Creative ways to use postcards (beyond just mailing them)
Here's something I didn't expect when I started making postcards: people were using them for everything except mailing them.
Collaging them. Junk journaling with them. Framing them. Building entire little altars of paper beauty on their desks. And honestly? I love that so much. A postcard is just a small, beautiful piece of paper. And small, beautiful pieces of paper have a whole life ahead of them.
If you've been collecting postcards — from a slow mail club subscription, from travels, from swaps, from shops like mine — here are some genuinely creative ways to use them that go way beyond the mailbox.
Tear them up for collage
I know. It feels a little wrong the first time. But there is something so satisfying about tearing a postcard into strips or shapes and layering it into a collage.
Botanical postcards are especially good for this — the colors tend to be soft and earthy, and floral imagery layers beautifully with text, tissue paper, and other ephemera. Try tearing a postcard into petal shapes and building a flower out of it. Or use strips as a background layer and paint or write over the top.
The postcard doesn't disappear. It just becomes part of something bigger.
Use them in a junk journal
If you've spent any time in the junk journal community, you already know: beautiful paper is the whole point. Postcards are a perfect addition to any junk journal spread.
Fold one in half to make a pocket. Sew or glue one onto a page as a base layer. Use the back (especially if it's unwritten) as a place to tape in other ephemera — ticket stubs, dried flowers, scraps of washi tape. The thick card stock holds up well to layering, which makes it more versatile than thinner papers.
If you subscribe to a monthly postcard club, you'll naturally build up a small archive of themed paper over time. A year's worth of botanical postcards makes a really beautiful junk journal source pile.
Make bunting or garland
This one is so simple and so charming.
Punch a hole in the top two corners of each postcard, thread twine or ribbon through, and hang. That's it. You now have the most beautiful bunting you've ever owned, and it took ten minutes.
Seasonal postcards work especially well here, just a string of spring florals across a window, a row of winter botanicals along a mantel. You can swap them out as your collection grows and the seasons change.
Build a rotating postcard gallery
Instead of framing art (which involves commitment and nails and measuring), try a simple postcard ledge or a piece of twine with tiny clips.
Prop them. Clip them. Rearrange them whenever you want. Layer them. Lean a new one in front of an old one. This is one of my favorite things about postcards as art — they don't ask you to decide permanently. They're flexible. They let your space evolve.
Where to find postcards worth keeping
This is where I'll be a little obvious about it: Wild Petals Postal Service exists exactly for this.
Every month, subscribers get a hand-painted botanical postcard designed to be beautiful enough to mail, frame, collage, clip to bunting, or tuck into a journal. Each one is part of a seasonal theme, so over time you build a cohesive collection without thinking about it. Plus, you also get a matching sticker and a heart warming letter from yours truly.
If you've been looking for a slow, quiet, creative habit to come back to, one that arrives in your mailbox whether you remembered to tend it or not, this is a lovely place to start.
Photo Credit
Allie Feeley https://unsplash.com/photos/a-collage-of-pictures-and-words-on-a-wooden-surface-2-W--uAhoxc
Shifa Sarguru https://unsplash.com/photos/white-and-brown-book-on-white-textile-_MnhxbA6mGE
Decorators Notebook: https://decoratorsnotebook.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/15-minute-make-vintage-cigarette-card-garland/?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=organic
Armin Mavi: https://unsplash.com/photos/text-KW2lwa7yxuk
