Do any of you have any advice for someone who is not crafty and not into scrapbooks on what to do with cards(birthday, holiday, thank you, etc)? I think I really just want someone to tell me that it's ok to throw them out but I feel so guilty! Especially when my crafty, scrapbooking friends handmake them . (I wish they wouldn't do that!)

Oh for gads sake toss the things one week after receipt! I'm lucky if they last a couple of days. I keep them until I've sent a thank you, as a reminder, but while I love the thought...I can only think about things for about a week

Toss them. I keep ones that have special meaning, but other than that, they are in the trash. Do you expect your friends and family to keep all of the ones you give them?
Didn't think so.
So, why should you have to find storage for them all? I scrapbook and make cards because I enjoy doing it, not because I want my friends to save the cards. If I wanted them to save something I made, I wouldn't make a card.

Thank you!!! I think I just needed to hear that it was ok! My roommate is a total pack-rat and she was making me feel bad because I don't save anything.

If she has something she is saving, it is probably because she likes the design and might use it as a template in the future. Toss them.

I wish you were right, Kiwi! I just don't think she is able to throw anything away. Also, she is a compulsive garage saler, the house is very obviously divided between the two of us! There is all of her stuff upstairs and in the storage area- knick-knaks, lots of furniture, extra glassware, lamps, you name it; and my stuff downstairs couch, table, bed, dresser. We really are the odd-couple.

Toss if you want. Otherwise, and esp with handmade cards, recycle those suckers. Cover the inside with another piece of cardstock (or remove the one that was there originally) and take 'em down to the local children's hospital for the kids to do something artistic with.

One of the employees at our bank collects all of our used Holiday Cards in January and sends them to St. Jude's Ranch for Children. Their information is as follows:

St. Jude's Ranch for Children, a non-profit organization, accepts used cards (front portion only). To send or order cards, contact: St. Jude's Ranch for Children, 100 St. Jude's St., Boulder City, NV 89005, (800) 492-3562.

This might be a "guilt" free way for you to dispose of your cards.

I have chests for my kids that I put things like cards in. I only save the "special" ones. I throw the rest out. I also give religious ones to my mom. She likes to do something with them. I know that she also does the st. judes thing at Christmas.
I used to save magazines when I was a teengager. Why, I don't know. Once I realized it was ok to throw them away, i had so much more room...

You can donate them to a local church-kids in the after-school programs and religious classes like to make other cards out of them and send them to the parish shut-ins during holidays and birthdays-just a thought. Shame to waste all those Hallmarks.

Greeting cards are such a racket. You all need to just quit buying them in the first place!! At $3-$5+ for a 3 second glance and then geting tossed, I've pretty much stopped buying any. Give the kids a piece of paper and have them make something if you really think you need it.