Cathy Dietl loves to send and receive Christmas cards, but as a professional organizer, she doesn't let them sit around for long. Instead, she likes to display them in a creative way, then find another use for them post-holidays.

"I have a large bow with a couple of streamers hanging from it. I hang this on a door and display my cards on the streamers with clothes pins," says Dietl, owner of De-Clutter Bug in Cape Girardeau.

Another option is to purchase a wire wreath or "tree" and use clothes pins to attach cards to it in a decorative way.

If you don't have many cards, you can simply set them or hang them from the fireplace mantle -- you can even hang cards on the Christmas tree, says Dietl.

Linda McKinnis, owner of Design Exclusive in Cape Girardeau, says she likes to display special cards in beautiful picture frames.

As for how long to keep cards, Dietl recommends keeping only the ones that are special to you, and pitching the rest.

"I keep them until the next year so I know who sent me cards so I can send one to them the following year. Then I throw them out," she says. "The ones you keep could be kept in a binder, photo album, scrap book or some sort of nice memento box."

You could also scan the cards to your computer and organize them by the year you received the cards.

Still can't bear to throw out a Christmas card?

McKinnis packs her cards away along with her decorations, then finds ways to recycle and repurpose them over the years.

"I love to embellish a plain gift bag or package with a card," she says. "I carefully cut the desired image with an X-Acto knife and either use rubber cement or Glue Dots to attach. I sometimes will make the attachment three-dimensional by using a little foam behind the card before attaching. I've also made custom gift tags with some of the cards."

Dietl offers these additional suggestions for giving Christmas cards new life:

* Cut off the front of the card and attach it to a piece of card stock so you have a brand-new card.

* Cut off the front of the card and use it as a post card. The postage is cheaper for a postcard than a card, too.

* Use them to make paper crafts or ornaments. For example, you can cut your cards into circles and glue them to the top of Mason jar gifts, such as candies or a cookie mix. Browse Pinterest for more ideas!