How to Wrap Gifts Without Buying Wrapping Paper

Buying new wrapping paper, bows, ribbon and tissue paper every Christmas can get expensive—and wasteful. With a little creative thinking and a bit of scavenging around the house, you can find everything you need to wrap gifts with recycled or reused materials. Here are some ideas that I used this year. Newspaper This versatile classic never gets old. Newspaper makes the perfect reuse wrapping paper. It even has the same fun ripping sound and sensation as traditional wrapping paper. And, you can even wrap the gift in the section of the newspaper that best fits the recipient. Funnies for the kiddos. Home and Garden for mom. Sports for dad. Style for sis. I’m being stereotypical here. Please be more creative than I am. Greenery Head out to the backyard and trim some pieces off that pine tree and whatever those other trees are called that are green all winter (Are they just evergreens?). Whatever they’re called, snip off a few boughs and incorporate them into your gift wrapping. A simple twig or two tucked into some ribbon or string will make a package look rustic. For the package above, I made a mini wreath out of snippets of greenery. The...

Do-It-Yourself Fabric Wreath

For some reason I don’t (well, didn’t) own a Christmas wreath. Too many moves in too few years, and too tight a hold on my wallet, are likely the causes. This year though, it was time for a wreath. My door looked all sad and lonely and “bah hum bug-y” without one. As you’ll see if you stick around here at Red Leaf Style, I’m kind of a crazy person about making my own décor. Or, at least finding it for cheap at secondhand shops and thrift stores. So, of course I wasn’t just going to buy a wreath. Gosh. I was going to make one. Preferably in the least expensive way possible. After a little thinking (Pinterest searching), I decided to make my own fabric wreath. (Copy this wreath.) It seemed relatively easy and didn’t require a lot of supplies. I assembled everything I needed through trips to secondhand stores. Budget Breakdown: Straw wreath form: $1, D.A.V. Green and red checkered fabric & red corduroy: $7, Re-Runs Vintage Apparel, Kansas City (I dug these pieces of fabric out of a huge box.) Green fabric (Was originally an Old Navy shirt.): $2.09, Goodwill Ribbon: $0.50, Goodwill Total: About $11 Could I just buy...

DIY Hanging Collage: Christmas Style

When I decorate for Christmas, I like to use items I already own and just Christmas-ify them. Take this hanging collage. This project actually started quite a while ago as a way to fill the empty wall space between two windows in my living room. I was having a hard time arranging the random bits of paper and other items on the collage in a look that I liked. Nothing was working. Luckily, Christmas time came along. So, everything else came down, and Christmas décor went up. I shuffled through drawers and photo boxes and ended up with quite the pile of sort-of-related-to-Christmas items to hang on the collage. Magazine clippings. A book. Last year’s Christmas cards. (I plan to replace these as new ones come in.) Random snowflake ornaments. A piece of felt. Overall, I think it works. This hanging collage couldn’t be easier to create. Even for the not so handy do-it-yourselfers out there. Here’s how. What you need: Picture hanging wire Nails Hammer Tape measure Small binder clips Cute items to hang Directions: Using a tape measure, determine how long you want your hanging collage to be. Also, decide how many rows you want. (I went...

Decorating Your Fireplace For Fall: With What You Have

December is here, and I’m posting about fall decorating. I know, bad blogger. I’m behind on my posts, but I was too proud of my fall decorating to let it go unseen. Unfortunately, I don’t have a cute fall display on my fireplace mantel to show you, just a display in front of my fireplace. My Kansas City apartment is so tiny that my only option is to set my T.V. on my mantel, which doesn’t make for pretty decorating. Sigh. My apartment, which is an old house converted into two apartments, has the typical odd layout of an old home. Every single wall in the living room either has windows, radiators, or doors (sometimes more than one) taking up valuable space. This makes it extremely difficult to cram in a couch and to also find a spot for the T.V that’s isn’t directly in front of a window or a closet door. Even though it hurt my decorating heart to place a flat screen on my mantel, that’s where it had to go. With a quirky home, I had to work with what was available to decorate for fall. So, I decorated the area in front of my...

Get Cozy: Fall Home Decorating Inspiration

The weather may just dangle on the edge of autumn at the moment, still too hot to really be called the fall season, but I’m ready to start thinking about it. Fall usually goes far too quickly, anyway. Better to get started decorating now! I’m ready to fill my home with items that give off the fall feeling. This year I want to do it differently, though. No cheesy decorations. Maybe, less orange. I’m thinking more cozy neutrals. Nothing in my home is really giving off the feeling that I want at the moment. (That’s why I included a picture of the few fall-like items I currently own above.) Lacking in inspiration, I turned to good ol’ Pinterest. Check out what I’m looking at right now to find fall decorating inspiration for my home. Some images that are inspiring me: This year I want to incorporate items from nature into my home decorating. Maybe I’ll dress up my mantle with some pretty leaves. Or stick a few twigs in a skinny vase. Pretty and cheap! Photo courtesy Better Homes and Gardens. I never thought I’d see legwarmers on a stool, but I love it! The chunky knits against the rugged...