At long last! My DIY Christmas tree is already finished! I have been working on it little by little since September. I had to put it aside several times because of other more urgent stuff like my daughter's halloween costume, my headset pouch project, my little vegetable seedlings etc.etc. Now I am able to finally face this little recycling project and actually complete it!
This tree is 90% made out of recycled materials. The strings I used for it were leftovers of the ones we used from when we moved to our new apartment. It is made out of these cartons from the dining table we purchased a couple of months ago.
And from these empty wrappers.
I cut the cartons into circles. I wasn't particular about the measurements. I just wanted the cicrles not to be too thick but not too thin.
I did not throw away the edges just yet. They kept my daughter busy with her artwork.
I will surely find something to do with my daughter's colorful abstract.
Then I poked holes into the circles for where I could put the strings that will hold them together.
I set these aside first because I have to cut the wrappers that I will use for the tree.
It's really simple and easy to do. It's just too big. I am trying to make a tree after all.
I stuck the strips into the circles and strings. I made sure everything is covered in these wrapper strips. I selected only the silver colored wrappers for this project.
Here's a look at the unfinished tree.
It felt like it wouldn't look appealing but I have the final look painted in my imagination. It will take a lot of willpower to continue working on this. I did need to take a lot of pauses before I finished it but you know what they say, it's okay if you're going slow as long as you do not stop.
And once I've covered the circles, I also needed to cover the strings
And now for the finished product!
All that's missing are the ornaments that I'll be hanging on the tree to give it color! I have already made my crochet Christmas decor last September. Tomorrow if nothing else comes up, I will start decorating the tree with these.
I covered these crochet snowflakes with a mixture of water, glue and flour to stiffen them.
I guess our house will be Christmassy before December comes. Woot woot!!!
There were quite a few things I learned as I was working on this recycling project.
Delay Trashing
When dealing with trash that doesn't easily decompose, think twice before putting it in the trash. I'm talking about milk cartons, coffee wrappers, and the likes. There will always be something else you can use it or repurpose it for.
Organize
If you don't create a system for your trash, your house will look like a junk shop. I have put my recyclables in different boxes. I call them my recycle bins.
Reusableness
Your recycled project should be reusable otherwise you are just delaying the pollution. I planned on repurposing these wrappers before as gift wrappers. But then I thought those that will receive the gifts will just throw the wrappers away so it defeats the purpose. Now this christmas tree will be in my household for as long as it can survive. If it could no longer be used as a tree, I will brrak it down and create a pillow out of it.
As much as possible, let us avoid throwing junk that will give mother nature a hard time breaking down. It's not enough that we separate the biodegradables from the non biodegradables. We should initiate recycling and upcycling in any way that we can.
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