Wrapping presents with DIY gift tags

Well I've wrapped all the presents - phew!

I'm afraid, for the MIAMI purists, I used virgin wrapping paper - but most of it was surplus from last year, supplemented by a stash left by a friend who was staying here this week and bought more than she needed and bequeathed the rest to me.

In mitigation I did make all my own gift tags and I have to say they are blooming lovely - much nicer than shop bought ones. I had a pile of last year's Christmas cards and cut them, punched a hole and threaded through some gold thread I had in my stash.

Amazingly I managed to find a large card in purple tones that perfectly matched some of my wrapping paper and got half a dozen tags from the one card - I couldn't believe how well the colours matched. In the photo here it's hard to tell which is the card and which the wrapping.

If you think recycling involves some kind of compromise in quality I hope these will convince you otherwise. And if you aspire to cut out buying any paper at Christmas check out our main website and read  >> How to have a paperless Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Clare F

Making Christmas cards

Well I finally got round to making my Christmas cards tonight. After loads of Saturday night trash telly it was quite restful sitting down on my one-woman assembly line to make up the cards.

As I didn't have much time and was a bit short on materials, I just painted a couple of very simple rather childish pictures of holly. Neither of them came out as I intended, but they'll have to do! - I also had a go at a pointsettia but it looked like a big fat blob so I gave up on that one! I then bunged them on the printer and made copies, trimmed them and stuck them on to card blanks with Pritt Stick - as I didn't want to gas myself with spray mount.

Even though they may not be very beautiful at least the recipients know they have been made with time and trouble, not just grabbed in a store.

For loads of ideas, instructions and videos for making Christmas cards - check out Clare O'Brien's posts on our website >> Hand made Christmas cards

Clare Flynn

Getting in the Christmas Spirit!

I love Clare F’s piece yesterday about renting a Christmas tree, but my vote has to go to the upcycled trees this year.  I love the ingenious use of waste products at the best of times, but think of the added pleasure of gathering your stock for this tree...

This one was created outside the Nanjing mall in China and is huge but, if you really like the idea, you could create a smaller version for your own home. Yes, you'd have to save a fair few bottles, but I can think of a few men (and women) who have more than enough bottles in their recycling boxes already! 

So if you want to have a go at a more modest version this video may be for you.

>> Click here for lots of great ideas for making your own handmade Christmas decorations

Rent a Christmas Tree

A glossy flyer came through my door this week from Christmas Tree Angels: London's first sustainable Christmas tree rental service. The trees are grown from seed in pots and are delivered into your home - upstairs if required - and then collected at a convenient time after the festivities. You can even arrange to rent the same tree the following year. Once the trees get too big for use they get planted out to live out their retirement in a plantation.

I applaud the idea - there's nothing more depressing than seeing the wanton waste of trees that happens each January when they are dumped in skips or sent to the shredder - so I rushed to the website to find out what it costs. Unfortunately that's where my enthusiasm waned - it's a whopping £75 minimum to rent the smallest tree (a 4 foot Fraser Fir). They also offer additional options +£15 to choose your own tree, +£12.50 to insure it! and +£30 to pre-agree the delivery time (the free delivery option does not allow time-slot selection). Now I can understand that the operating costs are likely to be much higher than those for bought trees - but this is so high in the absolute as to put all but the most wealthy sustainability advocates off. 


I decided to do a bit of research and have discovered that while the concept may be new to us Londoners, there are a few similar firms operating elsewhere. I found a company in Dorset that will rent a 5 to 6 footer for £45 if you collect and return it yourself - or £59 for the full delivered option.
 Trees for Rent

Meanwhile if you want to make and mend your Christmas decorations we  have tons of great ideas on the website - from how to make salt dough tree decorations, to making stars and gift boxes from old Christmas cards.  Start your own Make it and Mend it Christmas now


Clare F

Come to Devon and make your own homemade Christmas

We've decided to emerge from  MIAMI Towers and run a real live event - and we hope you can come along and join us!

The lovely people at the beautiful Rill Estate in Devon have invited us to run a couple of one day workshops there.

We 're going to do live work sessions on card-making, fabulous show-stopping Christmas table dressings, gorgeous home-made Christmas decorations as well as gift ideas and wrapping.

You'll get all the materials provided, plus lunch and teas and coffees, the chance to meet the MIAMI team and other like-minded people in a convivial atmosphere and beautiful setting.

Who needs to be a couch potato and sit at home watching Kirstie Allsopp  pretend to make her homemade Christmas when you can do it for real?

What are you waiting for? We have 2 days available - Monday 15th or Tuesday 16th November.

>> Find out more here

Recession-proof your Christmas

Wow…did you realise that there are only 99 days until Christmas? (Oops! as there have been a few days since writing this and before posting it - it's now only 93...). Does that send you into headless chicken mode?  Or are you already rolling your eyes and moaning about people who talk about Christmas too early? 

Frankly I'm in the latter camp, but if you want to beat the recession this Christmas, now is the time to start planning.  With a little bit of forethought and a little bit of creativity, you can have a real recession-busting Christmas. Here's how:

1. Budget – set a figure and stick to it

2. Start saving -  How about stopping that daily Starbucks habit, start taking a homemade lunch  to work...

3. Start planning – Now's the time to plan - making home made presents, decorations, your own mince meat... 

4. Start harvesting - There's still time to dry some lavender for homemade lavender bags and you have plenty of time to start making your own homemade pot pourri.

5. Start collecting - Paper and images that inspire can be saved for wrapping your gifts and making your own Christmas Cards. You also still have plenty of time to start collecting all your left-over bits of soaps and/or candles – enough to reuse and make your own gifts.

If our Top 5 Tips have inspired you there's a great 2011 money saving article on our mainwebsite Take a look!

Hilary 

Tips and workshops from Christmas past

Want to pick up tips about ‘make do and mend’ Christmases? London’s Geffrye’s Museum, dedicated to the quintessential style of English middle-class living rooms from the 1600s, has a special Christmases Past exhibition focused on making everything yourself.

Get down there (all links below) between 24th November and 3rd of January to see how we used to decorate our houses for Christmas how we used to celebrate. The special Christmas past exhibition complements the museum’s ongoing Eco Home exhibition.

As well as exhibits, the Geffrye is putting on a series of workshops and events so you can learn how to make festive swags and garlands (12th December) and how you can make all manner of decorations by upcycling old fabrics (5th December).

What a great way to spend a pre-Christmas Saturday.

>> Get more information about  visiting The Geffrye Museum