I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes that Use Less and Mean More (Paperback)

this is such a pretty book I am so impressed with it. Often when I think of something “green” I imagine something sub par. But the things in this book are far from sub par

I especially loved the gifts that you can make for christms

it starts with 10 things you can do to save energy at christmas such as using led lights instead of your twinkly ones, burning better wood, shop locally and more

there is an adorable wool wreath to make, a newspaper stocking..it looks great–,
pinecone decorations from recycled glass, some very clever ornaments to make from every day itemsa gorgeous tea box gift tag, how to ship green, wrapping green, cuff links made from typewriter keys and incredible recipes..fun book and great for teaching as you go through the Holiday season

Things I liked:
The book is printed on nice thick paper.
Beautiful photographs.

Things I could do without:
All the obvious advice throughout the book on how to save energy and consume less. The advice is often disingenuous, obvious, or just plain silly.

Things that could be improved:
The featured crafts cannot always be made according to the given instructions, at least not at they are pictured. However, this is not unusual for a craft book.

This lovely books is chock full of recipes, crafts, and ideas on living greener.

The recipes include:
Truffled Goat Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
Sweet Potato Christmas Enchiladas
Roasted Acorn Squash Soup with Parmesan and Crispy Sage
Endive, Radicchio, Arugula, and Pear Salad with Candied Ginger, Goat Cheese, and Spiced Walnuts
Stuffed Mushrooms
Gorgonzola and Grape Toasts
Artichoke Dip with Baked Pita Chips
Prosciutto and Goat Cheese-Wraped Figs
Pomegranate Antioxidant Cocktail
Apple, Cranberry, and Brie Quesadillas with Black Bean Salsa
Cranberry Turkey Tramezzino
Parmesan and Yeast Flake Popcorn
Maple Walnut Cookies
Chai Hot Cocoa with Whipped Cream
Pumpkin Butter and Tamari Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Seven layers of Sin Bars
Maple Walnuts in Recycled Jam Jars
Celery Root Soup with Crumbled Bacon and Humboldt Fog Cheese
Brussle Sprouts with Currants, Shallots, and Bread Crumbs
Pan-Fried Chicken Breasts with Chestnut Stuffing and Port Gravy
Pumpkin Gnocchi with Brown Sage Butter
Masked Sweet Potatoes with Ginger and Marscapone
Mini Apple Strudels with Brown Sugar Whipped Cream
Cranberry Prosecco Cocktail

The recipes sound interesting and there are several that I am definitely going to try.

The crafts featured in this book are generally made out of items found in nature and by recycling items you already own.

Crafts made out of sticks, leaves, pinecones, fruit, etc:
Nature Garland
Pinecone and Nut Wreath
Herb Wreath
Silver Leaf Wire Window Ornaments
Chandelier-Gem Branch Bouquet
Glittered Fruit Cornucopia
Star Anise Napkin Holders
Winter Fruit and Nut Centerpieces
Wire Table Decorations: Chile and Quartz Crystal
Wire Table Decorations: Chile and Bell
Glittered Dried Rose Petals
Mini Rosemary Pots
Mini Glitter Shell Tea Light Candles
Salt Dough Ornaments
Vintage Egg Ornaments
Feather Nest Egg Ornaments
Sugared Crapapple Ornaments
Leaf Ornaments
Cranberry and Popcorn Ornaments
Walnut Ornaments
Twig Stars

Crafts made out of recycled items:
Recycled Wool Wreath
Newspaper Stocking
Cork Place Card Holders with Recycled Glass
Decorated Matchboxes
Super Easy Tree Skirt
Lightbulb Ornaments
Cardboard Christmas Tree Ornaments
Angel Doily Ornaments
Tea Bag Ornaments
Tea Box Gift Tags
Recycled Chirstmas Card Gift Tags
Newspaper Gift Wrap and Bows
Decorative Gift Box
Recycled Cashmere Pillows
Recycled T-Shirt Pot holders
Vintage Button Clutch
Cuff Links
Bottle Cap Refridgerator Magnets

Other Crafts:
LED Light Balls
Bell Jar Mini Scene

As I said above, some of these crafts will be very difficult to complete as photographed with only the provided instructions. Most obvious of these is the Newpaper Stocking. The instructions say to use newspaper and other decorative items such as beads, fabric scraps, cut up cards or magazines. The finished product as photographed appears to be contructed of a jute-like fabric and is decorated with Chinese “lucky money” envelopes. It looks interesting but does appear to contain any newspaper.

The Star Anise Napkin Holders are another example. I do like the Asian themes that appear throughout the book as they do provide a very unique look. However, these napkin holders require whole star anise, but when purchased in a package star anise are often not whole but broken and are of varying sizes. You easily spend quite a lot of money buying enough packages to star anise to have a sufficent number of whole star anise of uniform size to complete the number of napkin holders you need. However, the finished product does look beautiful.

The tea bag ornaments look interesting and the instructions are mostly sufficient. However, the photo of the finished product shows a tea bag decorated with a cancelled Japanese stamp. Where are you going to get one of those?

Some of the crafts are far too exquisite. The Chinese Egg Ornaments and the Decorated Matchboxes are beautiful as photographed but they are so ornate and delicate and to make constructing them yourself nearly impossible. I wouldn’t even attempt it.

I think the most successful crafts will be the simpler ones. However, I do appreciate the inclusion of the more ornate – if impractical – crafts because it’s nice to see the possibilities. That is true of the simple crafts as well. It’s fairly obvious that one can make decorations out of fruit, nuts, and twigs, but it is inspiring to the see the beautiful finished products nonetheless.

The tips throughout this book on living greener is fairly useless. Most of it consists of advice to use less energy by turning off lights, driving less, buying organic or local, shipping green (use recycled packages, ship to your office, ship all products to one family member instead of separately to all), sending guest home with leftovers. Nothing groundbreaking here.

There is a list of websites at the end of book. I’m sure they are very useful and interesting website, but of course buying from these websites defeats the purpose of trying to be green by buying locally. However, I’m sure many of the items sold are specialty items that you might have trouble finding locally anyway.

All in all, a lovely book that would make a nice gift.