Card Collector
Confession time: I save Christmas cards. I love the pretty designs and the personal notes friends and family write in them, reminders of events from previous years.
And if you have the same slightly sentimental habit, you have accumulated quite a stack, too. If it’s time to whittle it down, we have some great ideas for refashioning those old cards into ornaments, place cards, jar toppers and other clever crafts. Find all 12—one for each day of Christmas—beginning on page 20.
Blame Sir Henry Cole for the surplus. He’s credited with creating the first Christmas card in 1843—a quick way to respond to the influx of letters he’d received after postal rates dropped in England. Cole had artist J.C. Horsley design a postcard depicting people helping those less fortunate. Today, antique Christmas cards are highly collectable, and there’s a vibrant market for all things Old Saint Nick. See what your vintage Santa decorations might be worth on page 33. In this issue you’ll find more craft and gift ideas, recipes for a big holiday meal—and plenty of new cookies to snack on while writing this year’s Christmas cards.
May your holiday be full of laughter and love. Until next season,