Conservation & Fun Gift Ideas

-- Quote of the Day -- 

“It is about recognizing the reality of limits – coming to terms with our population limits, and human economic – recognizing that if we are going to make any headway on conservation or preservation matters.” 

~ Joel Curzon 

Today's quote originated from the Plight of the Everglades discussion that aired on the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show back on Oct 10, 2010. Click on the hyper–linked show title to access this interview -  Visit our site, www.brummet.ca, for a full list of archived shows going back to early 2007 that you can access for free, or look to the sidebars on this blog for recently aired episodes. 

-- 5 Fun Eco-Friendly Gift Ideas --

The joy of the holidays is making its way into our homes and offices, but there are a lot of people out there on constrained budgets, while others want to instill conscious living patterns in their children. Families are aching to spend time together, but sometimes, they just don't know what to do that would be fun for everyone. Today's post will share some tips that could help you accomplish all of these things.

Gather the family, youth group or craft-loving friends, around a sturdy table to create puzzles, ornaments, gift tags, bookmarks or fridge magnets. They can make them for their own use, or as gifts throughout the year - not just for the upcoming holidays. You can also use the ideas to create gifts for senior's centers, women's centers, children's centers or classrooms, and support centers for the poor. Consider a set of bookmarks in sets of 2, 4 or 6 per recipient, ornaments in sets of 4, 6 or 8, magnets in sets of 2 and gift tags in sets of 8, 12 or 24.

Materials:

Start by sorting used gift, thank-you, birthday and holiday cards into themes, and then sort them from large to small in size. Those little bits of ribbons that you've been saving will come in handy now too. If you don't have any, visit your local wedding and flower shops to see if they have any bits and ends for your projects. You will also need glue, scissors and a craft knife on hand.  *Some of the ideas below call for a few extra items so keep an eye out for those.

How To:

By gluing 2 cards within a similar theme together so that there is a picture on either side, you can easily create puzzles. Place the cards under a weight like a large book to make seal the seam completely. Once the glue has cured, cut the cards into puzzle pieces of a variety of shapes and sizes using a sharp craft knife.

To create unique ornaments use the same process for the puzzles, only choose smaller images and before you glue the two images together, trim so they are the exact shape. Once the glue has cured you can and insert a loop of ribbon through a little hole at the top; make sure that the loop of ribbon is long enough to fit over the tree’s stem. These can also be decorated with trim, glitter or ribbon.

To make fridge magnets simply choose interesting images, cut them out and glue a small piece of magnet to the back. Strips of very thin magnets can likely be found at your local craft or "dollar" store. Alternatively reuse those unsolicited fridge magnets you have received from service providers or via junk mail. These are very thin and easy to cut with a pair of scissors and because the magnets are very light, only a small section of the magnet will be necessary. If you have a lamination machine it might come in handy for this project, making the magnets washable.

Used cards can easily be crafted into unique gift tags; look for interesting images ranging in size from 2-3 inches in diameter and make sure there is no writing on the reverse side. Cut those out into the desired shape and - voila ! - you have a gift tag. Use a punch hole on the top or side of the gift tags and attach a tassel or ribbon, if you like. Decorate with glitter or leave plain.

Bookmarks require longer, larger images than gift tags but the process is the same. You’ll want to find an image that does not have writing on the reverse side. If it does you may want to consider finding a similar image and gluing the together, much like the process outlined for the ornaments and puzzles. I wouldn’t recommend decorating the bookmarks beyond a simple trim, due to the wear they will go through – the recipient will not want bits of glue and glitter in their books!

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blogs, and more at: www.brummet.ca 

* Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or purchasing a book - each book sold raises funds for charity as well!