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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Tried It Tuesday {Christmas Cards Recycled}

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!  Christmas is my favorite holiday, but with Christmas comes one of the busiest times of the year!  I love making Christmas cookies for gifts, but with school letting out on December 20th this year, I have to get them ready in a hurry.  My daughter is also in a dance recital and last week was the beginning of 13 straight days of dance for her.  We start dress rehearsals tonight and tomorrow and then the show is Thursday and Friday.  My Christmas shopping is done but I haven't wrapped a gift yet.  The hubs is great for that though! :)

We have been so busy at school and home that I barely have had time to devote to this little blog.  January will be better. :)  After today, Tried It Tuesday will be on vacation until January 7th.  I know everyone will be spending time with their families over the break and just relaxing, so save up some tried its for the New Year that you can share!

My Tried It:
Recycled Christmas Cards 
One of my teammates introduced me to this idea about five years ago.  She brings in old Christmas cards that people send her and lets students use them to make their own handmade cards!  I love this idea because I always keep cards around the house, but now I am starting to realize that I really can't KEEP every card forever!  Also, I cannot draw to save my life, so having something to cut out and make a handmade card look great seems like a wonderful option for my fourth graders who are not confident with their artistic skills.

The students really enjoy looking through all the cards and choosing some designs to cut out.  These are some cards that they worked on for their pen pals (we are pen pals with Jivey at Ideas by Jivey and Gary "The Scrappy Guy"!!).


 This student cut a hole in the front of the "Let It Snow" card as a "window" for the design inside!


 I wanted to share this idea with you in case you have some extra time this week for students to work on making a Christmas card for a family member or friend.  You might just have some old cards laying around your house in a box somewhere that they could use.  This could work for other holidays too like Valentine's Day, Mother's/Father's Day, or birthdays!

The same teacher also told me about using all those envelopes that you get in the mail to hold cut outs for projects at school!  When we have something we are working on that involve little pieces of paper, I give each student an envelope that would have otherwise went in the garbage!  Don't you just love repurposing? 

All I want for Christmas is a real snow day, a real snow day, see a real snow day!  Gee, if I could only have a real snow day, then I could wish you Merry Christmas!  
Seriously, I could REALLY use a snow day but it hasn't happened yet and it's not going to happen this week.  It could have happened a couple times last week, but it didn't.  You know those weeks when the possibility of a snow day makes you restless at night and then it doesn't happen?  That makes for an exhausting week!  I know...poor me!
This is the courtyard by my classroom.  We really have been dumped on and I had the worst drive ever in white outs Sunday night!  We usually get one to three snow days a year but the snow has to be falling at exactly the right time and there has to be at least 25mph winds with it or ice (like, BIG time ice!).  The threat of a foot of snow or more in a day doesn't get us off. :(
Enjoy the rest of your week and I hope you find some quiet moments to celebrate the season!  It goes by so fast! 

8 comments:

  1. We have a ton of snow too! Our district is tough with snow days. Last year we didn't have a single one. I love the idea of recycling the Christmas cards.
    Merry Christmas,
    Michele

    Coffee Cups and Lesson Plans

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  2. I can't wait to see them!!! And I so wish I could see snow like that... Georgia just doesn't get that! :)
    Jivey

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  3. I could wish forever and never have a REAL snow day. We don't get snow in central Texas! Plus, I don't want to make up a day. I'd like it now, but not when it took another holiday away from me.
    Sticking it out 3 1/2 more days.....
    Elizabeth
    Hodges Herald

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  4. That looks cold. I would never survive in the cold. How do you not have a nervous breakdown while driving in the snow? Love the idea of repurposing the cards. So smart...and it can be a Science lesson on Reduce, reuse, recycle...lol!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  5. Those cards are quite nice--and i'm guessing the kids enjoy making them quite a bit. It kind of reminds me of Paying it Forward by recycling them.

    Snow situations around the nation always make me laugh because I just heard of some school in Kentucky that had almost a week off because they got snow and ice. I love seeing how weather is handled--it makes me laugh.

    matt

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  6. I love the recycled card idea! We do a "Gifts of Writing" project at this time of year and creating their own cards would be the perfect vehicle for this piece of writing! I'm going to have to make a note of this idea for next year! They look adorable - and makes good use of all those old cards!

    Thanks for sparking an idea :)
    Enjoy your last few days!
    Amanda
    My Shoe String Life

    P.S. Hope you get your "real" snow day... we've had two and a delay.... nothing like trying to cram everything in our shortest school month! But, the snow days were definitely worth it!!

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  7. Recycling idea: use your junk mail postcards and door hanger ads as bookmarks to give the kids. Just cut them into 1" or so strips about 6 - 8" long, avoiding the address part and voila! Bookmarks. I discovered that the kids actually read them, and sometimes take several to put together like a puzzle. Hey, they're reading, right?

    Jan T

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  8. This is such a great idea! I have a stack of cards from last Christmas I need to look through- what a great way to recycle all of the cards I have hoarded! Thank you for sharing!

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