Christmas Challenge - Part 6

6 - Reuse Gift Bags and Wrapping Paper.  We (the adults in the house) reuse these same gift bags every year for each other.  The kids get wrapping paper on their gifts, and if the paper survives the gift-opening experience, we save it to use again.

Christmas Challenge - Part 5

5 - Use paper clips to hang ornaments.  If you already have a surplus of paper clips around your house, don't bother buying those cheap ornament hangers (that never last anyway).  Just reuse a paper clip by twisting it around until it turns into a hook.

(Hey, I never said these ideas would be earth-shattering!)  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 4

4 - Turn old Christmas Cards into Gift Tags.  After Christmas is over, and the decorations are all put away, I sort through the Christmas cards we received and put aside any that we can reuse as  gift tags.  I look for small pictures, with extra space to write on.  Then the girls and I cut them out neatly and store them away for next year.  Sometimes we tape them to a package, and sometimes we punch a hole through the tag and attach it to the package with a ribbon.  A simple, practical idea (that I borrowed from my Grandma!)  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 3

3 - Decorate with Frugal Finds

I use this kind of decoration as a filler in spaces that need a little color, or just to have something different than is in that spot the rest of the year.  For this one, I borrowed a hand-made bowl out of my kitchen, and filled it with cones (that the girls picked up on a walk last year) and red glass ornamental bulbs (I got 50 miniature ones in the after Christmas clearance last year -- for $.25!).

Christmas Challenge - Part 2

2 - Reuse paper towel tubes to wrap Christmas lights on for storage.  This idea not only reuses the cardboard, but it makes decorating the tree a little easier.  The tube full of lights is easy to pass around the tree, and the lights don't get tangled up like they do with other methods we've tried.    

Christmas Challenge - Part 1

My challenge to myself during this Christmas season:  find at least 25 ways I reduce, reuse, recycle, or am otherwise frugal in ways that are specific to Christmas.  (This should be fun!)  :)

1 - (Free) Artificial Tree

I confess.  We usually buy a live Christmas tree.  This year, circumstances being what they are, I was seriously considering having the kids create a tree out of green construction paper and sticking it to the wall.  However, our wonderful neighbors came to the rescue and offered us one of their artificial trees.  Everyone is happy!  The girls got to decorate a tree, Mr. Adorable says "Oooooh" every time he sees it, and I gained a new appreciation for my husband (who usually strings the lights every year).

Our neighbors' generosity in letting us reuse their tree saved us a bundle of money, and I don't have to take it to get it recycled in January, either!  :)

Banana Surplus

Buying bananas is always an adventure for us.  We go through a lot of bananas in our family, and we all like to eat them when they have a little bit of a greenish tint to the peel.  What makes it interesting is that we only go grocery shopping once a week (at our military commissary, 40 minutes away).  Most of the time we get lucky, and we can get pounds and pounds of mostly-green bananas that will last almost a week, but occasionally we have to buy yellow ones.  (I know, horrible, isn't it?!?)  While I am grateful that we CAN buy bananas, no matter what stage of ripeness they have reached, those rapidly ripening yellow bananas often don't get eaten.  And I HATE throwing away food!

Freezing them whole didn't work, and I don't have a food dehydrator...yet.  So I cut them into slices, arrange them on a plate, and stick them in the freezer.  When they're frozen, I transfer them to a freezer bag (or container).  My favorite banana bread recipe calls for 3 mashed bananas, so I try to keep them three bananas to a bag.  The frozen slices thaw quickly when I'm ready to bake, and they work great for using in smoothies, too!

(Have you discovered Kitchen Tip Tuesdays hosted by TammysRecipes.com yet?!?  Go visit!)