for all the card hoarders out there...

One of my resolutions for February was to actually finish some projects.  My card-hoarding project was first on the list.  A long, long time ago I blogged about my card-hoarding issues and my simple solution.  You can read the original post here.

You see, I have a slight card hoarding problem.  I can't seem to throw away my snail mail... it doesn't matter if it's a thank you card, a birthday card, a graduation announcement, baby announcement, wedding invitation... whatever it is, I keep it.  Told you.  Problems.

So.  What to do about this little problem of mine??  Well, before anyone calls the Hoarders show on me... I figured I would attempt to bring some order to my card collecting obsession.

It's a pretty simple solution.  I just decided to punch a couple of holes in all of my cards and put some rings in the top of them all.  I gathered up all of my materials first: a gigantor hole punch (I use the We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-Dile), some fun tags for the front of your cards, laminating sheets (optional), some rings to corral everything together, and then of course, a shit ton of cards.

I used my awesome vintage-looking number stamp set to stamp the year on the back of some fun die-cuts.  I love the simple look of these.

After I stamped my die-cut tags, I ran them through my laminating machine.  This is probably not necessary, but I think it will make sure everything holds up for years and years of card hoarding... ahem, I mean memory keeping.

After all of my tags were laminated, I trimmed them down and punched holes in each top corner.  I went ahead and stamped 2 tags for each year that I was catching up on.  I learned early on that there is no way I can fit a year's worth of cards on one set of rings.  I told you guys... I have a crap-ton of cards.  Stop judging me. 

My favorite rings are these mesh cable rings from 7gypsies.  They seem to fit the most cards without getting too bulky.

Here's the finished product.  I love the simple tag with the year stamped on it.  And I love that you can see all of the different cards peeking out from behind.

I love that I can flip through the billions of cards like a book.  For the most part, the cards are in chronological order... so it's almost like a little snapshot of our year... birthday cards... anniversary cards... thank you notes... graduation announcements... wedding invitations... I love it.

And like I said... my card hoarding problem is so out of control that we needed 2 sets per year.  Issues people, I know.

My stack for 2013 is pretty small so far, but I'm adding cards to the pile as they come in.  I'll probably take a day to punch holes in them in a month or so.  I love how accomplished this simple project makes me feel.  While yes, my card hoarding issues continue (and show no signs of early recovery)... this little project makes me feel like the most organized hoarder out there;)

What about you?  Do you keep your snail mail?  What do you do with it?  Are you in the card-hoarders-anonymous group too?