Eco Friendly Decorating By This Old House

You can judge for yourself, but I'm finding their ideas slightly STUPID. None are DIY. You have to buy them all, which means you're adding to the decorations you already have.

Are you supposed to throw the old ones away? If so, how green is that?

If you need to replace something, then yes, follow these ideas. But don't buy them just because the article says they're green.

REDUCE is part of the 3 R's in conservation.

Re-purposing Christmas Decorations

If your family is anything like mine, you have at least 30-40 Christmas decorations you haven’t used in a decade. Granted, some are too tattered to use and too precious to throw away, but the majority are still in good shape.

As you begin the annual chore of putting Christmas away, sort through these decorations and prepare them for donating. Many of your local non-profit organizations need the festive decorations for their holiday fundraisers. Call or email them and ask if they can use any. There are also organizations that assist those who need to rebuild their lives from the ground up, such as women’s shelters, fire victims, children’s homes, and halfway houses.

The need is there, so be generous and honest with yourself! Do you really need those boxes of ornaments you don’t use anymore? Sorting needs to occur, so start. Take what is in near perfect condition and place it in one pile, the pieces that are good but need cleaning in another pile, and the pieces that need real work or need to be thrown away in yet another pile.

Tinsel, even short pieces, is generally in great to good condition and can be reused in any number of ways. Tabletop trees, small arrangements around or in a pretty plate or vase can all use small pieces of tinsel.

Garland, the fake greenery, is the same as tinsel. It is generally in good shape and can be used in just about any length you have. Dust both well, looking for stains or large defects. Donating trash is, well, trashy.

Ornaments can often be redecorated and given a new life for you, as gifts to friends or donated.

If you have those satin covered balls, but they are getting a bit frizzy, don’t toss them out. Give them a haircut and add a design in sequins and beads. You can find many ideas for designs in craft catalogs or websites.

You can see how frizzy this one has gotten. The finished product is the top picture.

If you have glass ornaments whose shine is less than mirror-like, you can redecorate these as well. Paint, glitter, or decoupage can all work wonders on an ornament that has lost its luster. There are a few ideas on this website

The first ornament was painted in 2 days - allowing for paint to dry and drawing

on of design. My first attempt at painting!

This ornament was decoupaged from a Christmas card of 2007. A base layer of white and then the art from the card was put on top, with about 4 layers of glue on that and some glitter just because.

There can even be new life for your Christmas cards. The picture portion can be the nametag for the presents under your tree. They can also be used in several different ways to make Christmas ornaments. You can cut portions of the pictures and place them on Styrofoam or satin balls, filling in with sequins, beads, ribbon and lace. You can decoupage the pictures onto Styrofoam or glass balls. You can glue the pictures onto Styrofoam balls and then dip them in wax to give an antique and fragile feel to them.

You can also cut them and use paper folding techniques to make them into ornaments of their own right. Here is one such style (the upper left ornament was done with the directions at the link). The rest were taken from a paper folding book I have.

If you’d rather, you can decoupage them onto boxes and give them as gifts or to hold special ornaments for use next year. You can also do all of these things with wrapping paper sections that aren’t folded or have tape on them, but are too small to use again next year.

As you see, there are many ways to use, reuse, recycle just about all of the trappings of Christmas that are either thrown away, or stowed away for years until you can’t remember why you had them in the first place.

Plus, all of the craft ideas here are great for kids to do on boring weekends, giving them a great creative outlet that is so needed during winter months.

12 Days of Christmas Cookies

I've pooped out at day 7. LOL Oh well.

If I had been able to keep going, what great Xmas presents! Which is, actually, the reason I make them all.

Date bars - my personal favorite. They are dates, pecans, a little flour, egg and sugar and that's it. Wonderful cookies! If you like, you can roll them in powdered sugar, but it isn't required.

London Short Bread - sort of a sugar cookie, but not that much sugar. Butter, egg, flour, corn starch and sugar.

Nut balls - folks laugh. I don't care what they're called. They're delicious as well. Pecans, butter, flour. Roll in powdered sugar.

Kiss cookies - I love them. They're a little crisp - I was tired making them. Chocolate chip cookie dough without the chocolate chips. I put regular kisses and the cherry cordial kisses on this time. I do hate the individual wrapping, which is why I don't make them every year.

Muffins - this year saw apple, cran-orange and blueberry.

Peanut Butter cookies - still have to make these.

Welsh Cakes - ahhh - another most haven't heard of. Very simple - griddle cookies. You use dried fruit - currants are the traditional, flour, sugar, egg. Roll them out, cut them with a biscuit cutter and flop onto your griddle. Simple. Not too sweet. Just right. I made blueberry, cranberry, and currant.

And while there is significant effort involved, the amount of money is minimal for the amount of joy they bring. I give them to friends and family alike, for so many don't take the time anymore.

Did you know that even doing all of this labor yourself, and using your oven daily, you are still saving an incredible amount of energy, rather than buying premade cookies? Think of the shipment of ingredients, the industrial energy consumed in preparing them, the packaging - the making of the packaging, the shipping to the store, you buying, reboxing and giving out.

Making them yourself is far better for the earth, and your soul! It's wonderful therapy to create so much joy with such simple measures.

Dead Light Bulb Uses

One of the links in This Old House's "green Christmas decorating" had hand painted light bulbs made into ornaments for an ungodly price.

Here are links to more uses for burned out light bulbs. As I come across more, I'll add them.

Leslie

Painting light bulbs
Put a ship in a lightbulb
Salt Shakers
A Vase
Ghastly Ornaments

Christmas Can Be Even Greener

I've got another post on a Green Christmas, but never completed it.
With more and more focus on being "green", the information is coming to me rather than me hunting it down.

This Old House remains in the former economic life with their purchase ideas for decorating.
However, most of the things they show are just as easily made at home!

One idea that I wouldn't buy, but is certainly a great idea - You can also spring for the completely awesome blooming gift wrap (shown, above): attractive biodegradable papers embedded with wildflower seeds your loved ones can literally plant come spring.

Buy Locally
It's just another facet of the "locavore" movement

Buy Nothing
A Canadian Mennonite Initiative!

More Ideas From the UK

Holiday Office Parties You may find one sentance of this article offensive, but it's a worthwhile read.

We use a lot of gift bags - and reuse and reuse and reuse...Here are some ideas for you to try

My Experience
All my life I've made at least some of the gifts I've given to people. Most of the time, I have made them all, but there are times when you just see the perfect gift and there's no way you can make it.
However, all too often, the simple things are the best.

Pot holders - every few years I give potholder that I've made out of old jeans. People love them, they're fire resistant, difficult to destroy, fun, and I'm reusing fabric that wouldn't otherwise get a second lease on life.




Quilts - this isn't something just anyone can do, but it's an idea. I am a scrap quilter - so I use mostly old clothing, but also use scraps of fabric from other quilters who hate saving the bits and pieces. It's rare that I have to buy any fabric.

Christmas Ornaments - bead them, paint them, even wax ones - they're a trick to make, but a cherished for generations.

I used to knit, embroider, and all sorts of other crafts to make useable items, but I haven't done that in quite awhile.

Food - I make pickles, jam, jelly, and applesauce which I give to folks who don't do those things. It makes for a luscious present! I also bake Christmas cookies - the old fashioned ones like macaroons, London short bread, date bars, etc. It's a classic gift that people always love.


Napkins - This year I've made napkins for some. This way they save money on buying paper ones, I get rid of a lot of fabric that I don't have room for, and no trees were cut down. They're fun because they're all different, and rather then hemming them with a basic straight stitch, I use all of the fancy shmancy ones on my sewing machine to make them all more interesting.


Stockings - last year I made 6 stockings for 2 families I'm helping to recover from Katrina. I made them in the same style my great-aunt made our family's. The children will cherish them for years, rather than buying new ones each and every year - foolish! The ones I made are the 4 on the right.

green christmas

Obviously a work in progress...
12/21 - Recycling Your Fresh-cut Tree
http://www.realchristmastrees.org/
Make your Christmas Tree Last Longer
2 parts water
1 part uncaffienated soft drink (or corn syrup/vinegar mix)
1 penny
The acid in the soft drink/vinegar helps both the Christmas tree and cut flowers pull in more water. The sugar feeds the tree/flowers. The water - well - waters the tree/flowers. The penny?! - the penny's copper acts as an antifungal/bacterial/algal.

12/20 - from the Grist
"The Story of Stuff." Another reason to procrastinate Christmas shopping.by Katy Balatero

LED lights:
This site has the best selection
http://www.offthedeepend.com/c-23-led-string-lights.aspx
You can also find these at local stores - all are selling them now at very similar prices.

A Positive Note on LED's From TheGrist.org
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will be lit tomorrow, and then we can no longer deny that The Holiday Season is in full swing. We can, however, feel a little greener while we ogle it, as the towering evergreen will be lit by energy-efficient LED bulbs and powered in part by solar energy.
see also, in Grist: Times Square New Year's Eve ball goes green


11/28
Big-Boxing Day
new in Grist: A gift guide for eco-minded shoppers headed to big-box stores
A gift guide for eco-minded shoppers headed to big-box stores Sure, it would be nice if you could buy everyone on your holiday shopping list a biodegradable, organic, hemp trivet whose proceeds support fair-trade farmers in the developing world. But let's get real -- we don't all have the time or money or inclination to track down gifts of that ilk (and Uncle Hal's never been such a fan of hemp, anyway). That's why Grist hit three big-box stores this year -- Target, Wal-Mart, and Kmart -- to see what kind of green-leaning gifts they offer. Follow expert shoppers Sarah K. Burkhalter and Sarah van Schagen as they prowl the aisles in search of bargains that are good for the planet and good for your wallet. (And if you wouldn't be caught dead in a big-box store, don't start writing that angry letter to the editor yet -- we'll soon be offering unimpeachably green suggestions for a stuff-free holiday.)

Green Christmas Tree (From The Grist.org)
Is there such a thing as an organic Christmas tree? How chemical-intensive is conventional Christmas-tree farming? If I want a Christmas tree, what's the most eco-friendly way to go?
Your fan,Lisa
Seattle, Wash.

Dearest Lisa,
Since you are not only a fan but also my senior editor, who told me you are considering purchasing your own Christmas tree for the very first time this winter, the "Christmas spirit" has suddenly come upon me.

Lisa, there is such a thing as an organic Christmas tree, and there are also Christmas-tree farms that use Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Most Christmas trees, however, are grown using conventional agricultural methods, and the growers regularly spray pesticides for various tree pests, and apply fertilizer to the plots. Why, why do they do this? It's the way they were taught, it's the way the industry works, and switching to organic involves a learning curve, potential product loss, and perhaps little financial reward if you can't find the right market for your trees.
North Carolina Extension measured the amount of active pesticide ingredient applied per tree (1/4 oz. over the tree's lifetime), while other sources point out the real damage organophosphates used on tree farms do to workers and the environment. IPM is a great system of pest management, and may be spreading as an industry practice, but it's usually hard to know if the sidewalk tree sale includes IPM trees.
A few years back I examined the artificial vs. real tree question (that column contains tidbits I will not repeat here), and came down on the side of real trees. Most artificial trees are vinyl Chinese imports (No On Vinyl!), and quite a few contain lead. Christmas party conversation fodder: Christmas décor is apparently one of the largest categories of Chinese imports.

The Rest of her answer
http://grist.org/advice/ask/2007/11/19/?source=weekly


Not finding cheap recycled gift wrap paper. WOW $5 for a 2x3 piece? Plus S&H?! Nope. I don't want to know the energy involved in making it just to say it's out of recycled.
I'd rather use gift bags - which I'll look for tomorrow. Too late now.