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Thrift stores are awesome

TracieB — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:55:37 -0600

My husband and I got a great rug, I got half my winter sweaters, a cool scarf, a couple pairs of pants, a crazy number of books, a lamp, a funky wall hanging for our dining area wall, a really cool guy's hoodie that looks good on me, a flatware set orginally from Kohls, a set of knives, Christmas decorations for our house, an awesome teapot that is really cute, a cover for our daybed in our guest room, a nice sheet set for our bedroom, and various odds and ends from the thrift stores we've visited. It is always fun to look around in that store, and this store not far from home where it's set up like a flea market. They have all sorts of things there. Many times we do find items with tags still attached, and some of the purchases we've made have gone to benefit poor familes and children. One store was raising money for a child who needed a new specially made wheelchair, and it felt good to give toward that. :)

It is cool

Denise — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:40:54 -0600

But very pricey.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

These are great recycling

Alissa-Taylor Gifts — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:17:16 -0600

These are great recycling ideas for the holidays (or any day of the year really). My dad and I have been re-using wrapping paper for as long as I can remember. Aside from saving the earth, re-using bags, ribbons, and bows will also save money on buying gift-wrapping materials. My family always uses cloth tablecloth and napkins, and we have been saving out plastic food containers for years to re-use them as leftover containers. Taylor Gifts also has many items to help people recycle, like the 3 Recycle Bags and the Can Crusher

Alissa - Taylor Gifts

Taylor Gifts Blog

5 Minutes for Going Green

kerri ladish — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:11:05 -0600

I love recycled wrapping! I actually just posted about this last night/early this morning, re: our 5 Minutes for Going Green Holiday How-To, which includes tons of ideas on how to wrap green this year with items from around the house, including but not limited to: maps and atlases, old sheet music, newspaper, magazine pages, fabric pieces, and pages from your favorite (falling apart) book.

thrift store galore

kerri ladish — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:01:11 -0600

I love the idea of used gifts, especially when they are creatively gifted or re-purposed.

My little sister just told me a story last night about a white elephant gift exchange she did with her co-workers wherein one of the items available to give and receive was from a local thrift store and it was the most interesting (and must coveted) gift of the entire evening.

great for the kids

Amy Gates — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:08:10 -0600

I love buying stuff for my kids at the thrift store - from clothes to toys to real kitchen supplies (super cheap) they they can use in their play kitchen. They don't care if the stuff is new or not. And, I admit, I love a good deal.

In the post I wrote yesterday about eco-friendly crafts, one person bought $1 wool sweaters from the thrift store, washed them on hot and made felt which she then used for her crafts. Brilliant.

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess
BlogHers Act contributing editor

Handmade vs Homemade

Jemima — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:44:47 -0600

I started knitting gifts for really close friends and family members, but every year it gets out of hand. Everyone else gets to go eat gingerbread and drink eggnog, and I've given up sleeping and bathing to try to reap maximum gift-making time before Christmas. I think making your gifts is a great idea...as long as you start early enough.

Also, for a number of years, friends have given us jams and pepper jellies and chocolates they've made themselves, which i absolutely love. Some people make scoff at this kind of kitchen gift, but personally i think there's a difference between handmade vs homemade. And that difference is love.

Sarah from JemimaBlog and Knitterati.

stories are great

Sara Davis — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:43:51 -0600

Those stories you are working on can turn out to be classic, heirloom gifts. We did something similar with my Dad many years ago. We produced a small bound volume of Dad's memories of growing up on a farm in the Depression. It is one of my most treasured volumes on my shelf, even though it is paper bound and not professional by any means. Every adult in the family has one.

Sara Faivre-Davis

downtoearthblog.com and wildtyperanch.com

Thank God

erinealberty — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:44:09 -0600

I hope it lasts! I started interviewing older relatives and writing down family stories as my homemade gifts. It's a lot of work, but everyone seems to like it better than ceramic crap and smelly hand lotion.

See today's discovery at http://www.findingslc.com

I'd forgotten that! Our

MrsWsKitchen — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:21:08 -0600

I'd forgotten that! Our Santa gifts were always unwrapped, as well. Only family gifts (and those were opened Xmas eve) were wrapped. That was wonderful--we rushed out to see what was under the tree and everything was there, open and beautifully chaotic!

Amanda
Mrs.W's Kitchen

I reuse gift bags a lot! But also

ExpatChef — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:36:32 -0600

saving the money on all the gift wrap and bows means you can afford the presents. One thing, you could make an attractive reusable shopping bag part of the present (for adults) and use the bag for wrap. I found a cool Reisenthel bag in a floral pattern that folds up into a sunglass case size, very inexpensive, the price of a paper gift bag. Give green!

Other cool ways to wrap are to put items in a useful container like a colander for kitchen goodies. A simple bow around the neck of a bottle of wine. Spare the adults the wrapping and save it for just the kids' gifts is another idea. I am definitely on board with reducing the waste — and the number of gifts this year.

For recipes and food issues and a bit of humor, visit my blog, Expatriate's Kitchen

Maybe I'm weird.......

literary.snob — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:47:52 -0600

.......or maybe my mom was green before green was cool, but growing up we never recieved wrapped presents for Christmas. Maybe mom knew better (we were always shaking and poking at wrapped presents). Instead of wrapping, "Santa" came Christmas Eve and lay out all our presents around the tree in sections for each of us--there were three of us, so mom made sure the divisions between our section were obvious. We loved it (I never remember feeling cheated) and it is something I plan on doing with my own kids.

Stephanie

(The Childish) Literary Snob

http://literarysnob.blogspot.com

good ideas, and a few to add

grannysu — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:26:09 -0600

Granny Sue Stories from the Mountains and Beyond www.grannysu.blogspot.com susannaholstein@yahoo.com

I also save bags, bows, boxes and ribbons for reuse. I like wrapped gifts, like many of the other commenters but it is certainly a wasteful practice. I have purchased and used fabric bags; some are very pretty velvet that anyone would want to keep and use for other purposes. Children love bags that they can reuse--even boys, if the bag is made of camo or other cool fabric. the bags can be used for blocks, marbles and other small toys and treasures.

What about buying canvas laundry bags, decorating with the child's name and tie shut with pretty ribbons? definitely a re-use for that bag!

One idea struck me for the not-so-crafty who like a country/homemade look: what about recycling holiday shirts into packaging? cut the sleeves off, hot-glue the bottoms closed, hot-glue some trim around the top and tie shut with a ribbon or yarn? Quick and easy and probably reusable too, although limited in size to smaller gifts. I

Baskets of course are a pretty way to present a gift, but for children 9and probably most males0 this might not be as welcome as some other approach.

On my blog I'm suggesting using mason jars for some gifts that can be no-cost or lowcost yet unique.

Well, I weaned myself of

Super Jive — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:03:20 -0600

Well, I weaned myself of ribbons and bows long ago, but this year I know I don't have time to make cloth bags, so I will use something that was destined for the recycling bin anyway--my local alt weeklies and newspapers. I can think of a few friends who would be delighted to recieve gifts wrapped in the escort ads.

Blogher Pop Culture Editor | I, Asshole

I will use butcher paper

Giyen — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:17:45 -0600

Oh, I am a bag saver too. And a ribbon saver. I just can't see why anyone would throw out those pretty gift bags and not use them again. So insane to me.

I can't break down forgo the use wrapping paper. I can commit to using brown recycled butcher paper instead which at least is less impactful to produce than the glitzy colored kind.

In generally only use fabric ribbon anyway - with some ribbon that is more than 5 years old. I think fabric ribbon looks better anyway. : )

Ye be brave and wise!

Giyen