Turn valentines into placemats

From Heather:

As kids, my brother and I would take our stacks of valentines from our school parties and turn them into a holiday placemat by arranging them between two sheets of clear contact paper. We did the same thing with our birthday cards. They made cheap and easy placemats, and my parents didn't have to fight with us over throwing away our "special" cards (I wanted to save everything as a child).

My mom actually kept them all, and now my son is eating off of my old Valentines from the '80s!

And this, friends, is why you buy a personal laminating machine.

More: Best of Parent Hacks: Valentine's Day

Comments

[Jim]

I love that idea. I have thought of doing similar things with our son's drawings when he gets older.

I think my wife's family did something similar.

Anyway, cool idea. It looks great.

[Tracy]

That is cool. I am fussy and I would probably make a cardboard border like a photo matte to give it a nice even edge.

I was just saying the other day that I need to find a way to get rid of all the greeting cards I have ever been given, because I have thirty years worth to dispose of.

[margaret]

This is a great hack! I'm going to have my daughter do this.

[landismom]

That is totally cool. We have some placemats like this that my mom made out of old Christmas cards. I'm sure my kids will have fun doing this.

[kirsten]

what a fun idea! i think maybe we'll head to the copy shop to have them laminated, though - maybe it'll last longer?

[froglette79]

This has got to be one of the most useful hacks to date. My four year old is a saver, too. We have stacks of cards in her room that I am always trying to throw out and she is always "saving" from the trash. I think we'll try this one today. Thanks!

[Heather]

I'm so glad you guys liked the hack! Adding a border would be a nice touch. As far as laminating them so they'll last longer, the one in the picture is from 1982. It was used regularly for at least 12 years after that and is still in good shape. You'd be surprised how sturdy two layers of contact paper are.

[Kerstin]

This is a great hack...with so many more applications to it. I think some of that excessive school art can make great placemats to send to the grandparents (spread the love).

I can't wait to get started.

[Sheila D.]

I love this hack, too! We're not quite to that stage yet, but soon! Another thing I noticed...look at how cute all of those Valentines are WITHOUT all the stupid commercialized cards you see out there now! The only mainstream character that I see is Strawberry Shortcake...*sigh* The good old days...

[christy]

great idea!