With new designs and decorating trends emerging each year, many homeowners find themselves frequently replacing old decorations with more fashionable ones. So, what can you do when you end up with a heap of old Christmas décor? First, don’t throw them out straight away. Instead, find ways to repurpose them to minimise unnecessary waste going into landfill. Here are some ways to recycle old Christmas decorations:
How To Recycle (And Upcycle) Christmas Décor
Get the whole family involved in your efforts to have a more environmentally conscious Christmas. Alongside decorating cookies and wrapping presents, everyone can enjoy working on these Christmas décor recycling projects together.
DIY Greeting Cards
Greeting cards are a huge part of Christmas. Spruce up plain cardstock from the stationery shop with bits of old tinsel, ribbon, and tree garlands. Glue small pieces of berry sprigs onto the corners of the card. Your recipients are sure to appreciate the personal touch of your DIY Christmas cards. You can also turn them into gift tags. Cut the front half into smaller rectangles and use the blank side to write the recipient’s name.
Make Festive Centrepieces
Old, and even broken, Christmas tree ornaments make great table centrepieces. Take a tall clear vase, glass hurricane, or wooden bowl and fill it with assorted tree ornaments such as baubles, pinecones, and tinsel. Alternatively, you can fill the centres of plain or undecorated Christmas wreaths.
Another idea for DIY recycled Christmas décor is to wrap lengths of old tree ribbon or bead or crystal garlands around old vases or large glass jars. Place small groups of these festive containers on console tables or shelves. Large decorative lanterns can also hold old Christmas ornaments.
Reuse Gift Wrap for Crafting
Save gift wrap with beautiful colours and interesting patterns to use for collage-making or decoupage. Ribbons, twine, and tinsel can all be reused for various craft projects, even for other occasions. For example, a red ribbon comes in handy for Valentine’s Day DIY card-making. Old feathers or tree picks also make fantastic accents on gift-wrapped presents.
Decorate a Kids Christmas Tree
Get the kids involved in the joy of preparing for the festive season by giving them their own small tree to decorate. Our small Christmas trees under 183 centimetres are the perfect size for little hands. Give them your old ornaments to hang, and encourage their creativity by challenging them to reuse Christmas cards and gift wrap as tree décor. They can cut old cards into triangles to make festive bunting or cut them into circles and clip them directly onto the tree branches. Scraps of Christmas-themed fabric can also be cut and made into tree ribbons.
Display their tree in their bedroom or in the den. It’s a fun activity that may become a treasured tradition among the younger members of the family.
Customise Wreaths and Garlands for Donation
Making Christmas decorations from recycled materials and donating them to your local community centres, churches, or non-profit organisations is a wonderful tradition to start with your kids. Many popular DIY Christmas wreath ideas include tying scraps of old Christmas ribbon onto branches or clipping small Christmas cards using wooden pegs to create a rustic festive wreath.
Host a Christmas Décor Swap Meet
If your ornament sets are still in good condition but you want to make room for new décor, consider swapping with family and friends. Host an exchange party where everyone brings a selection of old but usable ornaments they’re happy to trade. To make it even more exciting, hold a blind exchange by wrapping and tagging the ornaments with numbers, then take turns picking numbers from a bowl.
How To Recycle Old Christmas Lights
One of the trickier Christmas decorations to recycle is light strings. Christmas lights contain bits of glass, wiring, and metal filament, classifying them as electronic waste. Once they’ve burned out or are beyond repair, it’s safer to dispose of them properly rather than attempting to upcycle or repurpose them. Contact your local rubbish collection service to ask about responsible disposal options for old Christmas lights. Some communities also have e-waste recycling centres, so it’s worth checking if there’s one near you.
How To Recycle a Real Christmas Wreath
Fresh greenery obviously can’t be stored for next year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get more use out of it after the season is over. Follow the steps below.
Step 1 | Remove the Florist Wire
Most natural wreaths are made using florist’s wire to secure branches and foliage to a round metal frame. If you locate the end of the wire, you can easily unwind it from the wreath. Once it’s all off, wrap it around a spool or dowel for easy access – it’ll be ready to use for new crafts or other wreath projects.
Step 2 | Recycle the Metal Ring
After you’ve removed the wire, the branches and foliage should come free from the metal ring inside your wreath. This metal form can be reused for wreath projects in any season by securing branches, leaves, flowers, or seasonal décor to it. Alternatively, most uncoated metal rings are recyclable and can go out with your bottles and cans.
Step 3 | Compost the Foliage
Once you’ve taken off the wire and frame, what remains is the natural greenery. This can be used as fuel for a pine-scented fire, composted to provide nutrients for your garden, or mulched for decorative use in flower beds.
Recycling is a great way to look at old items with new appreciation. After all, many Christmas decorations hold special significance for your family. By turning old decorations into something you can still display around your home, the nostalgia of Christmases past lives on. Over time, you can even make ornament recycling part of your yearly Christmas traditions by taking turns coming up with fun and creative ideas for what to do with old decorations.
Learn More
Check out these articles for more Christmas decorating guides.