D.I.Y. Eco-Friendly Newspaper Pinwheel Ornaments & Wrapping Paper

Last year my boyfriend wrapped his gifts in Newspaper. This was partly because, A) I didn't get around to wrapping his gifts for him before I left for home & B) because he thought it looked "cool". I thought it was a great idea, because when you think about it, wrapping paper is so wasteful. Recycling yesterday's newspaper & using it as wrapping paper is fantastic way of killing two birds with one stone. I happen to love wrapping my gifts and I try to make them look they popped right out of a Martha Stewart magazine (see here for an example of my wrapping :) ) The problem of course with using newspaper as gift wrap, is that by itself it isn't festive, so we made it our mission to make it festive, but professional looking. Of course, this had nothing to do with his sister's threat of wrapping his gift in "used toilet paper" if her gift was wrapped in newspaper. We set out to wrap her gift first with Saturday's issue of Newsday. To make it more festive we dug into his Mom's gift wrap closet from year's past and dug out some candy cane printed paper to embellish the gifts.

What You Need:

1) old wrapping paper
2) old newspaper
3)tape or glue
5) scissors
6) pencil

To create the pinwheels I cut a square piece of newspaper, and a square piece of the wrapping paper (keeping the squares equal sizes) and taped the two pieces together (leaving the sides I wanted to show facing outward). I cut in from each of the four corners of the square stopping short of the center. I then folded in alternating corners towards the center (stars below indicate side to be folded & taped or glued to the center) Once I had the four alternating corners secured in the center with tape I had a perfect d.i.y. newspaper pinwheel.




To complete the theme I took one long skinny strip of the old candy cane printed paper and taped it around the center of the newspaper wrapped gift and then secured the pinwheel in the center of the gift to complete my look.




I had a good time making pin wheels so I made a few extra and took some bits of rogue ribbon from the above mentioned "gift wrapping closet".


Newspaper Pinwheel Ornaments:


Simply take one wide ribbon loop it and cut the ends diagonally. Tape or glue the ends together leaving a loop at the top. Tape or glue the already made newspaper pinwheel in the middle of the wide ribbon so the loop is at the top and the diagonal cut is at the bottom so it looks like a prize ribbon of sorts. Then take a skinny piece of ribbon or thread and tie it through the loop of the wide ribbon. Adjust the length for hanging on the Christmas tree, once you have the set length hide the tied portion within the wide loop of the other ribbon. If needed, secure with tape. Now you have handmade paper ornaments made exclusively from recycled materials! Hang on your tree, and go ahead, pat yourself on the back!

D.I.Y. Felt Mitten Ornaments

This is an easy d.i.y. project that allows for a lot of creative possibilities and would be a wonderful project to do with kids! Another great thing, it is incredibly inexpensive. I had baker's string, scraps of white felt, and cotton balls so I opted to make due.

The result of course is simple but quite adorable. Had I searched for more supplies...glitter, buttons, paint, etc I could have went all out, but I opted to go with the less is more approach.
To be honest, I quite liked my simple candy-cane inspired mitten once I had it stuffed and stitched, and if I decide later down the road that I want to add something, I can add away!

The great thing about this project is that you can have fun with the various colors of felt, and add buttons, charms and other embellishments to make it personal. The bare bones as to what you need: Felt...two pieces cut in the shape of a mitten (one front & one back), baker's string or thread, sewing needle, cotton balls/stuffing, and any choice of decorations.

Stitch the two mitten shaped pieces of felt together while leaving the bottom open to stuff. Once stuffed, stitch up the bottom and tie a loop for hanging. At this point you can go crazy with decorating, or simply hang on your tree like so...



Happy decorating! :)

Handmade Polymer Clay Christmas Ornaments

Today I completed a set of various handmade Christmas ornaments. I made the ornaments out of polymer clay and started shaping whatever came to my head. I kept getting more & more ideas for ornaments, so I'll probably make a few more before Christmas. These are going to be shipped out to holiday ornament swap partners. After flipping through the Holiday Ornament Swap flickr group, I'm so excited about what might me arriving in my mailbox! My tree is going to look fabulous this year!



Now all I have to do is set my tree up up! :)