Where To Donate Old Greeting Cards (and crafts to make with them)

It’s that time of year, where you start getting Christmas cards and hang them around a doorway (or however you display cards).

And then, Christmas comes and you’re trying to find out if you need to save them or throw them away.

They’re so pretty, but you’ve watched Marie Kondo. You don’t need clutter. They don’t “spark joy” so you don’t need them. But don’t thank them and throw them in the trash, though. Give them new life by finding out where to donate old cards (and other things to do with used greeting cards).

Community Cards

There’s a volunteer organization called Community Cards in the UK that upcycles old cards into new cards to sell to benefit The Welcome Centre, a food bank in Huddersfield, England.

If you’re in the UK, donating any greeting cards there is a great idea. They’re accepted at the The Welcome Centre, located at Unit 10-11, Queens Mill Industrial Estate, Queens Mill Road, Huddersfield, HD1 3RR, the Food Bank and More at Lord Street or Lockwood, or any Kirklees Libraries.

Since only specific sizes and designs can be accepted, Community Cards asks that cards not be mailed so that you don’t incur a high postage fee for cards that may not be accepted.

That’s a bummer because that means it’s not an option if you don’t live in the area.

Hallmark

You can donate any old Hallmark cards to be displayed at the Hallmark Visitors Center and/or to be used as props on future Hallmark Channel movies.

You can mail any Hallmark-only cards to:

Hallmark Cards, Inc.
c/o Hallmark Archives, MD #722
2501 McGee
Kansas City, MO  64108

Making Cards For Our Troops

Making Cards For Our Troops was started by retired women in Annapolis, MD. The organization, spearheaded by Pat Brodsky, makes cards to send to troops who are able to fill them out and mail home (since they can’t buy cards on bases where they were deployed).

It started with 300 Valentine’s Day cards in 2016 and snowballed to over 54,000 cards in 2024.

I’m not sure that they’re accepting old, used cards, but if you have old, unused cards or if you’re a card maker yourself, contact [email protected] to offer your help.

Crafts Using Greeting Cards:

If you have leftover cards with cute images on the front, you can follow our tutorial and learn how to make gift tags from old Christmas cards or you can make them into Christmas card magnets.

If you have a bunch of cards and a little bit of time, you can turn the cards into a fun DIY Christmas Card Tree (pictured above), which you can add to your decor for next year.

Purchase recycled greeting cards:

If you want, you can purchase recycled Christmas cards or greeting cards online, you can purchase recycled greeting cards at:

• Earth Hero
• PaperCards.com
• Recycled Paper Greetings