Think Globally, Act Locally

One of the most wasteful times of the year occurs in December. Why do I say that? Simple. Increased local traffic to stores. More consumerism. PACKAGING and WRAPPING! There is more baking, cooking, visiting, etc.

Let us consider clever ways to reduce the amount of waste we generate. One of the most simple things we can consider is how we wrap our gifts to each other. One of my favorite things to do is use simple canvas bags as gift bags set with a colorful and festive fabric bow, both of which can be reused. Look  about your home and see what you can creatively use to wrap your gifts this year. Maybe you have some fabric you can use. How about using newspaper and collage it with colorful magazine pictures?

Maybe you can forgo material gifts. Perhaps you can give a gift of love and time instead by visiting and engaging in heartfelt conversations where your attention is undivided (yes, turn off that electronic device for an hour or so). Here is another wonderful possibility…share a skill with others by teaching them how to do something you are good at doing, such as: gardening, baking, crocheting, wood-working, scrap-booking, bird-watching, fishing, paper-crafting and so on and so forth.

Other ideas: Dovetail errands so you are using less gasoline; create more gifts instead of buying them from materials you already have at home; send e-cards via e-mail instead of sending paper cards through the mail; have a holiday gathering around a charity event or while being of service to the poor and the needy; etc.

What are some other things we could do to cut waste during this holiday season? The list is endless and the possibilities countless if you just put for five to ten minutes of thought into it. I came up with quite a few in the ten minutes I spent writing this article. Most of all, have fun with the ideas. The holidays of December are meant to be experienced with love, joy and reverence. Don’t stress. Merry Christmas! (Ten days away and counting down.)

 

Related articles

• December 14: The Gift of Sacrifice (loristillman.wordpress.com)
• December 13: The Gift of Less Stress (loristillman.wordpress.com)
• Slowing Down the Holidays (freshrivervalley.com)
• The Gift of Giving – The Fourth Holiday Mental Moment (runningnakedwithscissors.com)
• Tuesday Tutorials – Reusable Gift Wrap Ideas (homegrownjoy.wordpress.com)
• Vintage Christmas Gift Tags (theatticbirds.wordpress.com)
• Going green, local and sustainable this holiday season (freshrivervalley.com)
• Eco Friendly Options for Gift Wrapping (naturemoms.com)
• diy: fun & easy gift wrap. (halfasleepstudio.com)
• 6 Eco-Friendly Gift Wrap Alternatives (inhabitat.com)

Art Day with Edie

Today I had magnificent time with my friend Edie of Life by the Seat of my Pants.  I was a guest on her live on-line art show, Art by the Seat of my Pants and we had a fantastic time creating and teaching art today. I shared how to make the Gifts Of Love bags and Edie experimented using different media on Tyvek paper, which is the specialized water-resistant paper that is used for U.S. Post Service Priority Mail envelopes.  

Edie started her program by introducing me and my Gift Of Love campaign. She shared the Gift of Love I gave her and she did a great job explaining the premise of the campaign, which is to pay Love forward to others. Inside the Gift of Love is a memento of the art of the bag printed on card stock and a letter with an original poem in it that I wrote entitled, Gift of Love. I will make the Gift Of Love campaign directions and its corresponding letter available this weekend on my website, Hearts That Care.

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As we continued co-hosting Edie’s art show, I demonstrated how I did the backgrounds for these works of art. After doing 2 backgrounds, I set those aside to dry and started painting on one of my completed backgrounds to demonstrate how I conceptualize the images. I saw angel’s wings in this particular bag. Each bag is unique, but each bag will have at least one heart painted on it. The heart represents Love and Hearts That Care.  

Edie did the second half of the show, where she used various painting and coloring materials on the Tyvek envelope. She started by using Gesso on half of it. While the Gesso dried, she used Neocolor, Intkense, Distress Ink, Water Color Paint, Craft Paint and Acrylic Paint on the “naked” side. Each of these materials acted differently. The Tyvek seems to have a waxy coating and a really interesting texture. The material seems indestructible. You cannot tear it easily. Edie also found that the Tyvek is not porous enough for most glues. You cannot glue things easily to Tyvek. Be sure to visit Edie’s blog. I am looking forward to doing more art shows with Edie in the future. 

Related articles

• Gifts of Love Update 7 (akissofbliss.wordpress.com)
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