What to do with greeting cards after the read?

It depends on who sent it and what it was for.
A Christmas card sent from people I don’t really know that well gets hung up on the pantry and then thrown away. Special cards from my family or a loved one is set out for about a week then kept in a drawer with all the other special ones. I do look through them a couple times a year.

Why do you ask? I save the ones that have a nice or funny letter written on them. It doesn’t seem like a question one would need to ask the entire fluther community. Do you have a bunch saved up contemplating their destiny?

I used to keep every card I was sent except for Christmas cards, every birthday, thank you, anniversary, congratulations – every single one. I even had every single card the ex and I were given when we got married. Then Gimmedat and I cleaned out our grandparent’s storage unit. We found literally hundreds of greeting cards they had saved over the years. Hundreds. They had all been read, saved, and hidden away, always there, never to be looked at again. We took every single one of those cards and tossed it in a giant dumpster. That day I went home and tossed all of mine in a somewhat smaller dumpster. I realized that sentimentality isn’t about holding on to things, it’s about holding on to love.

I guess I am asking because I think that I do all three, really….like many of you have mentioned. I guess I always feel a bit guilty about it!

I have a little wooden mailbox that I bought at a craft store, painted it pink and green, and I store old greeting cards in there. I like to go back and look at them when I’m bored/lonely… Keep in mind I don’t keep every one, just my favorites. :)

I feel guilty too. It’s hard to throw away the ones from your grandmother and the like. Save them if you have the room. You can always throw them away 40 years from now or leave them in your will.

@steve6 My grandmother is 98 and still sends me birthday cards. I have saved all of hers as I realize this is all I will have of her at some point.

Hang them up, keep them, stash them, store them, what ever

I am so anti-card. I think they are a waste of money and trees. I usually read it and then recycle it. However, I have every card and letter and small little note my wife has ever written me. Go figure.

This might sound obsessive-compulsive and crazy, but this is what I did. I have no use for cards, really, but I do appreciate that the people who sent them to me won’t be around forever. So if they wrote a personal message or even a “love, grandma” inside, I cut that part out and taped it in a journal I’ve kept on-and-off for years. Then, I recycle the rest of the card. (If the sender is not someone who matters much to me, I don’t bother.)

It takes up much less space, retains the sentiment, and now I still have a “love, grandma” even though she died some years ago.

@SuperMouse: That was such a nice discovery. I’m tearing up over here.

I’m such a big sap

@SuperMouse – very nice!

I hold onto a few, I really don’t have a lot. I framed a few and they are in the bathroom – I get compliments on them…people are surprised when I tell them what they are. I’m picky about what I save – only because it gets very overwhelming.

Here are some creative ways to reuse them.

Reusing Greeting Cards

Or you can send them HERE

I display mine for a while, then save them in a memories box (shoebox). They’re nice to look back on later.

Keep them to check them back after years. Good way to take you back into time.

I always display them in some way for about a week (longer at Christmas time), and then most of them get trashed. Does anyone else feel guilty throwing away ‘picture’ Christmas cards from people you’re not terribly close to? I save only the ones that really mean something to me, mostly from my husband. They are stashed in a desk drawer.