Recycled gifts inspire new holiday ideas.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

Ten-year old Harmony Bray of Eugene got some Christmas presents for relatives on Sunday, but not in the usual way.

Rather than shopping for gifts, Bray made the gifts herself, all from recycled materials and for free. Her creations included a framed picture and greeting cards and gift boxes.

"I really liked how everything I made is like new, but they were made from things that you could find in your house," said Bray, a fifth-grader at Parker Elementary School in south Eugene.

Bray was among the dozens of people who made prints, gift boxes and greeting cards from used wrapping paper, holiday cards and other castoffs during the three-day Less is Best Holiday Fair & Recycled Art Sale at the Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts office in downtown Eugene.

"I think it's very cool that they use all recycled things," she said. "And the world needs that."

The event, which concluded Sunday, gave area craftspeople who specialize in recycled materials a chance to sell their creations. Half the proceeds went to nonprofit organizations Materials Exchange and BRING Recycling. The event also promoted a less materialistic approach to celebrating the holidays.

The dozen craftspeople showed that there are many possible second acts for items that normally would end up in the recycling bin or garbage can.

They fashioned drinking glasses from beer bottles, folding baskets from discarded chopsticks, and chimes from old windows. They converted blue jeans into handmade paper, junk mail into masks, and discarded lumber into bird houses. Used bottlecaps were decorated and made into necklaces, earrings, drawer pulls, even a belly-dancing belt.

One fanciful creation featured several Christmas tree stands stacked on top of one another, giving it a Christmas tree-like appearance, strung with holiday lights and topped by a metal Betty Boop.

"This is a fundraiser, but it's more of a way to inspire people to be creative," said Jo Rodgers, BRING'S education coordinator.

People don't have to buy into the material emphasis of the holidays, she said. Relatives can present one another with coupons for yardwork and other household chores, she said. Restaurant and massage gift certificates, and movie or theater tickets, also are good choices, Rodgers said.

Now is a good time for families to determine "what they want to get out of the holidays," she said. For many, it could be spending more time with one another, or playing games and sharing meals, "rather than getting caught up in the burden of stuff."

Recycled gift workshops, including those geared for kids, will continue next weekend at MECCA, 43 W. Broadway. For dates, fees and other details, call 302-1810, or visit: www.materials-exchange.org.

WAYS TO REDUCE HOLIDAY WASTE Some suggestions from Lane County Master Recycler program: Gift boxes: Don't buy new. Use redecorated cereal, shoe or other boxes. Bows/ribbons: Use last year's, or get creative with yarn, old video/audiotape, dried flowers. Wrapping paper: Use comics, maps, posters and cloth wrapping. If you must buy wrapping paper, make sure it has recycled content. Check label. Greeting cards: Use postcard or e-mail greetings. If you buy cards, make sure they have recycled content. Gift tags: Write names on the wrapping instead. Packing peanuts: Request minimal packaging, or natural fiber packing materials that are compostable. Packing Styrofoam: Request minimal packaging, or natural fiber packing materials that are compostable, or recyclable paper pulp packaging. Mail order catalogs: Request removal from mailing lists at time of order. Christmas tree: Decorate live tree in yard, or bring a potted tree or bows inside to decorate.