Before Banishing Old Business Cards To A Landfill, Try These 13 Upcycling Ideas

Business cards are all too easy to amass a large collection of. Whether you've accumulated a handful of cards from local stores dropping them off on your doorstep, or have a whole stack of them leftover from your personal business ventures, they can quickly go from useful to clutter. Before you banish them to the landfill, consider ways to upcycle them once they've outlived their usefulness. While the thought of repurposing a business card might seem a little strange at first, there are a surprising number of ways it can be done. For example, they can be used in several arts and crafts projects, including to make confetti, ornaments, banners, and paintings. They can also become useful tools to help you store your phone or earbuds or solve little problems you have around the house, like a wobbly table.

While some of these business card upcycling hacks don't require altering the cards in any way, others are slightly more involved, and you want basic crafting supplies on hand, like paint, scrapbook paper, and scissors. And, the print or design that's on the cards doesn't really matter since, in most cases, you'll be covering it up for these crafts. So, if you're ready to get inspired, here are 13 creative ways to upcycle old business cards. 

Rather than buying confetti, consider making some out of a stack of dusty business cards. All you need to do is shred or cut them up. However, you can first paint the cards to make the confetti the color you want. Metallic spray paint is a good option to make the confetti shiny and exciting. To make confetti with a fun shape, use a hole punch, like this Pletpet star-shaped hole punch. It'll be more time-consuming than using scissors, but the results will be worth it.

One cute, fun, and useful way to upcycle your old business cards is to convert them into gift tags. To get started, either leave them rectangular or cut the cards into a circle, heart, or other fun shape. Some simple customization ideas include using spray paint, gluing on your favorite wrapping paper, attaching unique fabrics, and adding stickers to the cards. Then, you can paint, sharpie, or print and glue the writing on. Don't forget to punch a hole through the top and then use your favorite twine or ribbon to attach them to gifts.

To repurpose a whole stack of business cards in one go, try folding them into a cute origami wreath. Start by folding each individual card into a triangle like in this YouTube video by Art it now, and then arrange the cards so they fit into each other and form a circle. Once the circle is formed, go ahead and decorate it to match your holiday decor, or even print out or paint a sweet greeting that you can attach to the middle of your business card wreath.

Another fun way to repurpose a stack of old business cards is to transform them into a banner. To make it unique, use spray paint, add glitter, or cut the cards into different shapes. This is also a great way to decorate your house for a party or shower, as you can spell words out on the banner. Alternatively, create a piece of everyday art for your home by decorating the cards more subtly with tan paper and attaching dried flowers or leaves onto them.

When you fold six business cards loosely in half without creasing them and tape them all together with the rounded edges facing outside, they'll form into a decorative flower. For larger flowers, fold the whole card. Or, cut the cards into strips and use those to create smaller flowers. Paint the cards first to make them unique. Depending on how you decorate the cards, these can also be turned into fun and festive holiday or party decorations. Another fun idea is to hang several silver ones from the ceiling to decorate your kid's space-themed bedroom.

A simple way to reuse a business card is to use it as a bookmark. In case you're not feeling crafty, you can easily slide the card into your book as is to keep your place. With that said, there are a ton of fun ways to customize the card into a cute bookmark for when you do feel your creative side calling. Don't be afraid to spruce the cards up with paint, stickers, scrapbook paper, dried flowers, and some form of pull-tab, like Gisedkle Mini Bookmark Tassels.

Finding a new life for an entire stack of business cards may seem daunting. Maybe you don't want to create 50 bookmarks or have far too many to use in a decorative banner. One solution is to turn the stack into a phone holder. To make it work, glue the majority of the cards together into a solid stack and cut the remainder in thirds lengthwise. Leaving out the middle third, glue the other two stacks together, with a slot in the middle for propping your phone up.

Junk journaling is a fun way to express yourself while saving various items from the landfill. Rather than tossing business cards you don't want anymore, consider incorporating them into your junk journal. If the cards are significant to you, paste them in the journal as is. For cards that don't, feel free to let loose painting, cutting, and drawing to customize them. One neat idea is to glue only the side of a card to the journal and write a hidden note under it.

Business cards are the perfect shape for utilizing as name cards for your dinner table. To get started, paint or glue blank paper over the business card to create a fresh canvas for decorating. Then, it's time for the fun part. Add lace, ribbons, leaves, pressed flowers, or whatever your heart desires to decorate the cards. Next, add the names of your family or guests to them. Or just add names to the front to keep it simple. This business card upcycle is a fun tablescape idea for every occasion.

Rickety tables aren't just annoying, but they can also result in glasses spilling, broken decor, and crafting mishaps. If the cause of the instability is that the ground beneath the table is uneven, one option is to move it. However, if your table is wobbly because a leg is too short or you don't want to move it, you can solve the issue by sliding a few business cards under the problem leg. While this may not be the most aesthetically pleasing solution, it will definitely get the job done in a pinch.

When you want to use your earbuds, the last thing you want to do is untangle all the knots that have mysteriously formed in the cords overnight. While some people may tie their earbuds into a tight knot to keep them from tangling, this can be equally damaging to the wires. Instead, consider punching a few holes into your business card that you've cut into a bow shape, and use that to store your earbuds to save them from tangling while you're not using them.

If you have at least 52 business cards on your hands, you can have a blast turning them into a DIY set of playing cards. The blank side of a business card can easily have a card face added to it. For ones with print on both sides, you'll want to paint or cover them with scrapbook paper before turning them into playing cards. To make the cards last, laminate them. These probably won't have the same feel as traditional playing cards, but this is still a fun and creative way to upcycle old business cards.

Looking for some creative ideas to spice up a blank wall in your home? One way to decorate is to turn old business cards into mini canvases, paint them, and put them on display. If you have several cards, combine the collection into a collage for your wall or paint them into a matching set. To further showcase your handiwork, tuck the portraits into mini picture frames, like SIKOO Vintage picture frames from Amazon.