How to Make Non-traditional Ecology Friendly Holiday Greeting Cards

Do you ever get tired of looking through the department stores and on-line for unique greeting cards only to be disappointed in the selection? Are you bored sending family and friends greeting cards that have no heart in them? Do you enjoy eating different kinds of cereals for breakfast... and at other times of the day too? Are you creative, witty and ready to put your heart into your greeting cards?

An answer of "yes" to all of these questions means you are ripe for stepping up to the challenge and fun of making your own personal greeting cards and reusing cereal boxes which adds to the greenness of your soul and spirit and the health of the world. Wow, all these good things coming from making your own greeting cards! What a deal!

Getting Started

1. Decide what type of greeting cards you want to make. Choices include, but are not limited to: a.) folded cards with cereal picture on outside and a place for notes on inside, b.) post card type with front and back that go into an envelope to send, c.) post card type having the greeting on one side and a place for the address on the back side. Be sure to check the USPS for acceptable sizes to go through the mail. There are probably more ideas than these for cards, but these should be enough to start you thinking about what type of greeting card you want to make.

2. Buy envelopes. If you are going to put your cards in envelopes to mail, check out paper and hobby stores to see what sizes of envelopes you can buy. You can also get good deals on envelopes by shopping on-line. It is important to know the size of envelope you are going to use so you can be sure the cards you make will fit into an envelope.

3. Collect cereal box art. Since you already said you like to eat cereal it should be easy for you to start saving the boxes. Actually, you do not have to save the whole box. Cut out and save just the sections of the boxes you like such as the Rice Krispies Elves standing on the rim of a bowl of cereal or Tony the Tiger Growling, a bowl of Cheerios etc.

4. Collect or buy backings for your cards. Since you will be gluing your cereal box art to some kind of backing you will need to collect or buy some heavy paper. As you know, the back of the cereal box art will be a gray unattractive color. You can glue your cereal box art to a nice quality piece of card stock, a piece of matching scrapbook paper or a nice quality water color or art paper to be able to write your note on a pretty piece of paper.

5. Put your cards together. Now that you have your envelopes, card backing and cereal box art, you are ready to make your cards. Cut your paper backing to a size that will fit nicely into your envelopes. You can then cut your cereal box art to fit the backing exactly or you can cut it smaller and have some of the backing look like a frame or border. You may even what to cut the cereal art to fit just a portion of the backing so you can write a note on the front.

While you are being clever about reusing cereal boxes to help support the environment, you can also add other art to your cards such as little holiday stickers that reflect the sentiment you want to convey. You can also add jewels to the cards using some old jewelry you don't wear anymore. Search through old magazines and newspaper and cut out words that say what you want to say on your card. The possibilities are limitless. Use your imagination and decorate your cards to reflect the season and the special occasion. It is most important that the cards reflect you, your personality and your unique sense of humor.

Just to get your creative juices flowing, here are a couple of card ideas. Cut out a picture of a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and have your greeting say something like... Cheerio Mate! Hope 2009 Pops Up GREAT.

Another idea is to use the Rice Krispies Chefs or Elves and say something like... Sorry to Hear you had a Snap, Crackle and Pop Accident. Get Better Soon.

As you get going on making your own non-traditional ecology conscious holiday and special day greeting cards, you will have a hard time not seeing a greeting card on every shelf in the grocery store.