Unless you have a container of old store bought decorations sitting up in your attic this year consider forgoing store bought decorations and make your own. Most decorations that have been produced recently are made in China from cheap and often toxic materials that contain things like phalates that off gas and on top of it are not recyclable. Save money and the planet by getting creative.

Bring in the outdoor and decorate with nature. Pick up pine cones either from your winter nature walks or worse case scenario from your local florist. Ask you local Christmas tree yard for extra tree branches that are headed for the mulching machine (often times they will give to you for free) or make decorations out of old stuff you have lying around.

I took old moth hole ridden sweaters (some of my own and some picked up at a garage sale) and made a really cool sweater wreath using a wire hanger. I cut up little pieces, bent the wire hanger into a circle and looped the pieces onto the wire circle. I have a wreath fro years to come. I just have to make sure the moths don’t get to it now.

What kind of decorations have you made?

When your little one falls from his bed, crashes his bike or simply runs into the wall during a game of chase, you experience his pain as well as that heart-racing panic feeling that you try to suppress. You rush to pick him up and hold him close as you wait for the first shriek once he catches his breath.

All parents have to deal with accidents, but here are five tips that may help you avoid a trip or two to the emergency room:

1. Understand the physics: Big heads and baby falls Babies’ heads are large in relation to their bodies. This increases the likelihood that they’ll hit their heads when they fall. Most of these falls can be avoided by attention – and staying between your baby and the floor.
2. Make friends with your helpful hardware man: Buy gates, locks and guards You can prevent many injuries when your child starts to walk by simply installing protective gates at the top and bottom of stairways, as well as window guards or locks on all windows above the ground floor. Don’t forget to baby-proof Grandma’s house as well, and any other home where your little one spends time.
3. Have helmet, will travel: The most important safeguard I can’t emphasize enough the importance of protecting those little heads with helmets. Start with the little ones, giving a shiny new helmet with the first shiny new tricycle. Use only helmets approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Snell Memorial Foundation, the American Society for Testing and Materials or the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
4. Protect little elbows and knees: Buy the right safety equipment For kids on rollerblades or skateboards, wrist guards, elbow pads, knee pads and helmets have all been proven to reduce injury. Wrist injuries are the most common rollerblading, skateboarding, and snowboarding injuries, and those wearing wrist guards are more than 10 times as likely to avoid injury.
5. Let your kids learn by example: Yes, you need one, too Your little ones are much more likely to embrace safety techniques and equipment if you lead the way. Get a helmet of your own, and strap on the pads as well. Many of us were born before we realized that helmets save lives, and often I see parents riding without helmets with their kids, who are wearing safety equipment. If they see you without it, they’ll resist putting it on when you’re not there.

Read more about baby safety and avoiding crashes by older kids.

For the population as a whole, falls are the most common cause of unintentional injuries requiring medical care, the leading cause of hospital admissions for trauma, and the second leading cause (after motor vehicle collisions) of unintentional-injury-related deaths.

While older kids do sometimes fall while walking down the street or across a room, most of the time their falls include items that propel them through space – bicycles, skateboards, rollerblades and snowboards, to name a few. In other words, older kids don’t usually just fall, they crash! Some kids love to go, to move, travel. For those who do, teach them to use these devices safely, at the right time, in the right place and with the right people.

Teach your children not to ride at dusk or after dark, since most serious injuries happen then. When they do ride, it should be in the same direction as traffic, and they should stop wherever a blind driveway or alley intersects the street. One out of six kids killed in motor vehicle collisions is riding a bicycle, usually riding against traffic or crossing a driveway.

The most important preventive measure you can take, however, is to build the habit of using proper safety equipment. Helmets are the most important, for the simple reason that the brain is the most important. Helmets reduce the risk of brain injury by 90%. Use only helmets approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Snell Memorial Foundation, the American Society for Testing and Materials or the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Making helmets natural and fun is easiest if you start young. Along with the first tricycle comes the first helmet, preferably gift-wrapped to make it fun. Through the years, with each new vehicle comes the proper safety equipment, gift-wrapped and festive. Helmets can be decorated with stickers or glow-in-the-dark-paint. Safety should be seen for what it is – an exciting opportunity to make life even better – not a dull, boring restriction on fun.

When your kids are learning about helmets (or any safety measure) your example is critical. If you ride a bike, they need to see you in a helmet. This is hard for many adults, since most of us grew up before we learned that helmets save lives and brains. We’re used to riding without them, and the change is inconvenient and expensive. Don’t cop out by saying that since you aren’t riding in the street (just on a bike path) that you don’t need a helmet. You do. And so do your kids. Every time that you ride, on the road or off, a helmet protects your head and helps prevent the second leading cause of death from unintentional injury.

Your example is critical. Also point out examples of other cool helmet wearers – football players, firemen, baseball batters, construction workers, astronauts, etc. Talk about how cool the helmets are and speculate about why they wear them.

For kids on rollerblades or skateboards, wrist guards, elbow pads, knee pads and helmets have all been proven to reduce injury. Wrist injuries are the most common rollerblading, skateboarding, and snowboarding injuries, and those wearing wrist guards are more than 10 times as likely to avoid injury.

Sun exposure during childhood, especially between 6 and 15 years of age appears to protect people from later developing multiple sclerosis, according to a study in the August 9, 2003 British Medical Journal. MS affects more than 1 million people; it is a disease where the body attacks the insulation around nerve cells. This causes conduction problems that can trigger muscle weakness, clumsiness, slurred speech, and vision problems. Before this study we knew that MS is more common the farther people live from the equator.

This study looked at recent and childhood sun exposure. Childhood sun exposure, especially in the winter months, seems to be protective. Only a moderate amount of sun exposure is needed for this effect. Too much sun exposure, especially during peak sun times, carries its own long-term health risks, including malignant melanoma. Sunburn is never a good idea. But some amount of sunshine, fresh air, and outdoor play seems to be good for kids – a benefit that lasts a lifetime comes from childhood days in the backyard or the park. As in so many things, balance and moderation are key.

I well remember speeding down a hill near my childhood home on my trusty sled. Two suggestions can make this thrill a safer one for kids.

When the snow falls, your child’s bike helmet should become an even more important sledding helmet (over a warm hat). This simple addition to the sledding adventure can save your child’s head now (and perhaps prevent Alzheimer’s later).

The other tip: enjoy the snow with your child! According to a 1999 study by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the US Forest Service, adult involvement dramatically slashes the sledding injury rate.

Make safe snow memories together!