hGet eco-holiday ideas for less than $10

hGet eco-holiday ideas for less than $10

Being frugal is the new black, even when it comes to home decor.

This month’s issue of Whole Living: Body and Soul magazine features eco-holiday ideas for less than $10.

From trimming the tree to wrapping gifts and decorating your home, the ideas in the mag are cheap, easy, cool and friendly to the environment.

You’ll love inside-out potato-chip bags turned wrapping paper and recycled paper bags stamped with wine corks. Spice stars made from cinnamon sticks make great Christmas tree ornaments.

And you know those extra buttons that come with your clothes? You can sew them on paper bags so they stay closed when you fold them over.

WallPops spruce up walls without commitment

Forget changing the look of your walls with paint and wallpaper. That requires too much commitment.

WallPops from Brewster Home Fashions is a line of peel-and-stick, removable wall art. Collections range from farm and safari animals for children; to dots, flowers and hearts for tweens and teens; and trendy and chic patterns for adults.

The ZooWallogy for children features farm and safari animals in bright colors and vintage retro prints with extra stickers to create the setting. Animals are packaged with one 26-inch-by-39-inch sheet that includes 10 to 25 pieces of art, including giraffes, elephants, iguanas and piglets. Fun facts about each animal are included.

The cost is about $24.99 per animal, $10 for a pack of five Dots, $10 for a pack of five Blox and $10 for a 61‚Ñ2-inch-by-16-foot continuous roll of Stripes.

For more information, visit wall-pops.com.

In book, top designers recommend paint colors

Choosing a paint color can be a daunting test of taste. Will Moorish Red survive the neighbors’ scrutiny? Will Fresh Dew still look fresh a year from now?

House Beautiful’s book “Colors for Your Home: 300 Designer Favorites” can’t guarantee a yes to either question, but it can offer the assurance that all the colors it features have been recommended by top interior designers. So even if your sister-in-law doesn’t approve of your choice of Breakfast Room Green, at least you can take comfort in knowing Charlotte Moss does.

“Colors for Your Home” is simply a compilation of color samples, each accompanied by an explanation from the designer of why he or she likes it or a suggestion of how to use it. Photos show many of the colors used in room settings. There’s also a color index that assigns colors to rooms where they might work well.

The book is published by Hearst Books and sells for $14.95.

Skip tape when painting? Styletto brush lets you

Taping is one of the most time-consuming parts of painting. A new style of brush promises to make painting so precise that you can skip the tape.

Styletto brushes have an arrow-shaped tip designed to improve the process of cutting in — that is, painting up against ceilings, corners and moldings. The slanted bristles adapt to edges, corners and narrow spaces with less chance of the paint slopping over onto adjoining surfaces.

The brushes are available in five widths ranging from 1 to 3 inches and can be used for both latex and oil-based paint.

Suggested retail prices range from $8.99 to $13.99.

Styletto brushes are available at many Ace and True Value hardware stores, as well as on Amazon.com. They’re expected to be available soon on Home Depot’s site, www.homedepot.com.

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