Ellington

Only 13 days until Christmas. How much have you crossed off of your Christmas shopping list? I've suggested charities. I've suggested memberships. Now how about the truly do-it-yourself?

1. Pull out some recycled paper and your favorite fancy markers to make gift certificates for your own unique talents. A night of free babysitting for your tired sister and her husband. A raked lawn for your dad. An e-mail tutorial for your less-than-tech-savvy aunt. A ride to the grocery store for a stranded older neighbor. What are your ideas?

2. Stir up several batches of your best Christmas cookies and other holiday treats. Fill festive reusable Tupperware with goodies for the sweet teeth on your list. My own perennial holiday specialty is mini-loaves of gingerbread, which, in case you find yourself on my gingerbread list, is best served sliced with a generous slather of lemon curd.

3. Get online and help clean out the mailboxes of your loved ones. Junk mail is a perennial annoyance, and it is much worse for the environment than e-mail spam. Each year, American junk mail wastes 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water. Some popular junk mail reduction services include 41pounds.org and greendimes.org.

4. Start carrying around your knitting needles or a crochet hook, and crank out a scarf or two to keep your family and friends warm and toasty. Conventional yarns can be environmentally harmful, so look out for organic cotton yarns, yarns made from banana fibers, recycled silk sari yarns, yarns spun from alpaca hair and more. Visit blueskyalpacas.com, mangomoonyarns.com and shop.thehungersite.com.

What other last-minute DIY gift ideas can you come up with?