Get CRAFTY On Someone This Holiday Season!
Every year at Christmas my sister and I engage in a sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile, gift-wrapping contest. I’m up against the kind of person who when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up at age 5 would respond with “a gift-wrapper at Macy’s.” She turned out to be an interior designer, but her gift-wrapping skills are quite stellar. She’s elaborate. She’s precise. At times, I questioned whether she spent more money on the wrapping than my actual gift.
Needless to say, I’ve had a Susan Lucci-like losing streak going on for YEARS. However, that ended last year when I got “crafty” on her. It was simple, actually. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to make a winning presentation. I just recycled! I used old blueprints I had lying around to wrap the gifts and used thick red ribbon I had collected from my sister's glorious designs from Christmases past to come up with a classic and original look. Simple. Cheap. Green. Victory!
There are a ton of simple DIY ideas on the web to help you make the holidays a little “greener” this year – and cheaper. Wrap with newspaper, brown paper bags, sheet music, maps, wallpaper scraps or reuse bags and paper saved from last year. Click HERE for other suggestions from USA Today. There are also many gifts you can easily make out of recycled or reused materials. Check out Inhabitat’s GREEN GIFT GUIDE 2009 for plenty of options on presents you can make or purchase. I also found great gift suggestions for the home on The Daily Green blog and in Natural Home Magazine.You can buy similar items around town.
So, remember to get "crafty" this year, shop locally and recycle. Oh, and wish me luck in this year's contest - we have a new "green" theme!
Happy Holidays!
16 December 2009
