Christmas is over. Instead of packages tidily wrapped and placed under the beautifully decorated tree, we have what appears to be paper garbage destined for the curbside. But before you start heaving stuff into black plastic bags, take a look around. Some of that stuff can be recycled for use in craft projects the next time a holiday rolls around.

Take that balsam fir Christmas tree, for example. If you save some of the boughs in a plastic bag and stash it in a far corner or the garage, the needles will turn a lovely shade of brown and give off the most delicious evergreen smell. Shake the boughs in the summer and the needles will fall off. Collect the needles and you have the prime ingredient for balsam sachets. All you need to do is sew some little cloth bags, cinch them with a drawstring and you have gifts for very little effort and very little money.

Consider these recycling ideas from www.sciswa.org.

To make a paper snowman, cut used envelopes into three strips of paper – 1 inch wide by 4 inches long, 11/4 by 5 inches, and 11/2 by 6 inches. Roll each strip into a circle and tape or glue the sides together. Place the large circle on its side and stack and glue the other two circles on it to create the snowman’s body. Use a marker to make the snowman’s eyes, mouth and buttons. Glue on a small triangle cut from orange paper for his nose.

For the hat, cut a black paper circle 11/2 inches in diameter and glue it atop the snowman’s head. From black paper cut a strip 11/4 inches wide by 31/2 inches long. Form it into a cylinder and glue that to the black circle.

To make arms, glue small twigs to the middle piece of the snowman’s body.

Glue a small piece of cotton batting or fiberfill to the bottom of the snowman to simulate snow. Add a cord to the hat and hang the snowman from the Christmas tree or use him as a table or package decoration.

Those stacks of Christmas cards can be made into ball-shaped tree ornaments.

Cut 20 circles 2 inches in diameter from the cards. Fold the circles to make three equal sides – the shape will look like a equal-sided triangle with rounded flaps. Glue five circles together along two flap sides for the top of the ball. Glue another five circles together along two flap sides for the bottom of the ball. These two sections are circular in shape. Glue 10 circles together along two flap sides to make a band to go in between the top and bottom sections. This section is ringshaped. Glue the top and bottom sections to the center band. Use a darning needle to thread ribbon, yarn or cord through the top of the ball.

My friend Martha passed this next idea on to me. Christmas cards can be morphed into small gift boxes. Here’s how:

Cut or tear the card in two along its fold. On the two narrow ends of the card, measure in 1 inch from the edge and make a small pencil mark. At that mark, measure up 1 inch and draw a 1-inch line from the edge of the card. The card’s two narrow edges will have two 1-inch lines on each edge. Holding the two pieces of the card together, cut along the four lines.

Using the four 1-inch lines as a guide, fold all four sides of one section of the card toward the center. This makes the sides of the box. Tape or glue the four 1-inch “flaps” to the inside of the narrow edge to form the box cover. Do the same for the bottom of the box.

If the box doesn’t turn out quite right the first time, make more until you get the hang of it. These little boxes are so pretty they don’t need to be wrapped and are great for small gifts.

Other Web sites featuring ideas for recycling the paper waste of Christmas are www.kid-at-art.com, www.newdream.org, and www.make-stuff.com.

Snippets

Recently, an online auction company had up for bid an 1844 memory quilt made in Bangor. Web site photos showed several of the blocks. One block, elaborately embroidered with peonies and forget-me-nots bears the name Electa L. Parsons, done in cross stitch. Another block, embroidered with a rose wreath, has on it the names Hannah Silsbee, Mary Rogers, Eliza Mason and Cordelia H. Tupper. I hope the quilt went to a good home.

Ardeana Hamlin welcomes suggestions. Call 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.