Hans would be proud.

12.16.2009

You know how new moms wake up in the middle of the night in a panic because they hear the slightest movement from their newborn? Well, apparently, I have new mom syndrome over Salvaged Grace. If I fall asleep writing a post (twice now!), I wake up at 4am in a panic.

The side benefit is that I then can’t fall back asleep and take to Google Readering. And I discover things like these amazingly gorgeous holiday decorations at the Danish Embassy in DC, via Thoughtful Day. All this winter wonderland goodness was made using salvaged and recycled materials. Specifically coffee filters, paper towels, large-scale printing paper, and discarded paper documents. Those huge amorphous garlands were created by weaving Christmas lights through chicken wire and covering with the paper sheets and flower decorations. The inspiration came from Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen.

Old issues of the Financial Times were used to make this beautiful rose.

I LOVE this. So simple. So lovely.

All pictures by Chris Svetlik and many more can be viewed at the Washingtonian. PS! All these decorations are FOR SALE!

Copper, Glass and Lightbulbs, oh my!

Ornaments made with copper…

Made from scrap brass and copper, Worldesigns' Ebay shop

Made from recycled copper, TwiningVineDesign's Etsy shop

Ornaments made from glass…

Made using Newcastle Ale bottle, WesternGlassArt's Etsy shop

Made using found seaglass, SeaGlassThing's Etsy shop

Made using salvaged stain glass, FiveSparrows' Etsy shop

Ornaments made from Lightbulbs…

Made using lightbulb, SallyCrafts' Etsy Shop

Made using a lightbulb, KissingGlass' Etsy Shop

The Christmas Tree’s New Clothes

12.15.2009

It was to be a very straight forward, one time blog entry: I would scour Etsy for recycled, salvaged, upcycled holiday ornaments and write about my favorites. Easy peasy.

Except that there were oodles of results pages in a “recycled ornaments” search. Except that I’m a complete perfectionist and couldn’t NOT look at every page. Excect that there were just too many pretty ornaments and interesting ideas. And so, dearest readers, you get recycled, salvaged, upcycled holiday ornaments every day until Christmas, organized by the material with which they are made.

And today, the tree must put on some clothes! Merry merry, I think there are some fun ideas in here.

Made from felt scraps, Recycledparts's Etsy shop

Made from felted wool scraps, MaddyandMe's Etsy shop

Made from recycled sweaters, Cbone's Etsy shop

Made from thrifted sweaters & felt scraps, BloomandBarnacle's Etsy shop

Made from burlap scraps, TheLittleGreenBean's Etsy shop

Made from repurposed Men's dress shirt, HandmadebyCandice's Etsy shop

Made from quilting selvages, CarolinaSquirell's Etsy shop

Made from reclaimed wool, CherryLaneJane's Etsy shop

Note: You can click on any of the pictures to get to the Etsy stores… buy homemade for the holidays!

Woodland Winter

12.09.2009

I love going home to NC for Christmas. My parent’s house is always over-the-top (but tastefully!) decorated and it smells of mulled apple cider & gingerbread… Mmmm, can’t wait! Even though I celebrate the holidays elsewhere, I always decorate my apartment for the month of December!

In fact, there is currently a very large, fresh pine wreath hanging over my bed. If you know anything about pine trees, you know that they shed (for lack of a better word) pretty frequently. Thus, I now sleep in a bed of pine needles.

As an alternative for the future, I might consider one of the beautiful seasonal wreaths or holiday decor from NHWoodsCreations. All made from natural forest finds, they look slightly less hazardous than my own Brooklyn street tree vendor forest find. I especially like the kissing ball.

Pine Cone and Spice Kissing Ball

Large Birch Bark Snowman

Dried Flower Wreath with Christmas Quail