As the holiday season approaches, every store you walk into seems to be full of holiday exclusives and can’t-miss sales. During this time of year, it is super easy to fall into overconsumption habits that negatively impact us and our world. This holiday season I say we pledge to be more sustainable and intentional with your gift giving. Here are five ways on how to elevate your gift-giving while being sustainable.
Sonny Angel Charms
Got a duplicate of a Sonny Angel? Instead of letting it sit around you can make it into a charm to gift to those Sonny Angels collectors in your life. Take an old key ring and chain off an old key chain. Poke a hole in your Sonny Angel using a needle and attach one of your chain links to the Sonny Angel. For an added touch, look through your house and check if you have any cute charms to add to your keychain. This gift idea is super customizable and allows you to reuse unused items and bring new life to them. Â
Custom Patchwork Top
Have a blank top you want to spice up? Head over to your closet or that donation bag sitting in the back of your car and repurpose old fabrics to make a custom top. Take old fabrics and cut them into funky shapes or letters. Stitch the letters onto a blank tee or hoodie, and you’re done. This is a simple and sustainable way to give plain clothes a makeover. The same idea could be done or tote bags or other items of clothing. Â
Photocard Bouquet
This next one is for the friends who love K-pop. Got too many photo cards or duplicates? You can repurpose them to make a super cute bouquet for a loved one. Grab some flowers from a local florist and arrange them into a bouquet. *Tip to make your flowers fuller and more diverse, add some secondary flowers such as baby breaths or some sort of greenery. You will then need popsicle sticks. Tape the photocards to the popsicle sticks and last, stick the popsicle sticks around the bouquet. Not only is this a super cute gift but is a great way to repurpose photocards that someone else will love. Those who aren’t k-pop fans can use this same technique for any photos.Â
DIY Mint Tin CansÂ
Before you throw out your old mint tin, you can reuse and repurpose it to make a cute storage container. This is pretty customizable, so you have the flexibility to cater it to your loved ones. Clean out an old tin can, and the rest is free game. You can cover it with stickers, buttons, pictures, etc. Add a lip balm or gloss and a mini mirror for makeup lovers. This one is super trendy and a super cute way to store items.
Custom Burned CD
As the rise of music accessibility grows, the existence of physical media seems to be forgotten and left behind. A unique and sustainable gift idea would be to download your loved one’s favorite songs and burn them into an old blank CD. Take an old CD log onto a CD burning software and upload a custom playlist. To make it even more special take some paper and add an album title and some drawings or pictures to the carrying case. Not only is this super customizable but it makes for a great unique gift that is truly one of a kind.
In the end, the Holiday season is super hectic. During these times it is important to be mindful of our purchases. Getting new gifts is great but it is also great to create a customized gift sustainability. Instead of buying new wrapping paper made of plastic, reuse brown paper bags from grocery shopping and wrap them up with some old ribbons. The options are endless to reuse and recycle when it comes to gift giving. The Holidays are about celebrating and spending time with your loved ones, and by being sustainable and reusing we can add a little more magic to our holidays and uniquely show our love to others.