[Oliver's Mama]

I made the scary trip into our crawlspace (there was literally a 4-inch bug on the ladder) and fell upon a box full of wedding gifts.. got married 3 years ago. I looked through them and totally didn't remember getting them or who they were from. Before I thought too hard, I figured, I must have sent a thank you note, and whoever gave the gift hasn't bothered to ask if I use it, so I took the box straight to the car, and hopefully off to goodwill in the morning. How refreshing, getting rid of stuff I never knew I had. But honestly, who needs 4 MORE wine glasses, and a tarnished silver tea set, and a silver clam dish and tray???? Perhaps I packed it after the wedding with guilt, hoping one day I'd forget about it, open the box, and feel no guilt in pitching it!

Anyways, my goal was to find my bag full of wedding cards, so I could do something with them. Has anyone done something creative with their cards, or pitched them? I can't decide. I can't find them though, so maybe my problem's solved.

 

[sunnysandiegan]

Good job on donating those gifts!

I have one more wedding gift to do something with and we've been married 9 years.

It is a pricey picnic basket from DH's sister that is completely impractical for real use. I successfully used it as a "baby gate" when DD was young and for home decor since then. I love "the idea of it", but have never used it as it was intended (picnic basket) because it is too bulky and heavy when it is empty...let alone filling it with food and drink! LOL

Anyway, for the cards... I have seen some nice displays. I even have a partially deconstructed (now) picture frame that had a slotted insert that I had planned to use for wedding cards. I decided against it because you cannot open and read the cards this way and the important part for me is the message loved ones wrote. That frame was also a wedding gift from our registry. I tossed out the insert and kept the frame since it is a standard size (it got repurposed). I ended up sorting the cards into a few piles:

~ Pretty front - These went into scrappin' supplies for re-use after I cut off the rest of the card. (These get used like any other scrapbook embellishment when the design works on a page. These also get used in card-making and kids crafts, probably more than scrapbooking.)

~ Nice message - These went into our wedding memorabilia box after i cut off the rest and these will be used in our wedding scrapbook. (Some were handwritten and some were preprinted. I kept the signature of the giver with the message.)

~ Sentimental value - These went into our wedding memorabilia box and will be used in our wedding scrapbook.

~ All the rest - I recycled all the others that didn't fall into any of these categories along with the remaining parts of the first two categories.

I am actively working on scrapbooks, so this is a doable project. I just haven't gotten to this particular book yet. I have put cards in other scrapbooks in various ways. Cutting the message and matting it and journaling, if I wished. Leaving the card intact and adhering the back, cutting a flap in the page protector or indicating it can be opened to read. Creating a pocket (or multiple pockets) and arranging the card(s) artistically. (The reader can pull out the cards to read, if they desire.)

Best wishes!

 

[Oliver's Mama]

great ideas.. thanks!
haha.. I also got a big bulky picnic basket as a wedding gift. We already had a basket, so luckily dh didn't mind pitching it after a year, and then the old one got all moldy and had to go.. but they're such a pain to lug around, I don't miss it. If yours is serving no purpose, why are you keeping it? Could DD use it as a fun toy box or something?
I'm still torn about the cards.. I kinda feel like if I keep one, I should keep them all, kind of like a record of who was at the wedding.

 

[Ruthla]

If you do find the cards, you could put them into a photo album- neat, easy to look at, but also not particularly bulky.

I never got any particularly useless wedding gifts. Most of my gifts were either cash, gift certificates to one of the 2 stores I'd registered for, or items from the registry itself. The only items that didn't fall into any of those categories were actually useful: silver kiddush cup, really nice ceramic seder plate (both of which are items we use), a nice cloth tablecloth, a set of knives of better quality than the ones I'd registered for, etc.

Anything completely useless (breakable serving pieces, for example), I either never recieved (people know me too well I guess!) or, if I did get any, I donated or regifted them without any guilt within the first year or two of marriage.

Who needs 4 MORE wine glasses? Well, it depends on how many wine glasses you already have, and how many people you typically serve wine to at any one time. It's certainly the kind of item that somebody else will find very useful if you don't need them. And the silver tea set? If it were me, I'd polish it and use it- but if you have not use for it, somebody else will probably treasure it (after polishing of course!)

 

[bender]

I put all the wedding/shower cards into an album, along with scraps of wrapping paper that the gifts were wrapped with. We had a small wedding, and a lot of people wrote personal messages in the cards, so it's nice to look back and see the memories. It's become more meaningful over the past year, because several family members have died, and it's nice to have their written thoughts as a tangible memory.

 

[sunnysandiegan]

The picnic basket has served various purposes over the years and is currently the "holding spot" for items leaving our house... I think FLYlady calls it the "launch pad". LOL It fits between the stairs and behind the recliner perfectly and is in a great spot for grabbing before heading out the door. I just have never used it as a picnic basket.