Wed 18 Jul 2007
John did a talk at LUGRadio Live the weekend before last and decided he wanted some cue cards to help him keep track of what he was speaking about. Looking around the house for something cue-card shaped, he found a stack of business cards from his last-but-one place of employment - and then another stack from the place he worked previous to that.
The last-but-one place did a full run of 1000 cards for him without asking whether he wanted them (no) - and he didn’t give out a single card. He estimates he gave out about 10 cards for the previous place but no one ever used them to contact him. What a wonderful waste.
The cards were the perfect size for the talk - discrete but easy to handle - but since he hasn’t got another talk planned for a while, what else can be done with his old business cards?
(Photo by brokenarts)





Tammy
July 18th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
They’re useful as note paper if they’re blank on the back. Whenever I’m done with a business card I’ve gotten from someone, I toss it into our kitchen drawer for use in creating quick shopping and errands lists. Then it goes into recycling.
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Andrea
July 18th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
These two come to mind:
-Use them as luggage tags by writing on the blank side.
-Use them as labels. Again, blank side, taped or glued to the item that needs labeling.
My initial reaction was, why wouldn’t they immediately get recycled?
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Delusion
July 18th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
When I was decorating my house, I used old business cards for notes. Wrote down the shop / paint colour and blue tacked them all over the house to remind me.
Cover with a label and use for gift tags on presents
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Nicole
July 18th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
I’ve used them to make flashcards for my kids. We have made phonics and music flashcards, but it could be done for anything you want to memorize.
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Delusion
July 19th, 2007 at 8:28 am
Nicole’s idea reminded me that when I was learning French, I wrote the french word down for household things and placed the cards on/beside them :)
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trish
July 19th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
if you scrapbook they could be handy as backing for your photos…
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Jennifer Lavender
July 20th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Business cards are the perfect size for the diaper bag. Keep them with a few crayons and you have something to entertain the kiddos while away from home. Once they’ve been thouroughly “decorated” by the kiddos they can be used to build a house of cards or folded up into miniature books.
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E.
July 24th, 2007 at 11:05 am
shred them and use for your hamster box
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Kaz
August 22nd, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Glue scraps of wrapping paper, foil, or fabric to the backs, punch a hole in the corner, and use as gift tags.
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Sandra
August 29th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Business cards are ideal for writing lists if you like to keep any lists in your wallet; it’s designed to fit them!
A good use, though admittedly only for a couple, would be to write out any allergies, medical conditions, important phone numbers, etc, and keep it in your wallet in case of emergencies.
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erin
September 24th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
you could decorate them and then get them laminated. punch a hole in the top and you could have a keychain!
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Debbe
October 6th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
This might not be a great tip for home, but at work I have always used outdated business cards for file-drawer labels. Just trim them to fit the little metal frame on the front of the drawer, write or type on it what you will, and label away! ;-)
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Angie
October 12th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
(1) NOTE PAD “CUBE”
Take a stack of them to an office supply place and have them glue them all together on one end to make a cool note pad cube;
(2) NOTE PAD “CUBE” (Poor man’s version)
Staple them together in groups of 20 or so, get an industrial stapler and staple them together. Toss them in your briefcase/purse to have Notepads At The Ready all the time!
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Katie
March 1st, 2008 at 11:19 am
School revision!
My kids used these to help them with their revision, by jotting down their condensed notes and putting them in a card file. Worked wonders, off to university now!
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