Things to Make With Used Greeting Cards

• Mailboxes across the United States were stuffed with approximately 7.4 billion greeting cards in 2009, breaking down to a sales of 235 cards per second, according to the Power Home Biz web site. After the thrill of getting, opening and reading the card, it may sit on the mantle for a while. You don't want to toss out the personal sentiment, but it starts collecting dust. Recycle and re-purpose those cards into other uses and keep their occasion with you year-round.

Keeping the Place

• A used greeting card is an ideal and quick base for a bookmark (or a couple, depending on the size of the card). Most greeting cards are made from thick, sturdy cardboard, perfect for slipping between the pages of a book without breaking its spine, but standing up to being tossed in a bag or piled into a suitcase. Transform a greeting card into a bookmark with supplies from around the house, such as a scissors, ruler or box cutter. Cut cards to feature as much of the design from the front as possible or create something abstract by simply slicing through the front. If the backside of the bookmark has remnants of the person's card greeting, paint over it with correctional fluid or a black marker.

Get in the Picture

• Go from last year's holiday card to this year's tabletop decoration by re-purposing a greeting into a picture frame. Choose the largest greeting cards for this project. Place a photograph, sketch or drawing in the middle of the card front, with the card front picture side down. Trace around the photo. Pierce the middle of the photo and cut outward, cutting a square or rectangle shape slightly smaller than the photo itself. When the frame is cut, tape the photo to the backside of the card front and the front serves as a decorative border. Options include framing last year's family holiday picture inside received holiday cards or using a collection of birthday cards as decorations for this year's party.

Paper People

• It's hard to play with a greeting card, so turn that greeting card into a paper doll. Create paper dolls from any theme greeting card, from holidays to congratulations to birthdays. Double up on your dolls by cutting through both the front and back at the same time. Most paper dolls are simple stick-figure like creations, very little skill or experience is required. Assembly is as quick as tracing the doll shapes and cutting them out. Add a little extra personality to the dolls with some markers for facial features and hair, then go "greet" your new card family.