Recycled Christmas: Christmas Card Planner

Today is the last day of September, which means there are only 2 months between now and Christmas. I don't know about you, but I still have a lot of things to do before I can consider myself ready for Christmas. To keep myself organized and hopefully finish everything in time, I have made a planner using a Christmas card. This project is the first tutorial in the Recycled Christmas series and I am excited to share it with you.

Christmas Card Planner

For this project you will need: 

*A computer

*Microsoft Office or another word processor

*Computer paper (I used resume paper for a vintage appearance)

*A printer

*A Christmas card with envelope

*Ribbon

*Glue

*Tape

*Scissors

Planner Pages

The first thing I did was create a template of the inside pages on my computer. When I first created my template I wasn't sure of what pages I would want to include or how the pages would be ordered when I printed them out. This meant that not everything I have in the finished project were included in the original template and assembly proved a bit challenging. If I were going to make this planner again I would order the pages on my computer first and then print them out differently so that assembly was easier. If you have access to a card template on your computer I recommend using that template to create your pages because my pages didn't print the size I needed them to be, which meant a lot of unnecessary cutting afterwards. The pages in my planner are tabbed for easy access. The tabs are Calendar, Gifts, Cards, and Notes. 

Envelope Pocket 

On the inside front cover of the card I glued the card's envelope to the inside and trimmed off the excess. After I trimmed off the excess I had to go back and glue the edges of the envelope together so that it once again functioned as an envelope. Adding the envelope to the inside front cover provided me with a pocket, which I will use to store receipts or coupons that I need to reference later. I then assembled my pages in the order I wanted and used a hole punch to make two holes on the edge of the pages. I then used these holes to mark where I wanted the pages to lay on the inside of the card, which I marked using a pencil and then used the hole punch to make the holes. 

First Page of Planner

I would have liked to have used a ribbon that matched my card, but since this is a Recycled Christmas I used ribbon I already had to thread the pages to the card. I then taped the edges of the ribbon to the back of the card. You could also use more ribbon and secure the pages to the card using a bow. I decided to use tape and to not make a bow because I wanted my planner to lie flat when closed. The finishing touches to my planner were made using the pieces trimmed off of the envelope. I used the envelope flap to decorate the first page and the remaining pieces to create tabs for the different page types. I then began to fill out my planner using gel pens in colors that matched my planner.

The compact size of this Christmas planner means that I can easily tuck it into my purse and take it with me. I have tucked mine into my existing planner so that I will reference it regularly and stay organized this Christmas. Since this year is a Recycled Christmas, I am trying to purchase my gifts from eBay or to make my own using existing supplies I already have. The calendar pages in this planner are useful for tracking ending dates on eBay, as well as providing me with a written timeline for completing projects. While the gifts section allows me to keep track of the gifts I have already purchased and to record ideas for gifts I want to purchase in the future. This will also be useful in tracking gifts when the packages come in and I may have forgotten which item went to each person. Let me know if you are interested in the templates I used in my own planner as well as your own ideas for staying organized at Christmas.