going green for christmas!

well, now that Thanksgiving is over... the race is on... at least for most people! i think that im going to try something different this year......SLOW DOWN..... i mean try to remember the real meaning of Christmas and teach my kiddies to do the same. we all need to sit back make some cookies and make some simple homemade gifts for our friends and family. i have been reading Little House on the Prairie to my kids and we just read how they would make gifts or buy very simple ones(except for mothers stove), but you get the point. wouldn't that be nice to teach your kids new crafts and sit around and eat yummy treats and make gifts or ornaments. well there are lots of other ways to go green besides making gifts instead of buying them
there is recycling your wrapping paper or using some nice material to wrap your gift in, or something i do is use my old atlas to wrap presents or let my kids draw or paint on old paper bags, it gives it a personal touch, and my children feel proud of themselves.
something else i love to do is find the perfect item at a thrift or yard sale. that special gift that would show someone you really were thinking of them(like something they collect or have been looking for).
there are so many things you can do to try and be a little greener this year and every year. i also just read about the big tree controversy....a real tree or a plastic fakey. both articles i read said... get the real thing, the real tree is grown especially for Christmas and the tree farmers plant trees to replace the ones they cut down and you can recycle your tree after Christmas verses the plastic ones that will be used for a couple of years after they are all shabby, then thrown in the landfill to stay there for, who know how many hundreds of years. besides who can resist that great pine smell of a fresh tree, that really gets you in the spirit of Christmas!!! SO GO GREEN THIS YEAR