Last-minute DIY gifts

The holiday clock is ticking down. The malls are jammed.
Your wallet is feeling light. But you still have people on your gift list.
Don’t despair! If you have a couple hours, you can gather a few recycled
materials, make one trip to a craft store or grocery store, and whip up
something unique and stylish to give as gifts.

Handmade gifts are often more eco-friendly because they require less packaging and plastics and produce less pollution when created. You can
reuse materials, which reduces garbage. And, of course, handmade gifts are more
personal than mass-produced junk from big-box retailers.

Check out these nifty projects. Most don’t require
special skills or tools, and many use stuff that’s probably sitting around your
house.

• Bicycle-frame
  lunch bag — Sew a practical lunch bag for biking to work.
• Cardboard cat
  chaise — Cut out a bed for your feline friends.
• Computer key
  thumbtacks — Recycle a broken keyboard into useful thumbtacks.
• Dali
  clock — Melt a vinyl record and make a surrealist clock.
• Decorated
  clothespins — Make laundry-time fun with colorful clothespins.
• Frameless
  photo cube — Print and fold photos into an elegant display.
• Fridge tin pen holder
  — Decorate a
  gum tin to hold pens on the refrigerator.
• Guitar
  picks from a gift or credit card — Cut old cards into useful musical
  tools.
• Laptop lapdesk
  — Build a comfy, portable desk for working on a laptop.
• Literary clock
  — Turn an old book into a charming clock.
• Novel
  sketchbook — Convert an old book into a fancy sketchbook.
• Paint-chip
  notebooks — Turn multicolor paint samples into handy notepads.
• Travel
  pillow cover — Sew a soft, stylish cover for a standard travel
  pillow.
• Vintage
  book purse — Recycle a book or binder into a funky purse.
• Wine charms –
  String beads onto wire for fancy charms at the next party.
• Wooden candle
  holder — Shape a piece of wood into a sleek votive holder.

Need more ideas?  TreeHugger
has a great list of do-it-yourself ideas including a no-sew fleece blanket, a lamp
made from a dried gourd, recipe booklets, ribbon belts, and hot pepper oil.

Read the entire Yahoo!’s Green Picks Blog post at http://green.yahoo.com/blog/greenpicks/227/last-minute-diy-gifts.html

---