My Thrifty, Green Christmas

I ran across this idea several weeks ago. I can't even remember whether it was in a magazine or on-line, so I can't give proper credit. But, when I was unearthing the holiday decos I set these old bulbs aside with this in mind. Yesterday, I finally dug out some glass bowls to put this together.

I had 2 kinds of bulbs, clear and opaque, so I sorted them out and did 2 bowls. Looks like candy, doesn't it? I especially like the unique flame shaped (and flame colored) bulbs. I inherited all of these from my in-laws. Since we don't use these big lights anymore, and I'm pretty iffy about the safety factor of older light strands, I thought this was a fun & practical way to give them new life! Plus, I can recycle the wiring at Home Depot and get a coupon for $4 off a new Martha Stewart LED strand! How green is that?

On slightly less green note, I've had a few requests for a photo of our oversized Christmas tree! Unfortunately, the thing is SO enormous that I actually cannot back up far enough to get the whole tree in the frame! Yes, it is tied to the loft railing so it doesn't kill us.

It is a real tree that we cut ourselves, however, we try to find an area where the trees are crowding each other so our "thinning" of the tree will actually be beneficial for the forest. When we finally drag the tree back out, we toss it out in the woods to season for a few years before it will become fuel to keep us warm. See? Kinda green. For the record, our lovely little mountain town accepts spent Christmas trees and shreds them for mulch, which they then give away. I think I will be leaving this one up until February! I'm dreading trying to get it back out of the house! Although the space it takes up may cause me to shove it out the door come December 26th. It is beautiful, though. So you'll just have to wait and see what happens! 

Happy last shopping weekend! Don't forget you can shop on-line at www.madmoose.com