My 75% off after Christmas hall.....so far. LOL

[putrid]

Cheap is my price. But two much cheap can get expensive. But After Christmas only comes for a few weeks a year! LOL

From Wal Marts
5 boxes C7 multi color ceramic lights
4 boxes 20 ct mini lights
12 boxes 50 ct clear mini twinkle lights
2 boxes 100 ct clear mini lights
3 -60 inch big berry garlands
4 -60 inch small berry clusters garlands
11 -9 ft branched evergreen garlands
8 -9 ft branched deluxe evergreen garlands
3 -6 ft berry and holly chain garlands
1 angel with sticks coming out of her back
2 of the largest size material covered cones
2 of the medium size material covered cones
2 -30 inch plain evergreen wreaths
1 -20 inch plain evergreen wreaths
1 -10ct box silver ornaments
4 plain red bows
30 velvet poinsettia stems with 5 flowers each.

Target
1 sparkly fruit wreath
1 Santa in old fashioned car stocking holder
1 Snowman in old fashioned car stocking holder. I've taken off the holders so both can sit anywhere.
1 large round thing of silver plastic ornaments.
1 old style Winny the Poo glass ornament.

Hobby Lobby
1 square thing of silver plastic shaped ornaments
1 -8 ct box of large red and green frosted apples
5 more shaped ornaments.

I got all the white lights because I don't have that many. And the few I had I used. I still have loads of multi color minis I bought last year. Even after using 12 new 100 ct this year. No I don't use these just once and toss them. LOL Had I wanted to put up a second tree and used white lights I wouldn't of had them to use.

This isn't everything. I've hit a few local dollar stores. Now I just need boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. LOL

[spookineer]

Wow! Great haul! We just got home last night from a 3 week vacation and missed all the after-sales. Maybe I'll try walmart to see if anything is left.

[Mummy deer-est]

Whoa, putrid...I thought I went a little crazy at World Market, Target and Michaels -- you got me beat!
Although, I was smart and did buy one of those humongous storage tubs that Target had!

My problem is that there are so many stores and so little time/money. I still would love go check out home depot, walmart, walgreens, and cvs! Not going to happen! (This year) :D

[Sickie Ickie]

Had to pass on most deals this year because of no moola...maybe next year...

[putrid]

I didn't intend to go that far overboard but still glad I did. Don't think there's anything I bought that I wont use. The cones were way cheaper than the styrofoam cone I bought earlier to make the pine cone tree out of. Planning on making a large poinsettia cone tree. More than likely add to the height of the tallest one. The dolly ( as my mom was calling them, she bought one to re do too. LOL ) with the sticks coming out of the back I'll redo to make look more like a tall angel. Add to the outfit and make better wings for it. The evergreen garlands are for what's still needed in the living room and then to do the kitchen and maybe the small hallway. If I get the office finished the aluminum tree and color wheel will go in there so that room wont need all the evergreen stuff. But will get most of the 40's,50's, and 60's stuff. Gota have modern stuff with a computer. LOL Who knows I might go nuts and put up every tree I have and sleep in an indoor forest. LOL

[Sickie Ickie]

"I might go nuts and put up every tree I have and sleep in an indoor forest. LOL"

That would be sooooooooo cooooooolllllll!!!!!!

[putrid]

LOL Sickie Ickie,
Take it form someone who's had,
2 trees in the bedroom. One 3 ft one 6 ft.
3 trees in the living room, One 8 ft, one 6 ft and one 3 ft,
1 tree in the kitchen, one 6 ft
and 1 tree in the garage, one 8 ft. (garage was set up for more seating)
It's totally cool to do. Totally sucks to take down. LOL Seems to take 3 times as long to put things away.

Back when I was married we would throw a big get together around mid Dec. We'd squeeze 40+ people in this 1000+ sq. ft. 2 bedroom one bath 1960's ranch. The entire front of the house is just a living room and kitchen. Plus the one car garage. We had so much stuff up and sitting on things it looked like a Christmas re-sale shop in here. LOL Family and friends were always buying us Christmas stuff. We even got Christmas items as wedding gifts. The wife now has all those gifts, everything she bought and some of my old stuff. Believe me folks in NO was is it a bad or sad thing. I'm happier now than I've been in years. And the in-laws are still buying me Christmas stuff. They'd go to auctions and pic up things they know I'd be interested in.

Yep, went out and bought more stuff. Don't have any plain glass balls for the trees so I got 9 boxes. plus some plastic gold colored stick, twig and berry looking things I can cut apart and make things out of.

[Sickie Ickie]

I like the idea of camping out in my living room under trees! :D

[bethene]

wow, what alot of great deals Putrid! I got quite a few light sets, some ornaments, but probably the best deal was the electrical stuff I got, grounding stakes, cords, etc at 80% off from Hobby Lobby.- And those can be used for any holiday!

[putrid]

Great haul Bethene! Totally cool about the electrical stuff! Your Hobby Lobby at 80% off? The nearest one to me was at 66%. Might have to go back. Think I need more plain color glass balls....and.... LOL Thanks for the heads up!

Before anyone hollers at me this time I went back to Wal Marts for a reason. LOL Going to do up 24 ft of Deluxe evergreen garland like you would a wreath. This will go above the kitchen cabinets. Had to pick up more berry garlands and twigging gold things. And I figured I'd get more poinsettias in case I need more than what I have now for the cone tree. Hoping to do a 4 ft one. Or turn my small hallway into a poinsettia cavern. LOL

I did a cheap dollar store wreath up. Used big berries, little berry clusters, gold twiggy stuff and cut 3 link sections off of the holy chain garland I got at Wal marts. With a red bow the cost to do the wreath was $5.08. Tax and all. The original cost of the wreath was $5.00! The way the wreath turned out is my inspiration for the 24 ft of garland for the kitchen. The only difference is I'll add pine cones to the garland. And I get those for free. LOL

[Sickie Ickie]

Sounds terrific Putrid!

[Mummy deer-est]

show us a pic of your wreath, putrid...I just started doing my own, and I need some inspirations for my big-un' that I just got!

[bethene]

Yeah, would love to see the wreath, you definately got great deals, I would like to see pics of the garland also if you get to it!

[Sickie Ickie]

Hey, I just like pics. :D

[putrid]

LOL OK will post pics on my cheesy site soon. That 24 ft of garland has turned into 45 LOL I've got two 9 ft sections all done except for adding some pine cones. Takes me a good slow hour to do one. The hour goes by the same, I'm slow. LOL Had to go back to Wal mart today. Ran out of wire. And I have to admit I did pick up more stuff over the weekend. Bought 5 more 9 ft deluxe evergreen and 6 more of the plain branched. Plus more berries and stuff to do the ones for the kitchen. But that's it. Going to have to be. between the new projects I'm making for myself and all the ones I need to do for the web site I'll be up to my elbows till Aug.

[Elvira]

Wow, you hit some fantastic deals. I found a couple deals, the one I love the most is my santa's that sing 6 different Christmas songs. They each stand 5 ft tall. I got them for 18 bucks each at walmart. I am not sure what the reg price was, I believe somewhere around $70-80. I really didn't need 2 but the price was right. I should have bought 10 and slapped them all over the neighborhood! :D

[Mummy deer-est]

That is a great deal, Elvira! I would love to have a singing Santa great my guests as they walked in the door!

[putrid]

Two 5ft tall Santas for 18 each!! Totally cool deal Elvira! Are they activated when someone walks by?

OK you can see pics of the wreath and garland here,

http://home.earthlink.net/~jazzfusion/id22.html

[Mummy deer-est]

Thanks, putird! I love all those berries -- did you spray the gold twigs or get them already painted? And do you wire everything on with floral wire?

[bethene]

VERY pretty , Putrid, you did a great job, never know it came from dollar store, and your garland is also pretty, that will look so nice in your kitchen!! Elvira- what a steal from Walmart, wish mine would of had those Santas so cheap, they didn't have much left.

[Sickie Ickie]

Wow! That gives some great ideas for next year. Thanks, Putrid!

[putrid]

Thanks, putird! I love all those berries -- did you spray the gold twigs or get them already painted? And do you wire everything on with floral wire?

All those twigy things came gold. Everything has been wired in on two places. Two different 'branches' so they will stay put when they get stored. ( hopefully). Yep, the more floral wire you use the more like a porcupine the project becomes. LOL


VERY pretty , Putrid, you did a great job, never know it came from dollar store, and your garland is also pretty, that will look so nice in your kitchen!! Elvira- what a steal from Walmart, wish mine would of had those Santas so cheap, they didn't have much left.

Thanks for the compliments Bethene, although I'm not used to the things I make being called 'pretty'. LOL So many years on the Halloween forum. Making corpses and tombstones. Pretty is just not a word I'm accostumed to. LOL But I like it!

Sickie Ickie, These are my first real attempts at doing this kind of stuff. Wont call myself an expert but it's easier than I thought. Everything is done in odd numbers. Including the types of decorations. You don't count the wreath. Only the stuff that imbellishes it. In this case it already had white 'snowy' tips so I counted that as one. Two types of berries, holy and the gold sticks make 5. Seams to work just fine that way. I learned all this by looking at pictures off of Ebay. And who says you can't learn things by lookin at pictures. LOL

[Sickie Ickie]

Odd numbers, eh? Do "I" count as one? LOL

[Xmaslilly]

Love that garland P..your wreath looks very festive too!!

I just bought a bunch of stuff from wally world..
16 boxes 50 light string 50 cents each,16 -18 inch trees with stand 25 cents each
about 6 pot pourrie bags .75 each,18ftgarland1.29, 2 ornie hangers boxes 50 cents each,
2 step on lights switch with 3 outlets each 1.50 each, xmas name tags .50 cents each,
under 30 bucks so not bad.
next stop goodwill...woohoo

[Mummy deer-est]

when do you all think would be the best time to go to thrift stores for xmas goodies? I'm thinking that people might be donating xmas themed gift they got right around now?

[Xmaslilly]

Yup I think the same mums.. I hope to get there this weekend or mon and tues when I am off...I know ours usually doesnt have it (Xmas ) out all yr. But there is always something you can find to use .

[Sickie Ickie]

Our thrift store actually saves the holiday stuff for the holiday when it rolls around.

[Elvira]

Two 5ft tall Santas for 18 each!! Totally cool deal Elvira! Are they activated when someone walks by?

OK you can see pics of the wreath and garland here,

http://home.earthlink.net/~jazzfusion/id22.html

It truly was an amazing deal, now I regret not having bought more. (what I would have done with them I have no idea. LOL ) See pic below. The nice part about these 2 guys is..... they shrink down to about 2.5 ft for storage. Push the shoulders down and wa la!

Unfortunately, they are not motion or sound activated. You have to touch a button on the base with your toe to activate it.

I have collected so many treasures over the years, I think its time to weed the stuff out. I'll have to check and see if this site has a freebie section, maybe someone can give my treasures a new home.

[Elvira]

OK you can see pics of the wreath and garland here,

http://home.earthlink.net/~jazzfusion/id22.html

WOW! You did an amazing job. I was at micheals the other day and I saw something very similar to the garland you made. I hope you're sitting down for this...... $320.00!!!!! even at 75% off I had a hard time swallowing 80.00 for garland.

You're very creative, keep up the great work!

[Mummy deer-est]

I have collected so many treasures over the years, I think its time to weed the stuff out. I'll have to check and see if this site has a freebie section, maybe someone can give my treasures a new home.

Oo oo oo! me me me!!! *with my hand straight up!*
I love freebies!

[Sickie Ickie]

minus shipping of course. :p

[Nancj]

WOW! You did an amazing job. I was at micheals the other day and I saw something very similar to the garland you made. I hope you're sitting down for this...... $320.00!!!!! even at 75% off I had a hard time swallowing 80.00 for garland.

You're very creative, keep up the great work!

Yikes!!!! and some times they're so ugly they're not even worth the $20.00 it took to make them.

[Sickie Ickie]

Ain't it the truth!

[Mummy deer-est]

Holly Hannah! 320? Are they insane? And was it dusted with gold?!

[putrid]

Well I'll tell ya'll if you've impaled yourself with florist wire as many times as I have making em you'd charge that much too. LOL ????$320???? For how many feet? My total cost for each 9 ft is $6.42.( tax and all). Be a whopping $32.10 for all five. That's 10 X my total cost!!!! You know they sold them at that price. If I had that kind of money I'd still be inclined to make my own. And I'd use real gold too. LOL

[Sickie Ickie]

(just make sure the gold doesn't have chocolate inside. It would become messy!)

[putrid]

Then I'd have to leave it up all year. Look the part by Halloween! LOL

[Sickie Ickie]

hmmmmm I wonder if chocolate molds?

[putrid]

Yes it does. I know from experience. Turns white first then lots of new colors get added. LOL

Finishing up the last of the 45 ft of garland for the kitchen. Started a new 9 ft section to go over a doorway in the living room. It'll be pine cones, holly and evergreen. (Another trip to wal marts. Ya, needed more stuff.LOL ) If I could of found enough of the things I'm making the kitchen garland out of I'd make the remaining 27 ft needed to go all the way around. They need to have these 75% and 80% off sales in Nov. LOL

Talked to my father-in-law last night. He picked me up some old Shiny Bright Christmas stuff at an auction a few weeks back. Will have to make it out there soon to see all of it. I need a bigger house. LOL

[Nancj]

A bigger house would only mean more garland to go around, more decorations, more trees, more....what you need is more storage!

[putrid]

LOL I got plenty of storage Nancj. I have a full attic with a stair well going up to it. The only part I can't walk on is over the garage. And plenty of room in the basement. It's kinda like having a large plait with a small appetite. I got more room to pile it than I got to put it. LOL By next season I'll have the office and kitchen done. That'll give me more room to put things up. Be nice to see my aluminum tree and color wheel again!

[Elvira]

Well I'll tell ya'll if you've impaled yourself with florist wire as many times as I have making em you'd charge that much too. LOL ????$320???? For how many feet?

Oh it wasn't very long, I would guess it to be no more than 20 ft of it. I have to admit tho, I sat there admiring it a long time before I convinced myself it wasn't worth it. Because I am not very creative, it was tempting. (maybe if it had lights strung thru it I would have been sold on it :D ) Yup, NO lights, and 320.00 reg. If I would have bought it, I would never admit to DH or anyone else what I paid for it, they would definitely send me in to have my head examined. :p

[putrid]

You'd be surprised how easy it really is Elvira. Just work in odd numbers. Take three of everything you want to add to the garland, mark off 2 ft of it and wire it all in one type of decoration at a time. Do this till you complete a 2 ft section. You can make it random like I did by not retpeating the same placement pattern for each 2 ft section. Or make it patterned and repeat the same placement for every two ft. If your garland is 9 ft long then divide it in 5 equal parts of about 1ft 9 inches. You don't have to wire anything in to try it. Just lay your garland on a wide surface and place the decorations on it. Then step back and see what you've done. You could by more stuff with $320 and make more garlands yourself. At full price mine would of only been 128.30 for all 47 ft. Give it a shot Elvira! Be cool to hear about and see what can create!

[Mummy deer-est]

So I just got back from getting my husband a present at Walmart, and guess what -- they still had christmas stuff!! So, I had to get some wreath decorations, ball ornaments, a tree stand, and two packages of lighted faux garland. For under 10 bucks! Yay!