Vintage Christmas

I love this season!  The lights, the decorations (although *I* am not a fan of doing my own decorating, I love looking at other people's decorations :)); the giving and receiving of gifts;  the general feeling of well-being, kindness, and generosity that seems to float in the air like tiny snowflakes ... and yes, even the weather!  I love the cold, the snow, and that crisp, frosty feeling first thing in the morning.  

The library is participating this year in our community Christmas festival, which includes visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus and the annual tree lighting ceremony.  We will be open during the festival, as one of the stops for the town-wide scavenger hunt and a warming station for those who will be in the adjacent park, but find that spending two hours outside is a bit much.  

The Children's librarian is planning an assortment of activities for the littles, and my boss asked me to think up something for our older patrons.  

I have known my boss for decades, and she is familiar with my books and my lifestyle.  Getting me on the staff was exciting for her, as an opportunity to bring more ideas for sustainability and eco-friendly lifestyles to the library.  She has been prodding me to come up with some program ideas for our adult patrons with a focus on sustainability, which is, of course, my métier.  

So, when she said, "Hey, let's come up with something for the adults," I started looking for craft ideas that wouldn't cost us anything in materials, and I found this paper Christmas tree decoration.  

The template was free, and using old, rotting, water-damanged, and/or bug chewed books gives them that "Christmas of Yore" kind of vibe.  I have a jar full of corks I have been saving (because one never knows when one might need a used cork), and some skewers for grilled kabobs.  So, basically, this is a free craft using mostly upcycled materials.  I mean, it doesn't get more eco-friendly/sustainable than that.

The only issue I had with the whole project was that we would be destroying the books.  

Then, as I was making my example, it occured to me that the craft didn't have to result in a bunch of  cut up books destined for the recycling bin.  If we took care while we were making our trees, we could preserve the frame work of the book and turn it into something else that was gift-worthy.

A book safe!

This year the news all around warns that money will be tight for most folks and that gift giving may require more creativity and less plastic (as in credit cards).  Being able to share ways to a zero waste, FREE, and lovely holiday decoration with the bonus of a potential gift, just makes me happy. 

And I'm thinking that saving $150 on a wine cork lazy susan by making my own out of the corks I've been saving is an absolute win!

Happy Holidays!  May your holidays be merry, bright, and frugal!