Sustainable Christmas | Ornaments
Decorating the tree is one of my favorite parts about Christmas!! Once Jason and I had our own house, we were able to get our own tree and began collecting decorations. Last year when I began to live eco-friendly, I decided that I would aim to have a sustainable Christmas in every aspect, from the decorations to the gifts, to the food and let me tell you - it was Amazing! This time around I figured I would share my experiences with the world, and let all of you know how easy it can be to keep the environment in mind this holiday season!
Lets start with the tree ornaments! Decorating the tree is the first step we take to getting into the holiday spirit! We use a variety of thrifted, vintage ornaments, homemade ornaments, and paper ornaments! The only part of our tree that isn’t sustainable are the lights - if anyone knows of any ethical tree lighting, let me know!
Thrifted Ornaments -
Antique and vintage shops are always filled with nick-knacks, and in November/December many of them start the bring out the Christmas decorations! I had plenty of luck finding beautiful sets of vintage glass ornaments for less than 10$! The best part is that these ornaments are usually well made and have a beautiful vintage look to them. I bought 3 boxes of ornaments and they fill my tree perfectly!
Homemade Ornaments -
Before I invested in vintage tree ornaments, we would always just decorate our tree with homemade ornaments. Some of my favourite ornaments are the simple ones, like dried oranges and pine cones from the yard! Another great ornament that we love to hang on our tree are tree stump medallions. When we cut down our live Christmas tree, we always trim the stump, and then cut the stump into 1/4 inch slices! We then drill a small hole near the top of the medallion and thread some cotton twine to hang the wood on the tree. Homemade pom poms are a great way to decorate your tree - red and white yarn would look very nice! These are super simple, but they fill in the tree really well and I love the natural colours they bring! Another great homemade ornament that we like to make are baking soda dough ornaments.
To make the dough:
1 Cup Cornstarch
2 Cups Baking Soda
1 & 1/4 Cup Water
Mix the ingredients in a sauce pan over low-medium heat and allow it to come together. Once the mixture is thick like dough, take it off of the heat and allow it to cool for 20 minutes. Once the dough is cooled slightly, roll it out on parchment paper to around 1/2 of an inch thick and cut out your shapes using cookie cutters! Make sure to poke a hole in the top of your ornament using a chopstick or toothpick - large enough to thread some twine through. The ornaments will need around 2 days to dry, and once they have completely hardened, you can thread a string through them and hang them on the christmas tree!
I painted some of mine with a gold metallic paint!
Paper Ornaments -
I purchased paper ornaments at Ikea! While Ikea may not be a sustainable brand, paper is a sustainable and compostable material. Paper houses, like the ones pictured below bring a scandinavian element to our christmas tree and we love it! There are some great paper ornaments on etsy - click HERE to see one of my favourite picks!
