A loooooooong time ago I read in a Martha Stewart magazine (I wish I had kept the clipping, alas) that she recommends saving only truly special letters. For example, if you have 24 birthday cards saved from your grandmother, maybe just keep the 5 that she actually wrote a special note in (and get rid of the others that just have a signature). Those 5 notes are a wonderful representation of her correspondence with you, and doesn't get buried in the pile of cards that don't have that same kind of meaning.
I used to save EVERY SINGLE LETTER I ever got. Every one. This sounds so corny, but good old Martha's advice really worked for me! I realized that not only was such a huge collection of letters a hindrance to ever actually looking at them but it was also not a special collection in any way. From then on I would open a letter/card/note and if it had something special about it I'd save it in my letter box. The rest I'd enjoy for a week or so (longer for Christmas cards) and then they'd get tossed.
What do you do with your cards and letters?
I recycle most letters and cards after about a week. I used to hang on to them, too, but have really learned to let them go. I'll keep a few special ones, but almost all of them go.
ReplyDeleteI make bookmarks from parts of special cards, but that's maybe not so good as it only adds to my already extensive bookmark collection!
ReplyDeleteBut I do love my bookmarks!
I forgot to add that I also give my old Christmas cards (minus a few special ones) to my mom each year -- she cuts out the art/designs and makes home-made holiday tags from them. And then (like you do, Barb) the scraps get recycled.
ReplyDeleteAnne -- bookmarks! I never thought of that. Do you put tassels on them and everything?
I have no friends, so in general this isn't a problem. However, I've been scanning all the cards and letters from past. It's interesting how few I keep after I've scanned them--perhaps 1 out of 500.
ReplyDelete