Upcycling your way into the holiday spirit

In this blog post, Sydney shares how to spread holiday cheer with by making DIY, upcycled gift tags and greeting cards

We may not be able to spend the holidays with all of our loved ones this year, but that doesn't mean we can't reach out and spread a little cheer (mind the rhyme). Growing up, my mom and I used to send out holiday cards with our family photos to everyone we knew, as a way of checking in and letting those we weren't able to spend the holidays with know that we were thinking of them. I don't think we've sent out those cards in a long time, but what better time to revisit old (social distance friendly) traditions! Greeting cards and personalized gift tags are ways to show someone you've been thinking about them, and I think we all could use a little extra care after the year we've had. We can also easily make this DIY a sustainable one by upcycling materials and using paper scraps we already have around our houses. My bubble and I had a great time creating personalized gift tags and greeting cards for our loved ones that we won't be able to see in person this year. It was fun to revisit old crafts that we hadn't done since elementary school, specifically making paper snowflakes! In case anyone else forgot how to make these festive cut-outs, I'll guide you through it!

For the snowflakes, I used pages from an old planner. I started by cutting a circle (ish) shape out of my paper, then I folded the circle as many times as I could through the middle. As you can see in the second image I cut around the bottom of my snowflake, around the sides and the top. All snowflakes are unique so you can customize your cuts however you like, et voila you have yourself a snowflake to add to a gift tag or greeting card!

For the tags and cards, I used some old paper shopping bags I had in my house, and attached elements such as the snowflakes, my own drawings, cut out Christmas trees, really whatever paper scraps I could find! Hopefully this quick upcycling helps get you in the holiday spirit! I know my bubble and I are looking forward to sharing our crafts with our loved ones, especially since we were able to give a festive makeover to scraps we already had, all while avoiding buying new cards or gift tags. Happy holidays!