1. Recycle your Christmas cards. Send the fronts of your cards to Saint Jude's Ranch for Children, where they will be recycled (the front of your card will be attached to a new back) and resold to benefit the charity. Saint Jude's Ranch for Children is home to children who have been rescued from abuse and neglect. Another way to benefit Saint Jude's is to purchase their recycled cards to send to your friends and family members.
2. Adorn a gift with one of these fabulous gift toppers made from a repurposed Target shopping bag! Instructions can be found on the Creature Comforts blog.
3. After the gifts have been opened, repurpose small gift boxes and leftover scraps of ribbon, wrapping paper, and/or fabric to make a decorative gift garland like this one from page 43 of Pottery Barn's Gift Guide 2008. Tip: one gift box will yield two decorative "gifts" if you wrap the lid and the base separately!
4. Transform old plastic dry cleaner bags into a shimmering winter wreath. The wreath pictured here was made from sandwich bags, but these instructions from Familyfun.com can be modified to use recycled bags.
5. Salvage a moth-munched sweater to make one of these adorable sweater stockings from Martha Stewart.com. Instructions can be found here.
6. Recycle your Christmas tree. To find out about recycling programs in your area, just enter your zip code on the National Christmas Tree Association's website.
