My favorite Christmas color is Green
So in procrastination of grading those final exams, I finished all my Christmas gifts for my family (I decided I would only give cards to friends--and Neal now gets to count as family, cool huh?). I was very proud that the only brand new items I used were a few photo prints, some glue and some tape. The rest of the gifts and their packaging were all second hand or crafts from second hand materials--one gift each for four brothers, two moms and one dad and two for a fiancee.
Do you know how to turn a cracker box into a gift box? Let me show you!
You take your humble empty cracker (or cereal or whatever) box
that is made out of that darn chipboard you can't seem to recycle anywhere....
and you pry apart the bottom flaps that are glued down....
And you pull apart the one seam that is glued down the side....
and you will have a flat box....
that should be a nice natural brown color on one side.
Now fold it back into box shape inside out....
And glue it back together in the same spots you pulled it apart.
Sometimes it will want to pop apart
because this box is not used to being inside out.
This can be remedied a bit by creasing the folds
the opposite/new direction before gluing and securing
with bit of reusable masking tape until the glue dries.
You may also need to stick your hand inside the box
to press the edges being glued together.
The end of the box that did not have to be originally pulled apart
should have a tab on it that still works well when the box is inside out.
This feature makes it so you don't have to tape the box shut
once the gift is inside and makes it much easier for
reuse and re-gifting! :)
With a second hand ribbon
(you can find bags full of them at many thrift stores)
Make a pretty little bow (that can be reused again and again).
Wha-lah! No-waste, low-cost gift concealing/decorating!
Inside-out boxes also make great mailers (like flat document envelopes or as boxes)
because the blank sides are great for sticking stamps and writing addresses on.
While some of my gifts are in cracker boxes,
one is wrapped in a brown paper grocery bag, two are in second hand Christmas tins,
one is in a second hand puzzle box (the gifts are hiding in the puzzle pieces, and the puzzle itself is a gift),
one is in a re-used shipping box wrapped in pilfered wrapping paper,
and one, a book, is festive without being wrapped.
The background is my suitcase, into which they were all soon packed.
All my gifts are pretty simple and they are all from Savers Thrift Store--decor items that go with a particular person's interior decorating style, picture frames used to frame well loved shots, games, books, unique pieces of clothing, textiles and nick-knacks used for crafts. All the greeting cards I will be sending out are also from Savers. Including the cards, second hand bows and gift containers but not including my time spent on crafty labors (if time is money, which I don't really believe it is) I spent an estimated 27% of what the gifts and containers/wrapping would have cost brand new. I probably would not have spent more than I did anyways, considering my budget--but the stuff I am giving is a lot more thoughtful, substantial and has a lot smaller footprint that it could have.
You would be surprised how many never-used second hand items there are available if you don't thrift shop much. When I am in that store or others like it I get this feeling *why would anyone ever want to buy something new when there is so much good quality, character-filled stuff to be had at really low prices?* Food, toiletries and undies are about the only items I can bring myself to buy new these days. I have bought a few pieces of furniture and small appliances new since I moved to Albuquerque, but I at least tried to find them second had first, which eased my conscience a little.
Any ideas on how to express this second-hand sentiment to those who may be buying wedding gifts for Neal and I in the future? Any other green seasonal ideas to share?
Do you know how to turn a cracker box into a gift box? Let me show you!
You take your humble empty cracker (or cereal or whatever) box
that is made out of that darn chipboard you can't seem to recycle anywhere....
and you pry apart the bottom flaps that are glued down....
And you pull apart the one seam that is glued down the side....
and you will have a flat box....
that should be a nice natural brown color on one side.
Now fold it back into box shape inside out....
And glue it back together in the same spots you pulled it apart.
Sometimes it will want to pop apart
because this box is not used to being inside out.
This can be remedied a bit by creasing the folds
the opposite/new direction before gluing and securing
with bit of reusable masking tape until the glue dries.
You may also need to stick your hand inside the box
to press the edges being glued together.
The end of the box that did not have to be originally pulled apart
should have a tab on it that still works well when the box is inside out.
This feature makes it so you don't have to tape the box shut
once the gift is inside and makes it much easier for
reuse and re-gifting! :)
With a second hand ribbon
(you can find bags full of them at many thrift stores)
Make a pretty little bow (that can be reused again and again).
Wha-lah! No-waste, low-cost gift concealing/decorating!
Inside-out boxes also make great mailers (like flat document envelopes or as boxes)
because the blank sides are great for sticking stamps and writing addresses on.
While some of my gifts are in cracker boxes,
one is wrapped in a brown paper grocery bag, two are in second hand Christmas tins,
one is in a second hand puzzle box (the gifts are hiding in the puzzle pieces, and the puzzle itself is a gift),
one is in a re-used shipping box wrapped in pilfered wrapping paper,
and one, a book, is festive without being wrapped.
The background is my suitcase, into which they were all soon packed.
All my gifts are pretty simple and they are all from Savers Thrift Store--decor items that go with a particular person's interior decorating style, picture frames used to frame well loved shots, games, books, unique pieces of clothing, textiles and nick-knacks used for crafts. All the greeting cards I will be sending out are also from Savers. Including the cards, second hand bows and gift containers but not including my time spent on crafty labors (if time is money, which I don't really believe it is) I spent an estimated 27% of what the gifts and containers/wrapping would have cost brand new. I probably would not have spent more than I did anyways, considering my budget--but the stuff I am giving is a lot more thoughtful, substantial and has a lot smaller footprint that it could have.
You would be surprised how many never-used second hand items there are available if you don't thrift shop much. When I am in that store or others like it I get this feeling *why would anyone ever want to buy something new when there is so much good quality, character-filled stuff to be had at really low prices?* Food, toiletries and undies are about the only items I can bring myself to buy new these days. I have bought a few pieces of furniture and small appliances new since I moved to Albuquerque, but I at least tried to find them second had first, which eased my conscience a little.
Any ideas on how to express this second-hand sentiment to those who may be buying wedding gifts for Neal and I in the future? Any other green seasonal ideas to share?