Recycling For Christmas

We have a saying in Hungarian for things done late, after it is not needed anymore, or are useless. We say "Raincoat after the rain", as such a clothing item becomes pretty useless after the rain stops.

That's kinda what my post is today, as everyone already had their Christmas decorations ready and used them already, except Orthodox Christians, who are celebrating Christmas on January 7th. I'm going to share it anyway as it can serve not just for Christmas, but for other occasions as well and you can learn from it. I hope.

The whole thing started about a month ago, when I spotted a Christmas mug that was basically calling my name. I have a thing for nice, good size mugs and this one checked all the boxes. The porcelain was fine quality, the design was perfect for Christmas, the size was what I use for tea (500ml) and the price was acceptable, so I bought it.

Once I got home, placed the box on my desk and looked it all day. I was very happy about the mug, but liked the box as well.

In this day of age, where everything is lighter, thinner, or made of a cheaper material, this box was extremely good quality and the design absolutely lovely, so it became obvious that I'm not going to just throw it away. How can I? After a few days I knew I'm going to make a Christmas decoration out of it.

This is how the box looked like. The design looked really well, reminded me of winter fairy tales, so a few ideas popped into my mind about how it can be used and after some thinking this was the winner.

First, I cut out the four sides of the box, that had these lovely designs.

On the front side, there was the store's logo, which I didn't need, obviously, so I needed to cover that.

The I had to glue a hanger on the base, as this was meant to be a decoration for either the Christmas tree, or just to hang somewhere.

Glued the back of the front part.

And here it is. Logo covered (shitty job there, I must admit, but it gets better after drying), two parts glued together, hanger added, but still looked like crap, so next phase is coming.

Deciding on the color of the paper to use for the sides was not easy. I didn't want this paper to take away the focus from the design, so I went with this dark green, but kept it thin.

And here it is, the first one ready. It's not a very nice thing to praise your own work, but I love it.

This is how it looks on the Christmas tree. It found its place quickly.

It was time for the rest. Here I used the same liquid glue and some ribbons I saved from some clothes.

My biggest challenge with this project was cutting the edges straight. Using a cutter is one thing, but getting straight edges was not quite easy.

And these are the other two. I wouldn't call it professional work, but I'm ok with it.

You can hang them where you want, basically everywhere.

It's been ages since I last have done such recycling, so it's about time to get back to my old habits, make time and recycle what I can as it's not only saves me money, but it's fun as well.

So this is it for today. I hope you like it. Also, let me know if you have done similar recycling works.

By the way, I love the mug and have been using it ever since. It feels good to look at it on my desk, while working.

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