Rigging up eco-friendly gift wrap

In the 450 billion dollar industry that is the Christmas season, I've wondered what portion of that goes towards straight up waste, or as others call it, wrapping paper. This is the third year that I've strived to only use reusable or reused materials for wrapping gifts, and I thought I'd share some of the things I've used myself.

I'll be the first to acknowledge that this can add a little more to your holiday budget, but with some creativity and a little planning ahead, most of the things I ended up wrapping with cost far less than a paper gift bag. I got a lot of my materials from dollar stores, discount stores like Big Lots, dollar bins at big box stores and craft stores, and thrift stores. If you live in or near a big city with a Chinatown or fashion district, that's a great place for things like accessories that can be used as reusable wrap or embellishments.

I hope you'll consider making your gift wrap more eco-friendly this holiday season and throughout the year. Share your ideas or what you're going to do in the comments! And, without further ado...

The project formerly known as "25 by 25"

A little more than a year ago, following the lead of a friend, I decided to start a "25 by 25" list, which had an accompanying, short-lived blog. This list of 25 things I wanted to do before turning 25 including some items that were things I’d never done, some that were things I’d attempted and not been able to sustain, and some that were things I hadn’t done in many many years.

The cakes I baked for our family birthday celebration

Last month was my 25th birthday, and while I didn't do everything on my list, a lot more than I could have imagined has happened or started to happen in the last year.

I also realized that I don't need a list or time limits to do things- if there's something I want to do, I should do it when the opportunity arises, or make such an opportunity myself. Still, with closure in mind, I thought I'd post that list here with a bit of an status update on it.