Organization & Crafting Unite!

Over the years, I've received a lot of cards.  I never really knew what I'd do with them, but I did know that the majority of them had to be saved.  Either the card was adorable, or the note inside was special, or maybe I was just convinced that I'd have a Eureka! moment and know what to do.  Cards and small mementos were shoved into this cute box for years - going back to 2007!  I'm lucky I didn't get buried by my hoarding at some point.  

I sorted them into four piles: engagement/wedding shower/wedding cards; Christmas/New Year's cards; birthday cards; various holiday/thank you/sympathy cards.  I did my best to sort some of these in a timeline but not everything had a year or reference point.  There are certainly some cards out of order but I wasn't too concerned about that.  However, I have learned that for the future to appease my OCD tendencies, I'll put a date on the back of the card. 

Once the cards were (mostly) sorted, I pulled out all the supplies I wanted to use and craft bombed my big desk with the paraphernalia...

Rather than use the single hole punch and risk mismeasurement, I nabbed this old school beauty from work.  The supply guys laughed at me and I admit, this thing is an old, ugly antique but it worked perfectly.  It also saved me time in the process.  The only thing I purchased for this project were the binder rings - both 2.5 inch and 1.5 inch options - from AC Moore.  

Once I had the cards on the binder rings, I paused for a couple days to decide on embellishments.  Had to be simple but add a bit of fun.  The results ::

I included some of the stationary used including our save the date & envelopes from the wedding invitation and thank you cards.  

Of course the cover for the birthday cards just had to include some rhinestones.  And I wanted to share one of my favorite cards.  This was from one of my best friends and was for my birthday in 2007.  So true! 

If you hold onto cards like I do, you'll have to let me know if you try this simple project!