Truly Gifted: It's DIY December!

You've heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, right? But, have you heard about DIY December? Probably not, because I am introducing it right here, right now on econesting!

Last year, I created an ambitious holiday gift guide for Planet Green. It was called, Truly Gifted: An A-Z DIY Holiday Workshop For Everyone On Your Holiday List. It was my anecdote for curbing spending, raising my eco-consciousness and reconnecting with something I love to do: create handmade gifts for my family and friends.

The introductory post to the Truly Gifted series is the only post not showing up on the Planet Green site, so here's an excerpt:

"I did the unthinkable. I ventured into New York City on Black Friday. It was mostly a social visit, but it was hard not to get caught up in the shopping frenzy. You would never guess from the amount of people who braved the stores with their fellow throngs of holiday revelers that there was ever a weakness in our economy, or that our planet was overdue for an eco-consciousness-raising. I found myself tripping over a minefield of holiday stuff and compromising my personal eco-footprint right and left. After an exhausting few hours, I was happy to be tucked back into my nest. The experience reached my deepest resolve to buy less and make more.

Sure, you could go out and buy eco-friendly gifts for everyone on your list, or save gas and time by shopping online. But why succumb to more spending and unnecessary waste? Creating gifts for others allows you to share your great green intention of respecting the planet, by passing along to your recipients the awareness of treading lightly on the environment."

5 DIY Gift-Making Tips

  1. Take stock of what you already have. Scavenge around and give homage to items and materials that are ecologically sound. These items are just waiting for their secret life to unfold so that they can be restored, renovated, recycled and reused.
  2. Be thoughtful about the person you are gifting. Creating items by hand takes time (maybe not as much time as finding a parking spot at the mall). Personalizing a gift is a sure-fire way to get it right.
  3. Choose materials that are recycled and renewable.
  4. Not only is making your own gifts green, frugal and clever, a handmade gift allows the giver to express their love in a whole new way.
  5. Giving a handmade gift is a truly satisfying experience. It has the ability to transform the way we think about the holidays.

DIY December

During the next few weeks leading up to the crescendo of all winter holidays - Christmas, I will provide an alphabetical array of green DIY inspiration for everyone on your holiday list. Since I wrote a post for every letter of the alphabet (absolutely exhausting, but fun), I'll be including excerpts and new information. The posts will have an eco-friendly DIY project for everyone on your list. How cool is that?

Revving to get started?  Here's a real easy project to get you in the DIY gift-making and giving mood: DIY Gift Tags Forget store bought gift tags, Lolly Chops provides stylish free patterned, downloadable gift tags to print out and personalize.

I'll be posting a blizzard of DIY projects. So don't forget to check back each day for greenest of holiday gifts you can make yourself.

Photos: Emma Innocenti via Planet Green, Lolly Chops

Cuff Cup Cozy: The Easiest DIY Project Ever

Last year, a new laptop inspired me to transform an old sweater into a laptop case. The sweater I used had a complicated Fair Isle design and a gaping hole on the sleeve. It was too short to repair and wear.

It's magical the way a sweater will shrink up in the washer and dryer to create a thick piece of felted fabric. The fabric can be cut (just like store bought felt) and will never unravel like a handknitted item will. You can see the process and learn how to make a felted laptop sleeve from a sweater here.

When I wrote An Inspired DIY Idea: Recycled Sweater Sleeve Cozy, I retrieved the sweater from the pile of felt scraps. The sweater cuffs are getting repurposed to make cup cozies. I’m lovin’ these cup holders because you can cradle a hot beverage in a stylish heat-resistant cup without a handle.

Once the sweater is felted, this has to be the easiest DIY project ever:

To Make: Measure the cup you want to cover and cut sleeve cuff to size. I positioned the ribbing on the bottom because the cup I used tapered.

What do you think of this sweater cuff cup cozy?

Photo Credits: Jen Kiaba

Living With Green Music

Green-leaning musicians have been on the forefront of the environmental movement since its inception. From staging benefit concerts, rx to converting tour buses to biodiesel fuel, buy cialis to creating solar recording studios, creative eco-conscious musicians have been reducing their impact on the planet.

My son is a musician, and I’ve been trying to infuse eco-friendly elements into the space where he plays music. I find when I design a living space, it’s best to go back to green basics – reduce, reuse and recycle. Check out how to recycle guitar strings, make a headboard from album covers or find eco-friendly soundproofing: CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Main photo credit: via 2Modern

Trim The Waste: Zero-Waste Design

Here’s a quick Q&A: 1. Do you eat organic food?

2. Do you bring cloth bags with you when you go shopping?

3. Do you recycle?

4. Do you compost?

5. Do you buy clothes that are made from leftover scraps of fabric?

If you checked the first four in the affirmative, and puzzled over why you are even answering number 5, you’re not alone. The question never even entered my eco-radar either. What's it all about?

“Zero-waste design strives to create clothing patterns that leave not so much as a scrap of fabric on the cutting room floor. This is not some wacky avant-garde exercise; it’s a way to eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year. Apparel industry professionals say that about 15 to 20 percent of the fabric used to produce clothing winds up in the nation’s landfills because it’s cheaper to dump the scraps than to recycle them.”

Want to find out if zero-waste fashion is coming to a store near you? CLICK HERE FOR MORE