Be Green-Homemade Christmas Gifts!

My name is Carol. Ange ask me to blog about a memorable green Christmas activity. The photo coaster project immediately came to mind. I hope you enjoy it! My sister, Susan a fellow Be Lister, and I set out to make a special Christmas gift for my brother and his wife with a couple of purposes in mind. We wanted to:

1) Be Green. We achieved this by designing a gift idea that used a minimum number of raw materials and in addition, we vowed to use our existing craft supplies, buying very little new. This meant that we needed to coordinate and pool what we already had.

2) Be Connected. We wanted to meaningfully connect with my brother and his family by making a gift that shortens the distance by conveying our deep love. This family will be celebrating Christmas 1500 miles away.

Using extra scrap booking paper, extra photos, a glue stick, sand paper and some stain, we were able to achieve our goals. All we purchased was a pressed board coaster set from Whimsadoodle, a wonderfully eclectic shop in downtown St. Pete, Florida. If you are ever in St. Pete, stop by. When I step into Whimsadoodle, my creative juices are stirred and I get so inspired by their many project ideas. 

We traced the shape of the coaster onto different pieces of scrapbook paper. My sister, Susan, picked out the most fun patterns to give the project a whimsical feel. She has a great eye for patterns and colors. After tracing the pattern, we cut out the paper to fit the back of the coaster.  We then selected black and white photos to contrast with the colorful patterns on the back.  It gave us the look and feel we wanted, playful but well designed.  We traced the coaster pattern onto the photos. My sister has a practiced graphic design eye and cropped the photos well. We glued the back of the pictures, the paper and the coasters and pressed them onto the coasters, front and back. We sanded the edges of the coasters. Last step, we stained the base and the edges of the coasters. As to the success of the project, I need to mention-- It does help that children are absolutely adorable and photograph wonderfully.  This was a key ingredient! 

Anyhow, I think it will be an "awww" moment when this gift is opened. What are your thoughts? 

We packed into a box and off it went. For $8.00 plus shipping of $5.00, I think we achieved our purposes and gave a fun gift for the parents and kids to handle and enjoy. We felt very green knowing that we did not add to the consumption factor and did not just add another possession to this household.  Green is good! Be Better, Carol