The impending holiday season can bring about emotions from anticipation to delight. If you’re not organized, the season can bring feelings of dread to overwhelmed. Choosing the perfect present can be part of that dread if you are looking for a one-of-a-kind gift or something especially unique. Handmade gifts are a special token if you possess the skills and the passion to make it happen.
Upcycling is one way to make gifts special – it is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or value. For example, my sister-in-law painted old school chairs and personalized them for the recipient. She painted a chair for me with the words “Live Simply and Simply Live” all around the base. It sits in my office to inspire me.
Here are a few upcycled gift ideas I’ve created over the years:
- An accent pillow made from a wedding dress or favorite t-shirt
- A tablecloth or dresser runner made from childhood dress material
- Twin size quilt made from 15 t-shirts
- Souvenir ceramic tile made into a mosaic end table top
- Framed cross stitch piece made into an accent pillow
- A stretched canvas from a treasured photo
We’ve all seen storefronts closing while online shopping explodes. I like to shop local to find one-of-a-kind gifts before I jump on the Internet and Small Business Saturday is one way to do that. Many of you probably have your favorite small businesses and entrepreneurs that you support, and this year Nov. 30 is Small Business Saturday. Ten Thousand Villages, 240 N. Reading Rd. (Rt. 272) in Ephrata is a nonprofit fair-trade organization that markets handcrafted products from more than 35 countries. Here are a few of the other stores in the area that offer homemade treasures or upcycled gifts:
- Junk to Jazz, 2308 Lancaster Pike, Shillington
- It’s a Gift! 720 Penn Avenue, West Reading
- Bowers Photo, 2649 Shillington Rd., Sinking Spring
Finally, you can also find “clutter-free” gift ideas on my website at thecluttercrew.com and in this month’s issue of Berks County Living. Gift cards, movie tickets, and 529 plan contributions are some of the gift ideas on that list. You can also choose a gift that donates a portion of its profit to a favorite non-profit agency of your choice. Happy gift-giving!
“Creativity is the defeat of habit by originality.” — Arthur Koestler, British writer
Vali G. Heist, M.Ed. is a Certified Professional Organizer® and Owner of The Clutter Crew. She is the author of Organize This! Practical Tips, Green Ideas, and Ruminations about your CRAP.
