Dear readers,

Happy Winter Solstice!  A great way to celebrate the impending light is to have candles lit in our homes – especially around the holidays.  And what better way to trim the wicks and snuff the candles than with an antique candle snuffer! Now you can get positively Dickensian in your holiday rituals with this one of a kind implement, evoking the nineteenth-century aura of London streets and the ghosts of Christmas past…

Bidding is now open on this item…place your bid before it goes!

We are in the last few weeks of the holidays, when everyone starts to *really* think about  getting gifts, wrapping, and mailing them out.  Goodwill has lots to offer in terms of the holidays – wrapping paper, ribbon, decorations, and of course thousands of countless possibilities for gifts.  Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. eBay. Many of you know that Goodwill has an eBay site that features some of our best donations – this is a great place to get a high quality or unique item at a price with which you are comfortable – you bid what you will pay!  Check out the eBay site today to make sure you get gifts in time.

2. Kids. My  nephew will play with and enjoy anything I give him – there’s no need to spend lots of money on childrens’ holiday gifts.  Last year, I went to a few Goodwill stores and picked out about 10 picture books – I think it cost me around $10 and he loved every one of them.  Goodwill offers a great variety of kids’ books, toys, and clothing – you never know what you will find!

3. Jewelry. A great gift for someone who enjoys jewelry are a few select pieces of vintage jewelry.  We receive jewelry donations on a daily basis – you can find them in the display cases in our stores or on our eBay site.

4. Cooking ware - for the person who loves to cook, just about any kitchen-related item will be much appreciated.  Last year I bought my sister a set of dishes, some pots and pans, and potholders to make a kitchen gift basket – she loved it and uses these items almost every day.

And there’s so many more ideas!  There is absolutely no reason to break the bank at the holidays.  Pick an evening after work, or take the whole day, and peruse a couple of Goodwill stores – I think you will be surprised at the possibilities.

Now that 2009 is here and the holidays are just about over, it’s time to start thinking about the best way to reuse/ recycle all your holiday supplies, gifts, and miscellaneous packaging that always seems to be around. Let’s start with the most basic:

The Christmas tree.

Every year around this time, I get a little depressed. Sure, it’s partly because the holidays are over and there is still a long winter ahead. But what really gets me is seeing all the poor Christmas trees lying out on the curb, waiting to be picked up the garbage truck. This once living tree was a part of your holiday festivities and gave meaning to your family during the holidays: why not do the right thing and “treecycle” that tree!

What am I talking about? Well, I recently read an article on Earth911 about a practice called treecycling. Basically, you bring your tree to a local transfer station or recycler and the tree is turned into compost and mulch, giving life to other plants and trees. To locate a place near you, please visit Earth911. You can punch in your zipcode and it will give you the top five locations in you area. It also gives some great tips on how to start a Christmas tree recycling program in your community if there already isn’t one. I encourage everyone to treecycle and use your holiday tree for a good purpose. Thanks to the Suddenly Frugal blog for sharing this idea–she also posted some other options for recycling your tree if there is no treecycling available in your area.

Reuse those gift cards!

While some cards are probably best left in the recycling bin, nab those cards with great designs, cut them up, and stockpile gift cards for next year’s holiday season. Check out this post from Crafting a Green World for other ideas on reusing holiday cards.

Reuse that wrapping paper!

As I mentioned in a previous post, most wrapping paper is not recyclable, since the quality of the paper is so low, or because decorative add-ons, such as glitter and foil, deem it non-recyclable. I’m sure many of you received gifts in wrapping paper–if you are like me, you saved what you could. While I will reuse this paper for next year, there are also countless projects you can turn to to put this gift paper to good use. Crafting a Green World has great ideas, such as creating CD covers, making some oragami, incorporating the paper into sewing projects, or using it for paper mache. Be sure to read all the details at their site! In years past, I have also decorated old shoe boxes and used them as storage containers!

The Thrift Shop Romantic also wrote a great post about repurposing holiday decorations. As she notes, why not use red tablecloths and placemats for Valentine’s Day and the Fourth of July? And,because I am really digging this tree she posted, remember that just because a decoration is “labeled” for the holidays does not mean it has no use the rest of the year. As she points out, the tree to left also makes for a great Valentine’s tree!

To everyone who has donated, shopped, or supported Goodwill in other ways this past year, thank you! We could not do the work we do without your continued support. Because of you, we are able to offer the following programs:

Job Training and Employment

Brain Injury Rehabilitation

Deaf Services

Developmental Disability Services

We hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and safe holiday and we look forward to seeing you in 2009!

The Staff at Goodwill Industries of Northern New England

Nothing like waking up to the world encased in a sheet of ice. Though the trees in my neighborhood did look beautiful, the walk to work was anything but that. Please be careful out there today!

Now, if you are like me, you may just be getting around to holiday decorating this week. Thus, I decided to highlight some last-minute inexpensive and green holiday decorating ideas. But because I ran across some other inspiring ideas, I am also including them here as a goal for next year!

Decorating

1. The Thrift Shop Romantic featured a fantastic post about decorating with vintage holiday postcards. She showcases the cards (see an example on the left) she came across and gives a great visual history of how Christmas and the holidays have evolved over the past century.

2. Recovergirl recently featured a fantastic felt wreath on her blog. It is one of our favorite creations over here and I personally am inspired to try my hand at this (though probably not until next year!)

3. Want to decorate your home for free? How does clementines, pine boughs, and pine cones sound? Lean Green Family highlighted three ideas on how to add holiday cheer and great smells to your home for free!

4. I featured Roxy Jewelry in a previous post, but I am just smitten with her latest creation because 1) it’s a great example of how to reuse everyday items and 2) it is a creative twist on the posts in which we featured line drying and eco-friendly laundry tips. And what am I talking about? Why, the Christmas Card Hanger made from a clothesline and clothespins, of course! Roxy Jewelry is currently selling these kits on her Giggling Gnome Etsy site and is a festive and creative way to display your holiday cards.

5. What about ornaments? Can you ever really have enough? Crafting a Green World recently featured a very simple and easy holiday ornament to make and you only need three supplies: cardboard, glue, and aromatic spices. This also is a great gift for children to make and keeps your home smelling festive and yummy with warm spices.

6. I also came across this video on how to make recycled paper ornaments with pieces of scrap; a brilliant idea!

7. In New England, we are lucky enough to have winter berries still hanging on in fields, meadows, and parks. I recently did some foraging and with the addition of some pine boughs, managed to put together a lovely bouquet.