PFTH (Pages from the Heart) has started work on new Christmas themed Gift books, the full range will be added to the website at the end of September, a sneak peak of just a couple of new designs can be seen below.Of course don’t forget these are the basic graphic images to which the 3D paper tole and decorations are added.

This gift book can be personalized with your own child’s picture makes a great Christmas gift for any new mum or grandmother

Reducing,Reusing and Recycling

The “Greens” and “tree Huggers” have for a while realized the importance of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling ,the rest of us just looked at them as another freak fad group with more time than sense on their hands , after all who in this busy day and age has the time or space for all this recycling and re purposing or “upcycling ” of garbage items , but now with the very evident climate changes and the words “global warming” on every politicians lips,it seems finally that the fate of our environment is to be now for many at the top of the world’s agenda. The greening of our lives can be a real personal money saver and budget stretcher, and in other cases a real money spinner many of the big name manufacturers have jumped on the “green” band wagon and are selling “green” this “earth or Eco friendly” that’s .

But what we must all remember is that we can’t “save the earth” by buying more “this” and “that’s” . Quite the opposite in fact. It amazes me the number of products that are now being marketed that directly claim that you can help stop climate change by buying that particular product, even motor vehicles! Our first line of “earth friendly”defense is not to buy more junk whether it is “environmentally friendly” or not we must Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and preferably in that order.In addition by buying less foreign made items as most of these items come from overseas we are protecting our North American economy from further depletion by purchases of foreign manufactured goods we need to keep our precious dollars at home.

Reducing what you buy is one of the most effective environmental strategies we have personally available to us individually. Thinking do I “really need “this item before you buy it or is it something that with in a short period of time going to end in the land fill . A) because you really didn’t need it. B) its made so poorly that it has very little life expectancy , C)It has so much none recyclable packaging you feel guilty even handling it, if so choose another brand. This is one way of analyzing and reducing your own personal environmental impact. As is speaking to your family and friends about the things they buy for you.

Recently a friend who’s birthday was approaching requested that people give her something handmade (by themselves personally or someone else preferably made in North America) or nothing at all. She was overwhelmed many friends surprised her with their hidden creativity, but others were not up for the challenge and muttered things like ‘it’s the thought that counts’. and they, at least in my opinion all be it unwittingly  are right, after all, when all is said and done, what statement are you making, what sentiment are you trying to express about your friend or loved one , when you give them a cheap, plastic,poorly constructed throw away trinket made in some foreign sweatshop? Personally, I’d rather receive no gift at all.

The art of making things by hand is something many of us have little time for these days, and if we did most of us wouldn’t know where to start but never despair there’s a surprising number of easy, beautiful looking and most of all wonderfully useful things that can be made from our recycling bins. And there are a huge amount of free step by step instructions that can be found on the internet.

One tutorial that caught my attention was one I found at a site called greenUPGRADER for making yarn from newspaper of all things .

Other fantastic things that can be made from the contents of you recycling bin, check out this great garden ornament that can be made from just a couple of tin cans.visit The Garden Web Forum at iVillage

TIN CAN LUMINARIES

We’ve all seen the basic tin can luminaries that some people put out at Halloween,  But what about getting a little more artistic and creative with a little time, skill and imagination some very beautiful pieces can be created fit to adorn the patio or deck of even our fussiest friends, for anytime of year

You can find a basic tutorial on the creation of tin can luminaries at this site here but in order to make the longer cuts a tool such as a dremmel should be employed. If you don’t feel metal work is quite your forte you might visit this site at Etsy and purchase one ,considering the time work and creativity involved in my opinion this persons products are very reasonably priced.

If you are still stuck for a gift idea you could always visit Pages From The Heart Gift Books and check out the latest designs,the gift books are made from real books that have been rescued from the recycling bin or landfill.Each step of the 12 step process is done entirely by hand , as a result, no two gift books can ever be exactly alike.You always give a unique one of a kind gift.

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