You may probably amass quite a collection of greeting and birthday cards if you are like me, growing up in the days where ecards and Facebook were unheard off. In those days, friends would personally write on autograph books and even gift handmade cards to each other.
No matter what the decluttering books say, I could never bring myself to throw away some of the cards that I have received from friends. There were too precious and represent a reminder of my childhood and the sincere friendships that I’ve had the privilege of having.
At the same time, there has to be a designated place to keep all these cards…otherwise they would be all over drawers, files, in between books, book shelves, etc. Probably in a frenzy spree of decluttering you may end up disposing all these keepsakes that you may end up regretting.
How I store the greeting cards/bookmarks/ birthday days:
At first, I store them in photo album– the kind with the plastic cover and stick on surface. However I realized that it is not only hard to flip to see the contents written on the cards, but it also caused the cards to stick on the glue of the album after sometime.
Eventually I had the cards transferred to a DVD case which comes in 3 for 10 bucks. The holder is not only inexpensive but storing the cards that way would not take up a lot of space.
They mostly include handmade and bought birthday cards and bookmarks that I have received from friends over the years. Of course, I did not keep ALL the cards I have received. I’ve disposed a number of greeting cards as they often have a one or two liner scribbled on the card. But I definitely retained most of the handmade cards that was given by friends:
Yes, I used a puncher to punch holes at the side and to file these cards together. But storing them this way makes it easy to flip and view the cards.
Above is one the handmade cards which a schoolmate drew on a drawing paper.
At the background, you may be able to see a old card with borders that looked like a burnt paper. I got that particular card from my classmate when I was 13 years old…this friend of mine was poor and could not afford fancy cards but had wanted to give me a birthday card. So she took a piece of inexpensive paper and burned the edges, folded it and drew some drawings to make a card as a gift. Today, through hard work she has become a top first class honors student, migrated to Singapore and work in a large corporation. We still keep in touch from time to time.
Above is a card that holds a special place because it was drawn by a friend of mine, Jenny who is extremely artistic. She was very talented when it comes to coming up with impromptu drawings. This friend of mine ended up pursuing a career of managing a kindergarten as she loved to work with kids.
What’s the point of keeping if you are no longer in contact or your friend do not even remember giving you the card
There was a period of time where I lost contact with some of my friends from elementary and high school. However, I still kept the cards. Years later, we bumped into each other again at gatherings and weddings.
For example when I bumped into Jenny and told her about her cards, she smiled and was touched that I still keep the card….even though she admitted she has forgotten about it.
My best friend and I have been best of pals since we were 18 years old. Eventually I went to a different state to study for university. During the time, I experienced some downtime and she wrote me many letters and made me some bookmarks and cards.
I no longer keep the letters but I’ve kept each of her bookmarks and cards. It reminded me of a wonderful friend who did not use the excuse of distance and being busy to stop caring for someone who is feeling down.
Recently while having afternoon tea with her, I told her about the cards….as expected, she did not really remember them because it has been so many years. As I described… she vaguely start to remember back a bookmark in the shape of a girl in kimono that she has made for me. She was also touched that I’ve kept them over the years.
