Turn Dead Christmas Lights into Napkin Rings!

Yesterday I finally replaced the broken lights with working ones for my mini Christmas, which I then set up in my studio. If you decorate for Christmas, like me, chances are you've tossed out plenty of dead light strings over the years. After all, they are so cheap now, it's just not worth the time to inspect every bulb to find the one that needs replacing. So, last night I thought I'd come up with a project to recycle these lights into some festive holiday table decor.

I remembered back in grade school, we used to make napkin rings for Christmas out of toilet paper tubes and yarn. We'd cut about a 1" ring off the tube, wrap yarn around the whole thing, and then staple a little piece of garland on for some decoration. (I hope to offer some junk mail napkin rings on Junk Mail Gems in the near future too!) This childhood project spurred another idea for me to make napkin rings out of lights. To keep in the Christmas theme, I used a cardboard wrapping paper tube instead of a toilet paper tube, but either will work. Here are the raw materials...things you find most people toss out during the holidays:



The first thing you have to do is separate the light string. These mini lights are made up of two wires, twisted together. You'll have to take a scissors or wire cutter and cut off the plug, then cut the other end open. Un-twisting them takes some time to do, but I found it easier if I wrapped what I separated as I went. I wrapped around more pieces of wrapping paper tube, which also gave me something to hold on to while I un-twirled the wires. I basically sat on the couch with my foot on the cord, spinning these two tubes around each other and rolling as they separated:



Once they are separated, use a pair of scissors to cut some 1" thick rings off of the wrapping paper tube, and start wrapping with lights! This takes a little time as well, as the lights tend to catch as they pass through the tube. But, it's a great project to do while watching TV, or to keep your kids occupied! Make sure the wires are closely pushed together as you go. I found it helped to crease them around each bend with my fingers as well. Once you get to the end, simply tie the end to a piece of the beginning, hiding the knot inside if you can.

This I believe was a 50-light string, so not a big one. In the end I got two napkin rings out of it:


Insert napkin and place on the plate... Voila! A beautiful, festive table setting for your Christmas dinner! These lights are clear, but it would be very cool with colored lights. I even thought of painting each bulb to add some color, but I think they still turned out pretty cool!

Now go out there and get yourself some LED lights to replace the dead ones, and you're set!

Have Yourself A Green Little Christmas!

It's hard to believe we are approaching Thanksgiving this week already, especially when I see that my last blog posting was on Halloween! Shame, shame on me. But, I have been busy putting out our holiday e-newsletter, fulfilling Junk Mail Gems orders for those of you who are early holiday shoppers like me...and, doing my own holiday shopping! (I've also been making a lot of fun gifts this year, but I can't tell you about those yet in case any of the receivers are reading!) Here are some ways to green-up your holiday!

Green Gifts:
Junk Mail Gems, of course, has a ton of cool gift ideas:

Hand rolled paper beads for the crafty beader,
One-of-a-kind junk mail jewelry for those eco-conscious women in your life,
Recycled speaker cable jewelry for the stereo guru,
Hand woven junk mail wallets great for men, women, teens & adults,
Woven junk mail bookmarks for the bookworm,
and many cool magnets for anyone who has a fridge or cubicle!

Be sure to check out my links page for a bunch of my favorite places to find unique and green gifts online!


Got friends who already have it all? Why not give to a charity in their name through places like Charity Gifts? You can even give a goat! I have a few of those people on my list who have everything, but I bet they don't have an adopted polar bear.

And don't forget that you can always make a gift! There are many great ideas out there on the web for making gifts and hand made gifts are always extra special. I know my family looks forward to my husband's home made wine every year, and I've always enjoyed making ornaments and personalized items for my friends and family. Check out my DIY project links on the right hand column of this blog for more ideas!

Gift Wrap:

National Geographic says, "...if every family reused just 2 feet [0.6 meter] of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet." Some things that can easily be re-used are bows, gift bags, tissue paper, ribbon, and boxes! A lot of the gift wrap itself can be used again too if it is not shredded when opened. Gift tags can be made out of last year's holiday cards as well. There are many great ways to recycle and make your own creative gift wrap here!

Decorations:

I could not imagine Christmas in my home without a real tree. Maybe it's because I grew up with a real tree every year, or maybe it's just because my hyper-active sense of smell just loves fresh pine. Christmas trees are grown in farms, specifically for that purpose, so you are not chopping down forests. While they need to be purchased annually, a locally bought tree is much greener than their artificial counterparts, which consume a lot of energy and petrolium-based materials to make! And, who says you need to toss it to the curb when you're done? You can find a local tree recycling facility using Earth 911, or recycle it yourself by turning it into mulch or firewood. Still not comfortable chopping down a tree? Why not plant one in your front yard and have an outdoor tree year after year?!

How about lights? Whether you put up one string of lights or go all Grizwold on your property, you can cut down on the energy you use by plugging your holiday lights into a timer.

And don't forget about our tutorial for turning old holiday cards into ornaments!

Holiday Cards:

Botanical Paperworks has some really beautiful seed cards. If you are not familiar with these, they are cards made out of hand made paper, with real seeds embedded in the paper...meaning that you can actually plant the card and have it grow! They also have plant-able gift tags and party favor cards that look like they could double as little paper ornaments.

Other alternatives if you want to completely eliminate the whole physical card thing would be to send an e-card. If you don't want to use one of those free e-card sites with ready-made cards, you can always make your own electronic newsletter or email with photos and news. Or, how about actually picking up the phone and wishing everyone a merry Christmas "in person?" It may be time consuming if you have a huge list, but would surely be memorable to those people you don't see very often!

These are just a few ways that you can green your holidays...feel free to share your own suggestions with your comments, and have a happy Thanksgiving!