What to Do with All Those Greeting Cards, DIY Bunting

We are having a baby or maybe already have but haven't debuted him yet... you'll never know! You may have already given us/sent us a card. If so, you are probably expecting, at some point, that your card will be thrown out with the bath water (not the baby, of course)... but after having just tossed some of our wedding greeting cards that were water damaged, I decided that I wanted to put the baby greetings of love, to a better use for the time being. At some point earlier this year, Amy of I'm Gonna Fly, posted an Instagram pic of how she put her well wishes to amazing use and I vowed to her that I would steal the idea, and here I am doing just that. She created an adorable bunting for the baby's nursery which looked both easy and meaningful. I mean, all those people took the time to buy a card and write well wishes.

What you'll need:

• Lots of greeting cards, perhaps from one particular occasion (wedding, baby, engagement, bat mitzvah etc)
• Twine, ribbon or both; this is a choice of aesthetic
• Hole punch, mine? It's heart shape by Martha Stewart #ThankYouVeryMuch
• Paper Scissors
• Ruler, if you care about exact measurements
• Somewhere to hang your special bunting

What I love about this project is that it's so simple, if not a touch time consuming depending on the amount of cards you have. Most greeting cards have a nice crease at the binding with allow for a quick rip down the seam, though you can cut this if you are more of a perfectionist. I consider this a short cut since we are going to be trimming the front of the card anyhow. Rip/cut all greeting cards, discarding the backs unless you'd like to keep a sentimental message or two, in this case, for the baby book.

This next step, you can either measure the card's halfway point or wing it (like I did). The plan is to have a triangular piece made from each card, to resemble a flag for the bunting. Some cards were easier than others but my main goal was to make each triangle as even as possible, not being as concerned with the size of each.

I used my Martha Stewart "Heart" hole punch for the top corners of each card. These holes are how we are going to connect each piece of the bunting to another. You'll want to punch a hole at each top corner of the triangle. Be sure to leave a little bit of room on the edge of each hole as you'll want to ensure you have enough space to make a good knot around.

Once you have completed all of your card's transformation to flags, you can arrange into clusters of 5-6 cards, depending on how you'll want to arrange these in a space of your choice. In my instance, I planned to decorate one door of our nursery specifically with these cards so used 5 cards a piece for about 8 strands of bunting.

I used an inexpensive garden twine connect my cards to one another because I liked the natural look. You can use any type of ribbon or wiring, depending on the look you are trying to achieve. Keep in mind that whatever you choose to use to connect, you'll have to be aware of not ripping the card when you are tying your knots/bows through the holes you punched previously. If you have tape on hand, you can fix any errors that you have made (I know I made them!)

Connect the cards you clustered together for styles and variety. Like I mentioned, I was keeping strands of 5-6 for the length of a door but you can make your bunting as long or as short as you would like. Taking some measurements is not a bad idea if you're not sure how long you bunting will end up being once tied together.

Don't worry about those cards that came in cute shapes. I was sure to keep those shapes intact and simply punched holes in sturdy places of the cards, to ensure they wouldn't rip. These shapes will add neat touches to a couple of strands of your bunting.

Secure your bunting wherever you want to show the world how much people care about you! For us, it was obvi in our nursery. We chose the closet door which is a great place to highlight since it's not often used for decorations. All in all, we love the love that was bestowed upon us and love seeing a reminder of it hanging 'round.

Have you tried anything like this before?