I love the holidays! The darkness contrasted by the bright lights. The friends, the family and all of the amazing food. It truly is a happy time.
The one thing that isn't so happy is all of the waste people all over the world create during this time. For Americans, that waste equals to an extra 25 million tonnes from Thanksgiving to the New Year. Read more about it here plus get some awesome waste reduction tips. That 25 million tonnes is just from people in the United States so when you consider the rest of the world, it is a staggering amount of garbage.
But you can still have an incredible holiday while being mindful. One of the ways I like to ensure our waste is kept to a minimum every year is by having some reusable decorations (nothing too crazy, just one tub!) mixed with fresh greenery that I remake every year and then put in the green waste bin in January to be mulched and repurposed.
The two main decorations I like to make are Little Evergreen Trees and one Garland for the mantelpiece. They are both extremely simple, festive, FREE and dare I say...classy?!
For both of these decorations you will need tree boughs. Ask any place that sells Christmas Trees for their leftover boughs. For the Evergreen Trees, you will also need a few tree trunk chunks (they also are free as they are cut off from trees people have already bought). Save these trunk chunks to be reused for future years.
To Make Little Evergreen Trees:
-Drill a hole in the tree trunk chunk and tie a silly ribbon around it (this would look far more festive with something red or white!)
-Cut off a branch of the bough that looks like a little Christmas Tree. Trim off any needles on your mini tree "trunk" and then insert into the drilled hole. Sometimes I have to strip the branch a bit to get it into the hole- that's totally fine.
-I like to create a little woodland scene with foraged pinecones (aren't all pinecones foraged?!) and little Santas from my mother's former collection. The dog is not impressed but I think it's adorable.
To Make a Classic Garland:
-You will need free tree boughs and some wire. I have wire that I've reused for a few years now but if you are in need of wire, you can strip the large twisty ties you get on produce and are hopefully stock piling like the good little Zero Waster that you are. Twist the ends together of the stripped produce wire and until you have a piece long enough to make your garland.
-Take your boughs and trim off branches. Look for the longer, narrow ones but adding a few of the wider works, too (they add a nice contrast look). Take one piece and on the stem of that branch, layer another piece on top. Secure wire on the first piece and wrap the wire once around the second branch in a place where it can be discreetly tucked away so the wire isn't visible. Repeat with another piece of branch and more wire.
-After you get to the length you want, pick an end piece and lay in the opposite direction to hide the twiggy ends of your garland. Secure in place with wire and tuck excess wire away.
-You can dress up your garland with pinecones, figurines, ribbons, or some lights (Or all of the above! The world is your holiday oyster.) This year, because we have an outlet on the mantel and an extra string of lights, I twined the lights around the garland. Once I had the garland in place I untucked some of the garland to hide the green connective wire from the lights.
I have seen garlands similar to this one going over $200.00 on hoity-toity design sites so your beautiful garland that you made for nothing should be something that you feel good about.
Thanks for reading and happy holidays!
Comments