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Because I love Christmas
Origins of Santa Claus
Frugal Articles
Christmas Decorating for Less
Articles published elsewhere
Funky, Free and Frugal Christmas Decorations
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Recycle Those Old Christmas DecorationsSalvage broken and tired Christmas decorationsby Pat Veretto Decorating for Christmas? As you pull Christmas ornaments and other decorations out of storage and make decisions about using or replacing them, don't forget about recycling them. Worn or broken decorations can be the inspiration and basis for new ones, but don't stop there. There are many things you can recycle to make a frugal Christmas look like you spent the day at the mall shopping instead of at home creating. Has your old artificial Christmas tree finally bit the dust? Don't throw it out before recycling useable limbs and other pieces. If the wire is bendable with pliers, make wreaths or sprays from them, or twist them around poles or make other decorations with them. Even if the wire is too stiff to manipulate into other shapes, you can clip and/or camouflage the wire ends (tape them to keep from scratching) and arrange them on the mantle or piano or coffee table. Broken tinsel and garlands can be made into swag decorations for a doorway, inside or out. Fasten with a tack and a string. Tie the string to the tack and pass it around the garland, pushing it deep enough so that it's not noticeable, then tie the loose end to the tack and nail the tack into the wall. Use as many as you need to hold the garland in place. Put bits of broken garland or tinsel in a bowl of ornaments, apples, nuts or other decorative items. Did you wind up with a lot of leftover, partly used Christmas candles? Trim them and group them together on a small serving tray or platter. If the only platter you have is pink and blue or you only have an aluminum pie tin, camouflage it by heaping bits of broken garland or tinsel. Mix in nuts, pinecones, cinnamon sticks, dry Christmas potpourri, tiny toys or greenery. Because an ornament is broken doesn't mean it can't be used in another way. We have an angel ornament that was designed to top a small Christmas tree. It came as part of a light set, with a light coming through the back and lighting up the angel's face. The light strand is long gone, but we put the angel on a tree branch and push one of our mini lights through the opening. It makes a beautiful ornament. If you break a glass ball, the kind with a metal or plastic loop with prongs, save the loop. You can use it to grip a styrofoam ball or other shape by pushing it firmly into the styrofoam. Or use it to replace a missing one! You have to match sizes to make them fit, but it's easy to pinch it together and insert in into the neck of the ornament. Ornaments that are missing the wire loop top can be recycled by simply displaying then in a glass bowl or used in a greenery arrangement (made from pieces of your old artificial tree?) for mantle or coffee table. Cut a piece of cardboard from a box, and cover with foil or wrapping paper, then arrange greenery and ornaments on it. A spot of hot glue here and there will keep things in place. If you saved boxes of various sizes to make wrapping gifts easier, make them into gift boxes. If the box has print or other markings, cover it with gift wrap, newspaper, brown paper, or even the blank sides of junk mail. If you have a plain box, or if you've covered one with plain paper, decorate it freehand or with stencils or stamps, or cut out holiday clip art from newspapers or advertising and glue it on. If you brush on a mix of half white glue and half water, the decorations will stay on better and the box will last longer. A home made gift box can be used over and over. Don't throw out those old ornaments and bits and pieces then go buy new ones when you can make your own new ones! Back to Christmas! |
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