6 Tips for a Reusable Christmas

It doesn't quite feel like Christmas until you're packed into a room with your family and friends, wading through a sea of wrapping paper, boxes, cards, and all the other trimmings. Instead of throwing out all those great items, why not turn them into something beautiful or useful for your next holiday party? We've compiled six ways for you to reuse during the holiday season to cut down on waste.

1. Christmas trees made out of wrapping paper - All you need is leftover gift wrap and glue or tape to make some ornaments or decorations to put on your gifts. Just cut several lengths of gift wrap, each 1/2 inch shorter than the last and each about 1 inch wide. Roll the long edges toward each other and tape them together, letting them overlap slightly. Once all the pieces have been rolled, glue them together, with the shortest piece at the top and the longest at the bottom. You can trim the edges to form the tree into a triangle or leave them as-is. A little bit of crafting and you have a cute gift topper or ornament for your tree! Check out Her Tool Belt for more detailed instructions

2. Reuse gift boxes - This Christmas when you get clothes or other gifts wrapped in gift boxes, reuse them. The possibilities are endless: store ornaments, wrap gifts, keep pictures, use for crafting, and much more! If the boxes aren't Christmas-themed, you can use them throughout the year.

3. New gift tags from old cards - This reuse craft couldn't be any simpler! If you have old, used Christmas cards from years past sitting around, all you need is a pair of scissors, a hole punch, and some ribbon or string to make cute gift bag tags. Simply cut a cute image out of your old card, punch a hole in the top, string ribbon through the hole, and tie the ends together around a gift bag handle. Write your "To" and "From" on the back and put the gift under the tree!

4. Make cards from old materials - There is always a ton of tissue paper and ribbons leftover once everyone has opened their presents, so why not turn them into something new? Grab some construction paper or card stock, tissue paper, ribbon, and glue and get creative! You and your kids will have fun making beautiful new Christmas cards out of reused materials. 

5. Use old decorations to make new ones - Do you have any plastic floral arrangements that could be given a new life? Take one of those plastic holly branches, put it inside an old clear glass ornament, and glue some bits of ribbon around the outside. Get creative as you take apart your old decorations and turn them into something new and beautiful.

6. Wrapping paper wreath - Need another way to reuse that mountain of wrapping paper? Check out this great tutorial from Instructables on how to make a wreath out of used Christmas wrap. Here are even more reusable Christmas wreath ideas using old Christmas cards and glass balls from Good Housekeeping.

We hope you enjoy these tips about how to have a reusable Christmas! How do you reuse during the holiday season?

- Marissa (Volunteer)