Crafty Upcycling: Making New Yule Cards From Old Ones

I've always tried to find new uses for the lovely pictures on greeting cards I've been sent. I've used them in decoupage and scrapbook projects, I've upcycled them into name tags to put on the front of gifts, I've even turned some into a divination set. This year I decided to try making new Yule cards by combining images from old ones in original ways.

You can see a photo of some of the ones I made. I think I'm safe in showing them on my blog now, as I posted them out to my friends last week and hopefully they will have arrived!

The way I made them was to buy card blanks with envelopes from a craft shop and then cut out pictures from last year's cards and recombine them. You can do this by sketching shapes and using a craft knife to neatly cut them out, but I'll admit my freehand cutting skill isn't as good as I'd like. 

I treated myself to a die cutting machine and a set of dies shaped like tree baubles. It was very easy to do. Once I'd cut out lots of different sized shapes, I arranged them on the cards and stuck them in place. 

I'll be making a lot of use of my die cutting machine in future and buying different shapes to upcycle more greeting cards and sparkly packaging from presents in different ways. Cards with glitter or shiny surfaces can't just be put in the recycling with ordinary paper, so finding other ways to reuse them is good for the environment, in my opinion.

Links to previous posts about upcycling projects
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/04/craft-twig-tree-with-upcycled-plastic.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/03/craft-upcycled-jam-jar-buttons-tealight.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/04/my-home-made-staff-from-beachcombed.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/05/craft-i-upcycled-my-sofa-into-drum-bag.html