Recycled Holiday Cheer

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Many of you, like me, are probably at home during this time of the year. 

Time with family is great, don't get me wrong! I like playing cribbage and electronic Battleship as much as the next guy.

But after the first couple of days of being surrounded by loved ones, that creeping feeling sinks back in...

...Must...craft...something...

So like Gollum to the Ring, I'm back, baby!

Why not spread some extra holiday cheer with these eco-friendly projects from "up-cycled" materials?

Materials:

1 string of small LED Christmas lights, 50ct (classic white shown here)

1 cardboard shirt box

Hot glue gun

Estimated cost: Practically free (~4$ for lights)

Time commitment: The time it takes to wrap 10 presents

Carbon footprint: I have no idea how to calculate this

Just to clarify the title of this post, it's the material that is recycled. Not the holiday cheer. That should be genuine.

First, breakdown your cardboard shirt box (you know, one of those boxes that they use to wrap up clothing from Macy's, etc. for the holidays). Use binder clips to hold the top, bottom and sides of the shirt box in place on top of one another, like so.

Now, trace out a festive holiday or wintry shape on top of the cardboard. An idyllic gingerbread house? Santa in his sleigh? I went with an old classic: a Christmas tree. Not only for its easy to recognize shape, but for the cyclic nature of re-making a tree out of a processed tree product. From whence you came, grand fir!

Once you've got your shape traced out, go to town with scissors or a box cutter. Just try to keep those side leaflets where the binder clips are intact! When you're done, you should have two identical cardboard Christmas tree cut-outs.

Next, cut the long leaflets of the box away from the remains of the box center where you cut out your traced shape. Fold each long leaflet into itself from the top and bottom, longways, so that you have bent strips of cardboard.

Now take one of the strips and cut pieces off to match the length of each bough of your tree. Using a hot glue gun, affix the bottom bent edge of the strip piece to one face of your tree. Repeat this process along each downward slant of each branch on your tree, using a new strip piece per branch. Leaving space between these cardboard framing pieces will allow light to shine down your tree with majestic glory.

Finish framing your tree by having a long strip piece go across the bottom of the tree. 

Cut a large "X" into the middle of this long framing piece; the use for this cut will become apparent in a bit. (Hint: This framed out area will eventually serve as the holding area for your Christmas lights).

Make the trunk of your tree stand on its own (or, at the very least, with limited assistance) by taking another side leaflet and folding it into a "U" shape. Hot glue the ends above and underneath the long framing piece at the base of your tree, and bend the U-shaped cardboard as needed.

Now, take your LED Christmas lights and stuff them into your Christmas tree frame. Try to have a lot of the actual lights along the edges of the frame, with a few interspersed in the middle of the tree. Take the pronged plug of the light string and press it through that "X" cut you made in the long framing piece. 

I should also note at this point that it would behoove you to use LED lights here, since they don't heat up when operated. Although a burning bush is great for religious symbolism, it is less great to wake up on Christmas morning and see one in your own home.

Finally, decorate the front cut out of your Christmas tree as you see fit. I would recommend poking holes into the front at random intervals with a ballpoint pen ("ornaments") so that light can shine through. You can also take scraps from your shirt box and use it as trim or fake snow on the tree. If I'd had green cellophane, I might have used that too. But I didn't.

Hot glue your front cut-out onto the top of the Christmas tree frame and press into place. Plug your Christmas tree into an extension cord and behold! You now have a festive holiday decoration that doubles as a nightlight! Stick that in your sleigh and fly it.

You could also give this as a gift if you were desperate. Just throwing it out there.

If you're tired and you don't want to read anymore, you can stop here. I won't mind. Seriously, I won't.

But before you go, just ask yourself: what would Santa do?

You and I both know that that extremely jolly fellow would persevere.

Grab another cardboard box and a double espresso. It's time to make some interactive Christmas cards.

Materials:

One cardboard shirt box

Colored card stock

Staples

Tape

Warm sentiments and wishes, to be written down

Estimated cost: Again, practically free

Time commitment: More than is probably necessary

Cut a large strip out the cardboard box about 5 inches wide. Cut the strip to about 15 inches long and then fold it into three equal parts, lengthwise. In the middle section of the strip, use a box cutter to cut out another festive scene, removing the small pieces as you go. Try to keep the design localized to the middle of this section, and leave some cardboard uncut at the top and bottom. If it wasn't already obvious, I like Christmas trees.

Take card stock of assorted colors and cut them into an interesting pattern of your choosing. Overlay the different pieces and tape them together on the back with scotch tape. Just make sure your card stock pieces cover your entire design from the front, including extra card stock above and below the design.

Cut out a new piece of cardboard about 2"x7". Remove rectangular pieces from the upper right and lower right corners of this cardboard strip, about 1.5"x2". If this is confusing, hopefully the cartoon and the picture will help! Next, staple your taped card stock to the new cardboard strip along one edge. Keep those staples out of sight on the front of the card!

Position your taped and stapled card stock / cardboard monstrosity above the middle section of your card, with the front of the card facing down. Fold the left panel of the card over the card stock. Use a pen to mark off there the little pull tabs fall on the top and bottom of this folded panel. Unfold and cut two sets of 1/2 inch slits about 1/4 inch apart (vertically) at these locations. Fold this panel back over and thread each pull tab through each set of slits as shown.

Tape the folded panel to the inside of the front panel along its edge. Write something relatively nice on a small piece of card stock and affix it to the panel you haven't touched yet. Don't forget to sign the card after all of this work!

Flip the card over and enjoy countless hours of entertainment! Pull the pull tabs up and down to change the pattern underneath your card design.

Oooohhh...

Aaaahhh...

Just be gentle with those tabs. This is one card you definitely won't want to make a second time.

Happy Holidays, and Happy Crafting!