Dandelionlady
At least it did in my house, with the leftovers from the Christmas kids explosion of bags and bows and those annoying little twist ties that is the bane of pre-coffee parenthood. Still life moves on, and many of us are spending the day surrounded by the debris.
Don’t let all that good stuff just go to waste though! You earned all those little twist ties! Don’t throw away the best twist ties money can buy, because you can’t buy them you know.
The long twist ties are awesome for tying up summer tomato plants, and the little ones are great for crafting, they’re far sturdier than the junky ones from the store.
I have a box that I keep tissue paper in for craft projects. It’s amazingly useful for all sorts of things, it has a great translucency when glued and is wonderfully light addition to wreaths and decorations. Also tissue paper is super good for paper mache, because you can layer the papers and they show through each other to make new patterns.
The boxboard is great for cutting up for ATC’s or making wreath forms.
I admit, I just recycle the wrapping paper and some of the boxboard too. But really I do store some of the nicer boxes for shipping, and I swear, I was almost as excited by the biodegradable packing peanuts I got in the mail as the gift! (I let the kids build with them. Just damp then ends and they stick together.) I hate the waste that goes with this time of year, and I try to find a balance between my family’s generous gift giving and my desire to live a simple, sustainable life. So do me a favor and take a couple of minutes today to sort out the wrapping paper from the bows and ribbons, the boxboard from the plastic bits and get your recycling ready to go. 🙂
So what do you use your gift garbage for?
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