Sparkly Polliwog: reuse

Friday, December 28, 2012

New Years Eve Game for the Whole Family!

5:28 PM Sparkly Polliwog 41 comments

You might not be able to go to New York to watch the ball drop this New Year's Eve, but with this ball of treats... you'll be glad you stayed home!

A few years ago, we started a New Year's Eve game which the WHOLE family could enjoy. It's a great way to reuse all of the wrapping paper from Christmas! We call it the New Years Ball Game. :)

Here is what you'll need for the game:

- Used wrapping paper, tissue paper and/or newspaper
- Packing tape (the more you use, the longer it will take to unwrap)

- Treats: candy, small toys, gift cards, gum, etc. You can spend as little or as much as you want! That's one of the things that makes this game so great!

-A single, typical 6-sided die.

I always start the ball with the best prize in the middle. :)

Start with wrapping paper around the prize and add a piece of tape.

Lay the prize on top, cover with paper and then tape. The more tape you use the harder it will be to unwrap!

Keep adding more treats, paper and tape until the ball is the size you want.

How to play the game:

- Everyone sits in a circle.

- The youngest player gets the ball first.

- The person to the left has the die.

- That person starts rolling the die as the player with the ball starts to unwrap the ball.

- As soon as a 6 is rolled (or any single number you choose) both the player with the ball and the player with the die pass to the person to their right.

- What ever a person unwraps, they get to keep.

- Keep going around in a circle until the entire ball has been unwrapped.

My boys have a BLAST playing this game! It will be a New Years tradition for years to come! The first year we played I only had a prize in the middle and it wasn't as much fun. The next year I added more treats throughout the ball and they really liked it because everyone was able to get a few treats. We try and eat very healthy throughout the year, but on New Year's Eve we like to celebrate the upcoming year with some yummy junk food treats.

I hope you and your family enjoy this game as much as we do. Have a fun and safe New Year's Eve! xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo

Here is a video of my family playing the game for New Years Eve 2012

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Recycled Wrapping

10:45 AM Brandi Davis No comments

Did you know..................
according to Earth 911

-As much as half of the 85 million tons of paper products Americans consume every year goes toward packaging, wrapping and decorating goods.

-Wrapping paper and shopping bags alone account for about 4 million tons of trash annually in the U.S.

-It can often be difficult to find a location to recycle your wrapping paper because the materials are typically non-recyclable.

-If every American family wrapped just three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

This Year here at Sparkly Polliwog, we plan to not waste money buying wrapping paper for Christmas or Birthdays.

We know that there is not always time to wrap a gift cute before giving it, but we think that the wrapping is half the gift!! Its fun to personalize it or add fresh flowers or lace. My nieces birthdays are this weekend and I thought what not a better way to show the "lets not waste money and use what we have" to make their wrappings cute. We usually use cloth bags at the grocery store, but for those times we forget we ask for paper. Which is perfect to use for wrapping gifts!!!

I used brown paper bags, left over Christmas ornaments from my daughters pink tree, tulle from tutus I make and my favorite item of the month-JUTE! I kept it simple and used a precut stenciled letter for their names.

I plan on using this same method for Christmas gifts, maybe using a stamp or paint for Initial.

Sometimes it is the simple wrapping that's the cutest! Recycled, thrifty and cute. My favorite combo :)

Magazines

Another great thing we love to wrap with are magazines that we have lying around the house!

My husband LOVES Lord Of The Rings, so this year I wrapped one of his gifts using a magazine he finished reading.

What guy wouldn't like a picture of Gollum on his Christmas present?

You can even make the bow out of the same magazine!

For instructions on making the bow go here: gift bow

Newspaper

Newspaper is a GREAT thing to wrap gifts with! You can usually find it around the house, it is recyclable, you can burn it, you can compost it, you can clean windows with it, use it to make hats and boats, start seeds for your garden in it, protect valuables when you are moving, use it in your pets cages........ WOW, I think we should dedicate a blog page just to newspaper! :)

Here are some cute ways you can use newspaper to wrap your gifts. You can dress the gift up or down depending on the ribbon you pick to use. We have been saving up the comics to wrap our oldest sons gifts in.