When should you take down greetings cards?

Birthday cards for one week. Christmas cards till 12th night then I cut out the suitable bits with pinking shears and use a hole punch to make labels for next year. If the backs are plain, I keep those to write shopping list, notes for parcels to be left where etc etc. The remains go in the recycling bin. I write a list of cards received and the year and put that in the Christmas decs box.

One week

Normally a week for DH and my birthday, mother's day and Father's Day cards.
Son's were both born either side of Xmas so when they lived with us their cards stayed until 12th night.

It's been a week, so I've bundled them up and put them all in my big memory box under the bed. Dusted and found a home for the candle and ornament gifts. Much better.

Totally agree bluebell. Treasure them I do. A few weeks in our house

About 5 days for birthday cards.
Can't wait til twelfth night to take xmas things down, have to do it as soon as it's over, the day after boxing day usually

We very rarely get cards these days. It was my parents' generation that sent them, and there is only one person of that generation left now, and she has long since embraced e-mails.

I never have displayed birthday cards after I grew up. On birthdays, graduation and other celebrations we placed the cards that did not contain very private messages on the table along side the gifts received. There visitors were welcome to look at them.

Unless a card meant something very special to me, I haven't every kept them once the celebration was over. I realised in my early twenties that there was no point in having a shoe-box or a drawer full of mementos I rarely, if ever, look at.

Once or twice a card escaped being thrown out, but on two occasions I found such a card after the sender had died, which I found acutely distressing, so since then, I have been meticulous about not keeping letters or cards.

I have never heard there is a length of time for keeping or displaying this sort of thing, I imagine everyone does what they want about it.

MawtheMerrier

Whenever you da** well please!
Your cards, your house!

Yes indeedy... We have an old bit of the local pier as a mantle piece. It is festooned with favourite cards added to rearranged and pruned by both DH and myself....

A week for birthday and anniversary cards. My birthday is in early December so I let the Christmas cards pile up until I am ready to take them down. One year one of my sons started taking down my birthday cards two days after the day, saying that the Christmas cards were arriving thick and fast. I told him that he had his cards up for a week in June and it was no different for me in December, however many Christmas cards there were.

I wasn't aware there was an actual rule! I suppose 12th night is sort of mandatory for Christmas cards otherwise you get bad luck apparently (!) but for birthdays, anniversaries etc, I take mine down when I'm ready. Sometimes, if there's a particularly pretty/funny/poignant card, it might still be on display months later. It doesn't matter does it?

Until they annoy me. Usually about a week. If left to Mr A they might stay up for months as he stops seeing them.

When you next need to dust is my rule.

Take some down after a week. Special ones I keep. Some very amusing ones fro my son, elaborate one from my late sister, The last ones from my late mother and my daughter.

I usually leave mine up for 7-10 days - except for Christmas when they get taken down with the rest of the decorations in January.

My miserable husband wouldn’t put his cards up and railed at me if I did ! Now I can keep mine up as long as I like …so I will?

We don't think the 'bad luck to take them down before Twelfth Night' applies to Christmas cards, only the tree and decorations. We peg them on strings across the room, so they don't get in the way. I recycle them as gift tags.
We have a 7-day rule on birthday/anniversary cards. Some are kept for the grandchildren to cut out for crafts, such as collage, or cut into triangles, hole-punched and threaded on wool to make birthday bunting.

One week from me too.

5 days and not a moment longer in my house.

I week for birthday cards etc and 2 weeks for Xmas cards.

2 weeks

Until they need dusting ?

Definately a week and then i choose 2 or 3 to save.I used to save every 1 but i have had to be harsher & declutter since we've been moving. Same going forward.I realised i cant save everything.? Christmas they're all down for 12th night.

We had two or three big stiff green sheets of paper for christmas cards.. Then the cards were put onto them , so that the backs of the cards were stuck on the green but you could still open the front and read them, or have a little sellotape on those if ou wanted them closed. Sometimes cards mixed so that one sheet was family and close friends etc etc, but sometimes might be colour themed or whatever. Then 12th night it was easy to take the sheets down with cards still on and that gave you the chance to go through with your address book and update things then chuck cards away or give to children to cut up etc.. Having lived abroad and with friends we had met in one country and then we moved one way and they another, it was important not to lose touch with them. (Of course well before internet) The cthings I am so glad that I have kept and hoarded are valentines, anniversary and special times and birthdays from my husband. They are in a drawer and when I want to I can get them out and of course they bring back so many memories of my lovely husband. Just think , what would the antiques road show do if we lthrew them all away.! if you have different views on the card issue perhaps the compromise might be that you have your own area so maybe a study or your shed or whatever is your space and you both make your own choices. At the end of the day, if they give you pleasure keep them up as long as you like and if not throw them out.

Whenever you feel like!
No rules on this at all, it's your home, totally your call.
If OH wants to keep them up then just move them elsewhere like his den, shed or even the loo.

Most after a couple of weeks but the special or handmade ones never, they’re all in the corner of the windowsill and I rotate them every so often so a different one is showing. People have gone to a lot of effort to make them for me and I find myself loathe to throw them away.