myrenovation

By Delana in Art & Design, Home & Garden, Tricks & Hacks

(image via: wockerjabby)

If you’ve waited a bit too long to take care of the people on your holiday gift list, worry not. Our friends at Treehugger and Planet Green have put together a wealth of information for eco-friendly gifts you can find in stores or make yourself. No matter who you’re shopping or making for, you’ll find the perfect something here.

The Ultimate 2009 Gift Guide

(image via: greenlagirl)

Treehugger’s annual holiday gift guide is always chock full of the most impressive green gifts, and this year is no exception. The 2009 Gift Guide has recommendations for kids, animal lovers, cooks, geeks, and everyone else in your life. Bonus green points if you wrap them in recycled paper, like the one above that’s wrapped in an old bus map.

DIY Gift Guides

(image via: ex.libris)

If you’d prefer to make your own holiday gifts, or if your budget doesn’t allow a lot of wiggle room, Planet Green has an amazing series on DIY gifts that are easy on the environment. Pore through their guides for Music Lovers/Musicians, Gardeners, Pets, Artists, Bartenders (or drinkers), Kids, and more. The entire series of green DIY Holiday Workshops can be found here.

Charities

(image via: Tattooed JJ)

If you’re tired of the rampant consumerism that threatens to take over the holiday season, do something different this year and donate to a charity in your loved one’s name instead of buying yet another knick-knack that will just collect dust. These seven charities let you give a gift that you can feel truly good about.

DIY Ornaments/Decorations

(image via: Artful Danni)

Holiday ornaments and decorations are gifts that keep giving year after year. Every year your loved ones will pull out the handmade ornaments you gave them and think of you. What better way to show your eternal love? These three projects show you how to turn discarded outdoor lights, kids’ toys, and even walnut shells into pretty decorations. You can recycle two wool sweaters into a gorgeous felted holiday stocking with these instructions. For all those catalogs and ads you’re likely to have lying around this time of year, here’s a great project that will show you how to make lovely paper ornaments. Whether you have kids or not, these DIY dough decorations are super-fun to make. Can’t get enough of the DIY ornament craziness? Head over to DIY Life and About.com for even more ornaments you can make yourself.

Living Gifts

(image via: Ava Babili)

Poinsettias are the fall-back gift for a lot of people, but a shocking number of them are thrown away right after the holidays. Here are six plants that are just as festive and beautiful, but that will last much longer.

With all of the traveling, gift-buying, and eating associated with the holidays, this may not be the easiest time of year to stay green. These sites offer a few tips for keeping the environment in mind this holiday season, from last-minute gifts to ideas for dealing with old Christmas trees.

Christmas recycling:
This video from February 2009 offers a few ideas for what to do with your Christmas tree once the holidays are over. Also included are tips on recycling wrapping and packaging supplies to be used again next year.
http://www.videojug.com/webvideo/christmas-recycling

Eco-friendly Christmas:
In this video from 2008, Garden Girl Patti Moreno suggests buying a potted tree that can be replanted after the holidays, then shows you how to create environmentally-friendly tree decorations.
http://www.videojug.com/film/eco-friendly-christmas-part-one

Included in part two are a few DIY gifts using easy-to-find supplies.
http://www.videojug.com/film/eco-friendly-christmas-part-two

How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree:
At Inhabitat's popular site for green design, find out where you can donate a Christmas tree after the holidays, to be used for making everything from toys to vaccines.
http://www.inhabitots.com/2008/12/17/how-to-recycle-your-christmas-tree/

Also visit Inhabitat's Green Gift Guide for a few DIY ideas, including some that can be done even at the last minute.
http://greenholidaygiftguide.inhabitat.com/diy-gifts/

You'd be surprised how much you can do when you put your mind to it. There are home improvement projects you can take on with very little help from educational resources or anyone else. But if you need someone's help, you don't have to hire an expensive expert. Learn the various ways you can get inexpensive help for the home improvement projects you've been promising yourself for years.

1. Your local hardware store will most likely have books of all kinds from fixing the roof to building your own porch. These manuals more often than not cover everything from whether or not you need a building permit to the preparations you need to make before you start building. These are very important things to know if you are going to do a project yourself. That way, you make fewer mistakes and you definitely don't make the kinds of mistakes that might cause you to have to tear your home improvement project apart and start over.
2. Find your materials from home improvement or home building projects that are taking place in your town or the local area. I know of contractors who charge for hauling, and then those same contractors use the excess materials they have hauled for other projects they have been hired to do. When you approach the home owner or the business owner who is paying for the building project, you just may find yourself with a magnificent deal that might include you hauling away the excess materials for free. Then, you have free materials for your own home improvement project.
3. Contact your local high schools to hire the experts you need. When you are doing your own home improvement project, you may only need some help and it would be great if your help had some knowledge of the building process. If you contact your local high schools, you might be able to find a vocational technology department where you can ask the teacher to allow you to get in contact with a few students they recommend. If you do your project in the summer, in the evenings, or on the weekend, you just may be able to find yourself a knowledgeable person who can help you with your home improvement project.
4. Contact local contractors who may have just laid people off because of the tight economy. It doesn't mean that the person who was laid off isn't knowledgeable in home improvement. It just means that a contract had to make cuts for the benefit of the rest of the company. You might be able to find yourself a very appreciative home improvement expert to help you do the job you've been promising yourself for years.

We normally look for help in the normal ways. But when money is tight, creative ideas start flowing. When you have a home improvement project that you would like to complete, you don't have to spend massive amounts of money for a home improvement expert in your area. There are ways to save money and help others in the process.

An e-card or a mobile greeting wouldn't be appropriate for every sender or recipient of a romantic Christmas card but those that are most at home when plugged in may really appreciate romantic e-cards or original mobile greetings.

Those who are going green and committed to an eco-friendly life may also appreciate romantic e-cards or mobile greetings that are paper free.

The last category that may need to check out Hallmark romantic e-cards for the holidays or new mobile greetings are those that have procrastinated and are just recognizing the need to get a romantic Christmas card delivered at the last minute. While not everyone will think an e-card or a mobile greeting is super-romantic, it may be better than nothing and it might just keep you out of the doghouse over the Christmas holiday.

Spotlight on Hallmark e-cards and mobile greetings:

You can send free e-cards from a variety of web sites but if you're looking for a great variety of e-card and mobile messages, Hallmark really does have the best. Hallmark's e-cards are high quality and unique and yes, there are .99 cents. Whether you're looking for traditional e-cards like the Thomas Kincade line, funny romantic cards featuring the likes of Lucille Ball, cute e-cards that feature characters like Peanuts or Scooby Doo or Christian e-cards that focus on the Holy Night, Hallmark has the best. There are also a great variety of unique romantic mobile greetings available from Hallmark for .99 cents each.

DIY Romantic Christmas Cards: Printable Romantic Christmas Card Templates

Printable Christmas card templates are another option for creating a romantic card if you have a decent printer. You can download and print Christmas card templates ahead of time and add your own embellishments, poems or letters or yes, printable Christmas card templates are another option for romantic holiday wishes at the “last minute.” With printable Christmas card templates, you choose a holiday theme card and personalize it for your special romance.

Where can you find printable Christmas card templates?

Cannon's Creative Park Printable Christmas Cards- FREE

Hallmark Printable Christmas cards templates- .99 cents each

DIY Romantic Christmas Cards: Homemade Christmas Cards

You can create a romantic Christmas cards using recycled materials from home including scraps of paper bags, envelopes, magazine cut outs, ribbons, tissue paper, Christmas gift-wrap or buttons.

Use crisp writing felt tips for personal messages, use a hole puncher to add ribbons and use crinkling scissors to make scalloped edges.

If you need a head start with art, check out the scrap booking section of the arts and crafts store where you'll find paper stock, stickers, stampers, charms and more.

Create you own romantic message like “Meet Me Under the Mistletoe!” and you're good to go. Add a mist of your own perfume, body spray or cologne so that the card reminds your love of you in more ways than one.

Need envelopes for your homemade Christmas cards?

If you have a good color printer and want to print a unique Christmas themed envelope for your romantic Christmas card, Cannon's Creative Park web site offers a good selection under “winter.” Click here to see Cannon's free Christmas envelope templates.

What can make a DIY Christmas card really romantic? Create a “pocket” inside from paper. There's even scrap booking paper that looks like denim if you want to get really fancy. Stick two tickets in the pocket to a ball game, movie or concert. Now your romantic card is also a gift and an invitation.