Sustainable Holiday DIYs

Enjoying your favorite traditions shouldn’t come at earth’s expense – but that also doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your festive spirit in the name of sustainability. From garland to gift wrap, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite eco-friendly DIYS so you can stress less about your holiday footprint and spend more time enjoying the season.

 Orange Garland

You’ve probably seen (and envied) the orange garland doted on Pinterest or other social channels. No need to get FOMO, orange garland is crazy easy and affordable, making it an accessible option for those looking to be more sustainable this. To start, slice 4-5 navel oranges. Once you’ve pressed out the excess juice from the slices, lay them on a baking sheet and bake for roughly 4 hours (flipping halfway through). Dehydrating the oranges ensures you won't have any unwanted insect visitors. Cool the slices, use a toothpick to pick a hole in them, and string twine through each slice. It’s as easy as that.

Salt Dough Ornaments

Salt dough isn’t just for junior high art class. This DIY is great for channeling your creativity, but admittedly, is perfect for the whole family. Salt Dough is literally three ingredients: table salt, all-purpose flour, and water – all of which you likely already have lying around. We drew inspiration from World Market’s selection of seasonal ornaments to create fun and eclectic shapes such as cowgirl boots, butterflies, and initial pieces. If you’re feeling extra crafty, you can paint them to add a pop of color.

Crochet Tree Skirt

This one borders on advanced but it’s too good not to mention. We’ve talked about using old or thrifted sweaters to make your own yarn ball before, now here’s a super practical way to use that yarn! Crochet tree skirts are great for adding personality to a standard tree. You can snag this pattern from a small business for a beginner-friendly guide.

DIY Wrapping Paper

One of the coolest wrapping options we’ve seen in a while used an old map, and we’re still not over it. With the rise of the smartphone, print maps have been rendered virtually obsolete. Snag that stagnant map from your center console and use it to wrap your next Christmas gift.  If you’re wanting to make it more personal, try selecting a section of the map with some significance. Think first date spot, where you first met, went to school, even the street/town they grew up in. We promise it will mean a lot more to whomever you’re gifting to than store-bought (and often not recyclable) wrapping paper. Looking for more wrapping options? We’ve done a whole article on sustainable wrap which you can find here.

Refillable Candle

NOTES® Candles are for those who love the idea of DIYs, minus the actual doing. To “make” a NOTES® candle, simply wick, fill, burn and repeat. Rather than a traditional pillar of wax that is used in container candles, NOTES® uses small wax pellets that are malleable to not only make pouring them into a vessel easy and mess-free, but also decrease the carbon footprint associated with shipping the hard wax. These wax beads can be poured into the same reusable vessel again and again. Perfect for those who want to put their mark on something, but only spend two minutes doing so.

These practical projects are great ways to use up your craft stash and limit unnecessary purchases. Whether it’s reducing, reusing, or refashioning, there are so many unique ways to celebrate the season sustainably.