Our Recycled Christmas Tree

This is my second Christmas season in Puerto Rico. Last year, we felt kind of out of place and we didn’t put a tree up as we were used to while living in Boston. We placed decoration, stockings and our collection of mangers but not a tree.

This year, feeling very happy for all the things I have learned, my accomplishments and the spirit of this time of the year, I asked my mom for a christmas tree.

While in Boston, we always used a natural tree, but now, we felt we should not hurt a tree for decoration to trash it later, besides, it will take a lot of effort in this tropical weather to keep it alive and fresh, and out of insects, mold, yuck; but an artificial one was not an appealing option either. Besides, there was no way my mother will create a storage spot for a box to take space for a whole year, with the fake tree, so, that idea was out of the way immediately. 

So, I suggested my mom, a drawing on the wall; “What?” her eyes said to me, so another idea out of the way. But instead, my mother said, “Why don’t you find materials and create your tree on the wall.”  So...

I took the new roll of gift wrapper, a metal hanger, the last one, due to all plastics, a huge blanket, tape, some other stuff, one manger and I started to work. And I came out with a tree that made me happy, my creativity for christmas, where I hopefully will find my gifts on Christmas Day.

I learned that we don’t need to waste all our money, when we can use all the resources we have at home, I’m still learning this from my mom vs my dad that loves buying all new (Shh... I like my dad’s way).  But we are not thrill about consumerism during this season, it makes not sense to us.

So here is what I did, hope I can inspire you to come up with something fun, creative and joyful for you and the people you love around you. Merry Christmas!

Little Giant

Materials and Steps:

_ Identify my wall- a good place for the admiration of my master piece

_ Nail in wall for the hanger

_ Place the huge blanket thru the hanger to create “a body” to be covered with the paper and place the hanger on the nail, in the wall.

_Cover the blanket with the decoration paper, trying to make a shape that is narrow on the top and wide on the bottom, like a pine tree (gift’s paper or any paper, you can used newspaper, or blank paper and draw your own patters and colors)

_ Take a piece of paper, and cut it with a pine tree shape for the top, tape it on the wall, on top of the “body” that you already created with the blanket and hanger, this will give your wall tree a 3D look.

_ Now, with tape go around and secure the paper.

_ Now, decide what to put on the tree top, we found an old flower shape material that was white and gold, perfect match for the decoration paper, with the same colors, I tape it on the wall. (I also use a special two side tape that is use to secure carpets, and it will be easy to removed later on, but it will secure the decoration up.)

_Mmm it needed some kind of lighting, my mom was so cool and bought me this red lace like, string at a discount store, with christmas decoration sales, the best part is that this lace, also lights up and it came with a switch for the lighting options, steady or jiggle joyful motion.

_ To give more life to my wall tree, I also used a small red string.

_On the bottom, on the floor, I placed boxes of shoes, and the manger box and I cover it with the red skirt for christmas trees. 

_ I placed one of our mangers, a little tree that I have from last year and a gift for my dad and a gift for my mom. 

Look at my tree now. We love our Christmas Tree 2014.  

It cost me $0.00

Which means I have to ask my community for help, I asked for the piece of paper, borrow the hanger, the blanket, tape was provided, the manger, the recycled fabric paper for the top, the little tree from last year, and the piece of art-The Three Kings made out of paper by a puertorrican artist, as a gift to us last year, you need to check it out in the photos. 

My BEAUTIFUL mom who bought the red light lace and the small red ribbons, was very supportive to my ideas and creativity.

Special thanks to my mom for allowing me to place my tree on the living room wall. And to my dad for his own gift and my mom’s that “I bought” with his money.