Easy Organization for Cards
Home Organization, Papers & Bills May 7th, 2008
Let’s face it, greeting card stores are not kid-friendly. They stock tons of fragile knick knacks and scatter them amidst endless rows of brightly colored, cartoon-covered cards - all within easy reach of my kid’s curious fingers. So, when it comes time to find the perfect Mother’s Day card, I skip the store and grab my greeting card file folder instead.
My greeting card box is a simple accordion style file box with built-in dividers. I bought it to coordinate with my other office stuff at Staples for around $18, but you could use a cheaper plastic version or a three-ring binder stocked with sheet protectors as well. Essentially, I divided the box into the basic card categories (thank you, holiday, birthday, etc.) and labeled the dividers with return address-size labels. To help keep things tidy, I store the cards in the open slots and stash all the envelopes in the back.
Whenever I’m kid-free and get a chance to visit Hallmark or the greeting card aisle of Target, I try to stock up on a random collection of cards to replenish my supply. That way when special events such as birthdays and baby showers pop up on my calendar I’ve always got a few great cards to choose from.
I’m not much of a ’saver’ (I like to keep digital copies), but if you have a hard time parting with hand-written notes from friends and family you could also use this system to keep your treasured cards safe and organized. Just make sure your file box or binder is made of acid-free materials like this plastic version from Amazon.com.
This little quick fix is cheap, easy, and completely convenient - three of my favorite organizing adjectives. :) Just thought I’d pass it on.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:12 am
I like this better than the organizers where you pre-select and address cards and organize by month. These are a source of guilt for me when I see the ones I forgot to send. I actually found something similar at Costco with very cute handmade “scrapbook” type cards for various occasions. If I remember correctly they ended up being about $.50 per card. I just add the ones I pick up at the store into the box as well.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:53 am
THAT is a neat idea. Never would have thought of doing it that way. I’ve seen the box ideas but didn’t like that too much. I’ll have to keep this in mind.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
I like the idea of a box of that size to organize the cards in. Between my husband and I we have 13 brothers and sisters, not to mention extended family and close friends. At the beginning of each year I purchase all of the birthday cards for that year at once. Then I have all six of our kids sign every card. It takes a couple of weeks due to their ages and attention spans but we feel like it is important for them to participate somehow. They also help mail them each month. I know it sounds like a lot of work but throughout the year I am always glad we have already taken care of the issue. Just a thought.