Got the kids home from school now and need a way to keep them entertained? Here’s something frugal that you can do together–make Christmas ornaments in the Crock-Pot.

Sounds counter intuitive, I know. But this recipe from one of my favorite blogs A Year of CrockPotting makes something sounding seemingly impossible so easy to do. I mean, there are only four ingredients in this recipe. Even if you’ve got two left thumbs when it comes to cooking, this project should be a snap.

And when you’re done, you can hang the Christmas ornaments and the cookie cutters as decorations on your tree.

This is short and sweet like my Twitter tweets (I’m @leangreenmom), and, in fact, a tweet inspired this post.

My crafty, DIY and cheap husband just fixed the zipper pull on his winter jacket, without having to buy anything new. He took a paperclip and slipped it into the remaining hardware and, voila, new zipper pull. My friend Elizabeth Kricfalusi suggested that perhaps he wrap the paperclip in duct tape to avoid stabbing his finger.

Hmm, duct tape and my husband–perfect together. I’m sure that a paper clip wrapped in duct tape would add a certain je ne sais quoi to his winter style, wouldn’t you say?

I just came across a green-and-frugal reminder/tip sheet from the Environmental Protection Agency. There’s neither anything earth shattering in this information nor ideas that you haven’t heard before. However, it’s all worth repeating–especially if you want to save money this holiday season and help to save the earth. Here goes:

1. Travel efficiently: Map your shopping route to make a number of stops in one trip instead of one stop in a number of trips. Take public transportation, or hitch a ride with a friend or family member. Last night I went to a Secret Santa party, and carpooled with two other moms. Would it have been easier to drive myself? Sure, but we conserved gas (and money), and it was fun riding to and from the get together, well, together.
2. Shop for green decorations and gifts: Give gifts and decorate your house with electronics that have earned the Energy Star rating, unplug your gifts and decorations when not in use, and choose gifts that have less packaging. And don’t forget to look into your own backyard for decoration ideas like I did with pine cones (see the header picture on the blog for one of my decorations) and evergreen boughs.
3. Extend the useful life of gifts: Before tossing the old to make room for the new, check to see if you can donate it, reuse it or recycle it. I wonder how busy the local Freecycle lists are going to be by Boxing Day, what with people giving stuff away rather than throwing it away.

For more ideas you can visit the EPA blog called Greenversations.

I’ve written in the past about giving gift cards in lieu of tangible presents, and I still think they are a terrific gift for finicky folks like teens and tweens. Well, here’s another segment of the population that might benefit from gift cards: people who travel frequently. And for them I’m talking about airline gift cards.

I’m thinking grandparents going to visit grandchildren, college students who need a way home from school and even business people who’ve seen their travel budgets slashed in the past year can all benefit from the gift of an airline gift card this year. This article on giving airline gift cards includes lots of helpful information, including my tips for creatively packaging this kind of gift.