With eco and money concerns in the air this year, why not try your hand at some new skills and whip up pocket-book and Earth friendly Christmas gifts and decorations?
Beautiful handmade wreath from Home by Sunset
Sunset has a great article on making home-made wreaths for the holidays using local plants.
Ecobites has got a great list of hand-made Christmas ideas from A-Z, including recipes, craft projects, and just plain good ideas, while TreeHugger has a fun “Give Green to Save Green” holiday guide.
Donate a farm animal to a needy family in the name of someone you love instead of buying them another tie or video game through Heifer International.
Cows for needy people - the gift that keeps on giving.
Forsake traditional wrapping and get creative instead! Use old newspaper or recycle paper, bags and boxes from last year. Try wrapping the Japanese way with re-usable furoshiki (wrapping cloths). Find some more inspiration at EarthEasy and The Daily Yomiuri.
Support DIYers and artists around the country by buying hand-made items over at Etsy or EcoArtware.
~MadSilence
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Some additional DIY Christmas links:
Green Your Gift Wrap from the Sierra Club:
–Nix the trees. Consider easing out of the gift wrap habit by switching to paper and fabrics made of recycled or rapidly renewable plant fibers. Go to nearseanaturals.com for ribbons made of discarded scraps of silk, cotton, and rayon at women’s cooperatives.
–Make it useful. Flower pots, jewelry boxes, and other containers an serve as both gift and packaging. Be sure to choose something your recipients will use: Giving up wrapping paper loses its virtue if you saddle friends with tacky baskets certain to hit the trash once you leave.
And for Green and Gorgeous: Eco Friendly Gift Wrap ranging from stunning recycled paper to hand-twisted ribbon and more try The Daily Green.
2 Comments
December 10, 2008 at 3:21 am
Great ideas! I am trying to gift all hand made by me or other local artist this Christmas. Its great to support other people in your comunity, and many of them are very creative!
December 10, 2008 at 12:52 pm
That’s the spirit, Dowhatyoulove! I’d love to hear what you’ve been making for everyone, I’m always on the lookout for new crafting/cooking ideas ^^