Environment

Decorate the Tree the Green Way

by josiemitchell | December 13, 2008 at 03:17 pm

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Decorating the tree either means you have to go out and buy a whole bunch of new ornaments or rummage through piles of boxes to unearth old dusty ones. If you don't have the budget to buy new ones or were thinking about de-cluttering this holiday season then perhaps these homemade ornament ideas would be of help. They're more or less temporary and are great to get the kids involved or any holiday guest for that matter (entertain the in-laws perhaps).

Paper chain
Cut up construction paper, old Christmas cards or even used ribbon and tape together links in a chain.

String popcorn
Here’s an old-time favorite: Pop up a bowl of popcorn, thread a needle with fishing line and string the kernels on the fishing line to make an easy and inexpensive garland for your tree. To add some color, intersperse the popcorn with whole cranberries. After the holidays, hang the garland outdoors for the birds.

Tree topper and stars
Recycle those cardboard shirt boxes and use them to make cut-out stars or snowflakes, then brighten with glued-on glitter.

Dried hydrangea blooms
Dried flowers or dried seed heads from any garden plant can be spray-painted and tucked inside the tree as colorful accents.

Salt dough ornaments
Simple ingredients from your kitchen turn flour, salt and water into adorable ornaments. Use a cookie cutter or make them into any shape you want, then bake, cool and paint them. Stored in plastic containers, you can reuse them next year, and even repaint them if you want to change the color theme.