What to Do with Your Tree AFTER Christmas

Warrior4Serenity's Eco Blog: What to Do with Your Tree AFTER Christmas

Eco Friendly Last Minute Gift Wrapping Ideas

Save that last minute trip to the mall
 and choose a green option this year get creative with your recyclables.

Living here in Northern Michigan we have many options to add from our environment. Like this fresh cedar with twine. Simple yet elegant. 100% compostable.

         

                                                                              

If we have any hope of finding ways for seven billion people to live well on planet with finite resources, we have to learn to use our resources efficiently. Plastic bags are neither efficient nor environmentally friendly.           

We Are All One - An Inspiring Short Film To Watch - YouTube

We Are All One - An Inspiring Short Film To Watch - YouTube:

'via Blog this'

Green Christmas

What are you doing to ensure a greener Christmas for you and your family?

Progress in My Quest

It is official. I have just completed my second semester at Ashford University with a 4.0 in my Environmental Science undergraduate program. 

Eco-Friendly LED Lighting

If your strands of lights are older than 10 years it will be more efficient to replace them with newer, LED bulbs. They can also save you up to 90% or more on power costs and will last longer than traditional bulbs.

Millions of lights are purchased each year and millions of dollars spent electrifying our yards. Statistics given by Dow Jones say lighting a six-foot Christmas tree 12 hours a day for 40 days can cost anywhere from $25 for the larger incandescent bulbs to under $1 for LED strands. Lighting your lawn can cost in the hundreds (or more), depending on your taste, budget and bulbs.

A typical house full-out decorated with tons of incandescent lights, motorized characters and lots of lit objects might use, say 2,500 watts, which costs 28 cents an hour. Over 40 days that would cost the homeowner with incandescent lights about $135.

But the equation changes with LED lights. Most incandescent bulbs last about 1,000 hours, while the majority of LEDs burn for 50,000 hours. And each bulb gives up to 10 times more energy. For example, the amount of electricity consumed by just one 7-watt incandescent bulb could power 140 LEDs — enough to light two 24-foot strings.

Furthermore, LEDS don’t break nearly as easily and many of them come with a three-year warranty. Oh, did I mention that LEDS stay cool, reducing the risk of fire.

So, what I really want to say to all of you – all of us – who resist the hues on the LEDs is: Get Over It! • Use LED lights for house and Christmas tree lighting

LED (Light Emitting Diode) holiday lights use up to 95% less energy than larger, traditional holiday bulbs and last up to 100,000 hours when used indoors. LED holiday lights use .04 watts per bulb, 10 times less than mini bulbs and 100 times less than traditional holiday bulbs. Over a 30-day period, lighting 500 traditional holiday lights will cost you about $18.00 while the same number of LED lights costs only $0.19. As an added bonus, if one of the LED lights burns out the rest of the strand will stay lit.

• Outdoor Mini-lights will also save energy

A 100-light string uses only 40 watts. If you're buying a new set of lights, compare based on equal 'lighted lengths'. Some higher priced brands have 100 mini-lights for only 8 1/2 feet of length, while some 100 mini-light strings cover up to 40 feet in length. For the most efficient outdoor holiday lighting, consider the new solar LED strings now available.

• Turn tree lights and outdoor house decorative lighting at bedtime

It's simply a waste of energy to leave the holiday lights on at night after everyone's gone to sleep.

Replace Burnt Out Bulbs:

Too many perfectly good lights are thrown away when a single bulb bursts. Spend the time to find and replace the culprit or invest in a bulb tester (that can be shared between multiple families).

Utilize Timers:

All your Christmas lights should be on timers, from the strands adorning your trees to the lights outside. Don't count on remembering to turn them off after a long day and plug the lights into a timer that remembers for you. Light timers can be found at any hardware store.

Hand Print Christmas Art

Here is a great way to spend a chilly day with the kids.
 Making hand print art for Christmas. 
This would make a nice tradition. 

          You could include hand-print cut outs of all the kids to make this wreath.

       Mom and Dad can also be part of the fun by adding their own hand prints 

This canvas print is my favorite

Thumb prints in a bright color would make a nice addition as ornaments

                 This tree could be on a card or canvas

Santa Dough Ornament

 Here is another fun way to include the kids.

Recycle Shopping Bags into Bows for Gifts

What you’ll need:

• paper shopping bags
• scissors
• ruler
• double-sided tape
• brown or white craft paper



How to do it:
Cut your shopping bag into nine long
strips, each ¾ inches wide. Next, measure and cut the length. You’ll need three that are 11 inches long, three that are 10 inches long, two that are 9 inches long and 1 that is 3 ½ inches long. Using one strip of paper at a time, twist each end toward the center until they meet in the middle and create a loop. Secure the ends in place with the double-sided tape. Repeat with the remaining eight strips, except for the 3 ½-inch strip; loop that one into a circle.Starting with the three longest strips of paper, begin stacking the loops in descending order of size. Stick each loop in place with tape. Finish with the circle loop in the center.

Attach your bow on top of a wrapped package.
For added eco-friendly pizazz, reuse the string bag  handles in lieu of traditional ribbon.


                                                                                  

Christmas is for the Birds

A great way to include the kids while caring for wildlife. 

Snowman/snow girl for the birds. 

We used stale doughnuts and cranberry's for her buttons 

Bagel smothered in chunky peanut-butter the rolled in seed.

 Simple red ribbon and your ready to hang on a tree limb

            Fruit garland  is always a real treat for birds  who need the extra food source to combat the extreme cold.  And it looks stunning on a tree outside.

                              My personal favorite is using pine-cones rolled in peanut-butter and seeds.

                                                                   The birds love this one.

The following is a post from  Suzanne Hallabrin  

She includes some easy recipes for making suet and bird treats.

Wintertime can be tough on everyone. I, for one, do not like the cold. But imagine being a bird stuck outside with nowhere to go to get warm. And to make matters worse, food is quite scarce during the winter months. Why not spread a little holiday cheer to our bird friends by creating a Christmas tree full of delicious treats made especially for our feathered friends.

This can be a fun family project that all can participate in, and everyone will get to see the fruits of their labor long after the holiday has passed. This can become a family tradition

When we think of a Christmas tree, we usually think of a pine tree, so if you have one, of course this works best, but if not, any old tree will do. We are going to make three different kinds of ornaments to hang on this bird Christmas tree, and we'll also string some garland to hang around the branches.

Materials that you will need:

• Sliced sandwich bread
• Egg Whites
• Bird Seed
• Twine or Raffia
• Cookie Cutters
• Ice pick or sharp stick

The first ornament we will make is from sliced sandwich bread. For this thin sliced works best, but regular bread will also do. If you have a day old bread store in your area this works great and is easy on the wallet.

Simply place each slice of bread on a flat surface and cut out your shape with a large cookie cutter. You will probably be able to get one ornament from each slice of bread.

To make the hole in the top of each ornament use an ice pick or a sharp stick such as one you use to make a kabob. Thru this you can string the twine or raffia to hang it from the tree branch.

Brush one side of the bread with egg white. This is the "glue" for keeping the bird seed on the bread ornament. Sprinkle the egg white covered bread with the bird see. I think the best bird seed to use is a seed mixture. This variance in shape and texture makes the ornaments more interesting. You will also attract a wider variety of birds with a mixture. Our little feathered friends each have their own preference when it comes to dining.

Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees. Place the seed covered ornaments on a baking sheet, and bake for about 5 minutes. You need to bake only long enough to adhere the bird seed to the egg covered bread.

Take a piece of twine or raffia and string it through the hole that you made in the top of the ornament. Then tie a knot to create a loop to hang it from a branch by.

The second ornaments we will make are bird seed balls. These can be a little messy to make so if you cover your work area with newspaper, it will save you a lot of clean up time.

Materials:

• Newspaper
• 2 Plastic bowls
• Spoon
• 1 pound of Crisco
• 1 16 ounce jar of smooth peanut butter
• 5 cups of corn meal
• 6 cups of uncooked oats
• 3 cups of raisins
• 3 cups of unshelled sunflower seeds
• 5-6 straight pieces of floral wire heavy enough to hold ball. (You will need more if you make smaller balls)
• Twine or raffia

Mix the Crisco, six cups of oats, one jar of peanut butter, one cup of sunflower seeds, one cup of raisins and five cups of corn meal together in a large plastic bowl. Use a spoon to stir the mixture. You can also use your hands if the spoon does not work well for you.

Pack the mixture into balls. These should be very firm and hard packed. Make the balls as small or as large as you would like. Mix the remaining sunflower seeds and raisins together in the second bowl. Roll each ball into the mixture until well coated. Run a piece of the floral wire through the cent of the ball from top to bottom and bring around the outside to form a loop at the top from which you can hang from the tree. You can use a piece of twine or raffia in the loop. Place in refrigerator for an hour to firm up, then hang from tree branches.

Our last ornament will be peanut butter and bird seed pine cones. For these you will need the following materials:

• 1 cup of lard or Crisco
• 1 1/2 cups of crunch peanut butter
• 1 cup of corn meal
• 1 cup of bird seed
• Twine or raffia
• Large pine cones

Melt one cup of lard or Crisco in the microwave in a plastic bowl. Add the 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter. Blend mixture together well, and let stand 5-10 minutes.

Add one cup of corn meal and one cup of bird seed to mixture, and stir until well mixed.

Tie a piece of raffia or twine to the top of each pine cone, making sure it is long enough to be tied to a tree branch. Take the mixture and press into the openings in the pine cone, making sure to cover the entire cone, in the peanut butter mixture. Hang on tree.

Last but not least in decorating our Christmas tree for the birds, we need to string some garland. The materials we need for this are:

• 2 bags of fresh cranberries
• Several batches of popped pop corn
• 6 oranges sliced
• 6 apples sliced and cut in half
• Raffia (as long as you want your garland to be)

String your garland alternating with the cranberries and popcorn, and then placing an orange or apple slice every so often. You can use any design of your own choosing. There is no wrong or right way when it comes to alternating your fruit and popcorn on the garland. Just string and place around the tree.

Now watch the birds enjoy this wonderful gift you have given them!

Suzanne Hallabrin is an avid crafter who enjoys passing tips and tricks on to other crafters.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzanne_Hallabrin

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5325032

Earth Friendly Christmas Ornaments

Simple Green Ideas for your tree

Here is a great way to re-use last seasons greeting cards

Simple at its best

                                            CD or DVD what a beautiful way to up-cycle

These are basic silver but with so many fun colors out there you can get really creative

Christmas Tree Alternatives

There are many reasons why you might want to skip a traditional Christmas tree and look for alternatives. Maybe you've just moved into a smaller place and there's no room for a tree. Maybe you don't like the idea of cutting down a tree for a decoration; or perhaps you hate the plastic-smell of an artificial tree.

 Whatever your reason for not having a Christmas tree, I am here to offer you alternatives--ideas outside the box that allow you to still display your ornaments, but in a new and fun way.

This Frame Tree is one of my favorites

Stay tuned for some creative earth friendly gift giving ideas. Every day this December I will add a new gift or food idea for all my readers wanting to be a little greener.