Merry Christmas everyone! The most-wonderful time of the year is finally here and I have a fun recycling project to share with you this morning! Now before you start throwing away all your gift wrap, bags and boxes that you have left over from your presents, take look at the video in this post. In it, I share how you can use those beautiful wrappings to make cute thank you cards. This is also a two-for-one kind of project, because you not only get to save and recycle, but also make up thank you’s to send to those that gave you gifts for Christmas! How awesome is that?

Do you have leftover gift bags with cute images or scene on them? Think about trimming them down with a rectangle die like the Memory Box Wrapped Stitch die set; instantly you have an awesome card! This adorable moose looks so sweet with his Google eyes and White Gel Pen accents. Hero Arts’ Thank You Messages stamp set had two perfect greetings that I placed onto the card also.

If you are feeling a bit more adventurous, another way you can use elements from gift bags is to fussy cut them out! This cozy polar bear was also on a bag and I popped him onto a kraft card base with some frosty-flurries from Simon’s Sensational Snowflakes die set! Again that Hero Arts Thank You Messages stamp set came in handy, as the banner greeting fit perfectly between his two paws!

If you don’t have any gift bags, what about some patterned gift boxes? There are so many beautiful patterns on these boxes, which range in sizes from super small to REALLY big! Even the larger patterns can be incorporated onto cards; this poinsettia pattern was from an 8″x11″ box lid. There was enough space for me to selectively trim the pattern out about three times; depending on how big your gift box is, you’ll get quite a few cards out of even just one!

Because the gift box did a lot of the work by giving me a jumping-off point for my card design, finishing it all up was a breeze! The Wonky Hearts die set framed up the gorgeous Thank You Script greeting die from Pretty Pink Posh perfectly.  The sentiment is cut from kraft cardstock three times, with a layer of Emerald Green Mirror Cardstock on top for a bit of shine. If you want to embellish your background a bit, sequins are always a great option! On mine, I used some Pretty Pink Posh Mermaid sequins.

Now I am sure most of you have leftover wrapping paper laying around! Wrapping paper can be used in many different ways to make cards and I’ve got two ideas for you using it! The first idea is to use it behind a die cut window. I had some scraps of a iridescent foil snowflake paper leftover from wrapping my gifts and it looked stunning behind the Felicity Snowflake die from Simon! I adore how this particular paper catches the light and changes color. If you have any foiled wrapping paper under your tree, make sure you save it!

I created two versions of this card with slightly different color schemes… on each card I incorporated foiled greetings (using the Echo Park Thanks die, plus Pink Chiffon and Electric Purple Mirror Cardstocks), plus a coordinating banner sentiment. The awesome “to my crafty friend” greeting is from a new favorite stamp set of mine by Birch Press called, Just Because. You’ll also notice a few gems on the points of each snowflake, which are part of the Bridal mix by Lucy’s Cards.

Another fun way to incorporate wrapping paper into your cards is to die cut it! In the video I share the easiest way to prep the wrapping for die cutting, so make sure you watch it below to see! I cut the same foiled wrapping paper with the Sensational Snowflakes die set from Simon and paired them with a snowman from another gift bag. I used Hero Arts’ Thank You Messages stamp set to create the perfect greeting, plus a few Nuvo Glitter Drop accents to make things a bit more sparkly!

I hope all of these ideas have inspired you to recycle a bit of that beautiful wrapping paper to make some fun and festive thank you cards! Thanks so much for visiting with me today; I’ll see you next week (or should I say, next year??) for a new Studio Monday video! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

WATCH THE VIDEO

SUPPLIES

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