Make your own upcycled holiday postcards

I have a stash of blank Xmas cards from various charities that would like my support. I wish they wouldn't waste the paper, and I don't feel right sending the cards as is, since I'm not actually donating to the cause. (Also, these free cards tend to be ugly or sickeningly sweet.)

But instead of letting the cards go to waste, I upcycled them into collaged postcards. Here's how:

I started by cutting long strips out of the card fronts, then gluing them to blank pieces of paper, like this:

I made star templates of different sizes, then I traced them onto the back of the paper with the strips.

Here's what they look like after I cut them out.

Next, I glued the stars to a rectangle of red card stock.

I outlined the stars using a yellow Posca pen and a white gel pen. 

I cut a rectangle from the inside of the original card and sewed it onto the front. Viola! An Xmas postcard ready to send. 

You can use the same process to upcycle last year's holiday cards, too! And with the little bits left over after I cut out the stars, I made this mosaic tree card.