Last Minute Holiday DIY

Did you think I was going to go all Scrooge on you and not extend my deep well of holiday DIY projects this year? Maybe you thought the holiday’s predictability with its earlier and earlier seasonal creep, and obsessive waste had taken over my good will and peace towards the blogosphere? Or, could it be you remember last year's A-Z Holiday DIY Gift-Guide burnout?

The truth is I've been collecting and squirreling away these three project ideas.

One of my greatest pleasures is gift-giving. While I may have ditched the mall and mostly shopped local with some online purchases sprinkled in, the bottom line on the greenest holiday gifts and decorations are still the ones that don't consume our planet's resources. They contribute in ways that bring beauty, sustainability and meaning...and they can't hold a candle to those that roll off assembly the line.

So, you have a choice: grab your keys and make that last mad dash to the mall, or make meaning.

Favorite Hanukkah Project of the Season

Twig Menorah: For a Hanukkah centerpiece, you just can't go wrong with a twig and a candle...or 8.

Favorite Christmas DIY Project of the Season

Crystal Chandelier Ornament (main image): I have a box of mix-matched crystals that my father-in-law gave me years ago. Just attach Christmas tree hooks to the crystals for a sparkling holiday reuse.

Favorite Food Project of the Season

After teaching young kids...and raising a few, I thought I was over playing with food, but sappiness took over and these Black Olive Penguins (cute, huh?) almost got the better of me. But I'll spare you such silliness and instead share these Good For You Whoopie Pies. Apparently, I've been living under a Whoopie Pie rock because I never had one of these compact morsels of sweet goodness until this past Thanksgiving. My daughter's college roommate visited and brought pumpkin Whoopie Pies from the Whoopie Pie capital of NY...Brooklyn. Enjoy!

Photo credits: HomeShoppingSpy, Shelterness, Eating Well

Keep The Peace With A DIY Peace Wreath

As someone who blends holiday traditions, believe me, peace binds it all together. The universal message of peace is always in season. Throughout the holidays we sing of Peace on Earth and Good Will Towards...Men!?!

OK, here's a good place to start.

Isn't it about time we ditched the men-only lingo?

Now that we have that straightened out...

What do you do about family members who don't exude peaceful, easy feelings?

Embedded in my Steps For Creating Peace...Someday post is one of my favorite holiday songs -- Stevie Wonder's, Someday At Christmas.

Don't you just love that song?

Becoming Minimalist addressed the gift of creating overdue family peace...

5 Steps To Create Peace At Home

1. Determine to be responsible for your attitude, not others. (I'll let the over 90 yr-old relatives off the hook on the...Good Will Towards Men-thing.) 2. Embrace humility and forgive. (Not touching this.) 3. Accept disagreement and put it behind you. (Easy. Done.) 4. Take the first step. (Here you go...) 5. Create a Peace Wreath.

Let's share peace, even with those who push non-peaceful buttons. Create a handmade spin on the traditional holiday wreath.

DIY Peace Wreath

What you need:

4 wire hangers or a wreath form floral wire wire cutters pliers evergreen branches

What to do:

1. With the pliers straighten two coat hangers and form them into a circle. 2. Hook the ends together by twisting the wire. 3. Bend the other hanger wire into a circle making sure it is about 1″ smaller than the first one. 4. Hook the ends together, forming a circle. 5. Take the fourth hanger and cut and wrap it to form a peace symbol in the inside circle 6. Cut branches to 4-6″ lengths. 7. Gather the branches into bundles. 8. Secure the bundles with the floral wire. 9. Lay a bundle on the form and tightly wrap it with wire. 10. Without cutting the wire, add another bundle so that it overlaps the bottom half of the previous one. 11. Repeat around. 12. Cover peace symbol in the same overlapping manner. 13. Make a wire loop on top or use the hanger hook to attach.

Don't forget to add a note and include one of these quotes:

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means at which we arrive at that goal.” Martin Luther King, Jr. “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” Jimi Hendrix “Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace is its own reward.” Mahatma Gandhi “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” John Lennon

Illuminating A Waste-Free Halloween

Are pumpkins invading your nest like these grinning jack-o’-lanterns that have overtaken this Massachusetts home? Even when the pumpkin glow is at a minimum, ambulance if you celebrate Halloween with your little ones, buy cialis it may be time to pick up those heavy holiday footprints. Why?

According to the EPA, household waste increases more than 25 percent between Halloween and New Year’s Day!

On Halloween, the US spends a whopping $6.5 billion on candy, costumes and decorations. That’s a carbon footprint more like a Loch Ness monster than a dainty Halloween bat. Plumping up our local landfills for years to come is not the friendliest, or healthiest legacy to leave our little trick-or-treaters.

We talk a lot about what we can do to clean up the planet, but often it’s what we don’t do that creates the most impact.

Here’s a ghoulish goal worth bobbing for: Cut down on holiday waste, and don’t perpetuate the horrors of Halloween’s past. Here are 10 DIY Ways To A Waste-Free Halloween and here are my kids demonstrating one such DIY idea: "Ditch the cheap mass-produced non-recyclable polyvinyl chloride (PVC) costumes. Dig through your closet (or a friends), or take a spin through vintage clothing stores, resale shops and flea markets for Halloween inspiration."

Happy Halloween, and hold those red-dyed #40 bloody ladyfingers, because I think I see a green light beaconing out of one of those jack-o’-lanterns!

Photo: Richard Nowitz for National Geographic