and the decorative panels were scraps from another project.

After carefully arranging the position of the owls, I attached them securely to the box card using red-liner tape. I then positioned the owl with the foam right at the back so that he’s looking down over the other owls.

I then cut out four shiny gold stars from a used gift tag and attached two of them to thinner strips of repurposed acetate. I placed one on each side, then glued another one to the back panel using several layers of scrap card to raise it up.

I just love how the owls seem to be looking at each other! They are such characters!

I glued a white panel to the back of the box card and left it blank so that it can be used for a handwritten message.

I then stamped a ‘hello’ sentiment onto a scrap of white card, cut it out in the shape of a cloud and attached it to the front panel using small scraps of card to create dimension. I also added the other gold star and a sparkly gold heart from another used greeting card to complete the design.

Here is the box card from the side, showing that it will fold flat for easy posting.

What do you think? It certainly has a truly unique, handmade quality about it, making it a beautiful one of a kind card!

Happy crafting!
Suzanne 🦉