Organize your holiday cards and enjoy them for years to Come

What do you do with all of those terrific family Christmas cards you receive each year? Do you pile them on your desk so they just add to the chaos? Do you toss them, or do you have some type of organized system to store them? I love photos and enjoy seeing the terrific pictures people send during the holidays, so I thought I'd share with you the system that I use.

During the season, I display the photo cards somewhere in my home, either hanging on the wall or in a basket so people can look through them. Once the decorations come down, I put the cards away, although sometimes I do keep them out a bit longer for the trailers. Some people send New Year cards, I even have one friend who sends out her annual family photo over Ground Hog Day so she doesn't' feel like she has to rush around about it during the holidays!
Once they do get packed up, I save only the photo cards. General cards without photos get donated to St.Jude's Ranch Recycled Card Program. I take one folded card, with the year clearly displayed on the front, and place all the photo cards inside. Then I put them an archival photo box like the one in this picture from Organize.com.

I've been using this system for 15+ years now and I have four boxes full of cards! I keep the boxes with my Christmas decorations, during the holidays I place them out on a shelf below my coffee table. My family loves to look through the cards from years past and see how families have changed and how kids have grown. This is an easy and inexpensive way to keep all of the cards organized. However you decide to keep, donate, or toss the holiday cards you receive, remember, if you have a system for dealing with them, they won't cause clutter at your desk or around the house!