Scrapbooking Christmas Cards (a guest post by Kristy Gussio)

Hello there!! I was so excited when Courtney asked me to guest post over here at 'Come Together Cards.' I have known Courtney for years, and I am continually inspired by her creativity, genuineness and overall zest for life!! But wait, let me back up a bit and introduce myself.......

My name is Kristy Gussio, and I have a blog called 'This Is The Day!' where I blog about all of the things that inspire me: books, organization, memory-keeping, photography, and raising kiddos. I am a wife, a full-time mama and a part-time attorney who loves creating memories and documenting them in creative ways.

me & the husband

our crazy little family

Now onto our topic.......

I know Christmas is over, and we are already well into the new year, but I thought this might be the perfect time to talk about a few ideas for "scrapbooking" all of those beautiful Christmas cards your family received this year. One of my very favorite parts of the Christmas season is checking the mail each day to see what Christmas cards the mailman brought us that day....they are all so creative and unique, and I can't bear to simply throw them in the trash once the new year arrives. Here are a few ways I have chosen to document them over the years:

our Christmas album

A few years ago, I got the idea from Ali Edwards to punch out portions of the cards, and place them in a grid on 12 x 12 paper. Some examples:

2005 (using a heart-shaped punch)

2006 (using a square punch)

In 2008, I used page protectors with 3 x 3 openings, cut the cards to size and added a few embellishments here and there.

2008 (front)

2008 (back)

2009 (back to the square punch)

This method has worked really well for me for the past few years, but this year, I came across an idea while blog-surfing that I LOVE!! Instead of punching out just parts of the card (and losing a large portion of it), I bought an album that holds 240 4 x 6 photos so that I can cut the cards down to size (if necessary) and simply slip them right in.

our new christmas card album 

the inside pages

 the opening page

I hope I have given you some new ideas!! I love pulling out these albums during the holidays and having friends and family members flip through them.....and I love looking through them myself to see how families have grown and changed over the years. What a great way to honor those that we love.

Thanks for letting me share! Come see me over at This Is The Day and say hello:)