Sweet Christmas Clearance

Every year I promise myself that I will not buy any Christmas clearance, but for some reason every year I can't help myself! I always end out "just looking" at the clearance. So this year was no different except for I found these great deals on Christmas Eve when I was buying things at Smith's for dinner... cute stuff at Smith's you ask...yes, way cute stuff. Here's the break down...

Three 6 in. wreaths (big plans for these next year) $1.75 a piece.

Snowman plate thingy $1.75.

Five plate chargers $o.75 a piece.

Play money $0.50 a piece (I will be using these for a fun chores incentive for the kids...they will earn fake money which can be redeemed at the Bodrero family store or an outing, that's another post entirely).

10x20 in. picture of Santa. $5.00

Pine cones- $1.25, stocking- $1.00, garland- $0.62, crate- $o.75

Five dessert plates $0.31 a piece...sweet!!


Eight snowflake glasses $0.31 a piece.


The grand total $24.90!! Now do you see why I can't help myself?

I made the star pictured below. I used some paper I had on hand just to see if I could do it...I can! I plan to use this idea next year in some more Christmasy colors. Super easy and I love stars.

Christmas Stuff

I love to decorate for Christmas. I am trying to add more items each year and have loved the fantastic ideas that I have seen on various blogs in blogland. There are some super talented ladies out there...my word! Here are some pictures of a few spots in our home that are decked out.

The tree. I let our boys decorate the tree together and even though it drives me crazy that everything isn't centered (I have some OCD issues), I have left it alone. I think they did a pretty good job!



I love, love nativities! This is our only full set. The shepherd, donkey, and camel aren't pictured. We have had this for a few years and it brings me so much joy!

A splash of color!

I bought this at Kohl's this year. I love that it can stay up all winter long, it is super cute. I have it hanging on a wreath hanger and it looks great.



This is so old. Is it not dated...big raffia bow, hunter green and burgundy...I remember when it was the 'in' thing. I want to give this a makeover! I have gotten as far as painting it. I plan to distress it and add some pretties to it. I am still looking for the perfect stuff.

There have been ton of ideas in blogland for inexpensive gifts. I saw this on Sisters Stuff and knew it would be something I could make and something useful for our boy's teachers. It is simply an acrylic frame with scrapbook paper inserted instead of a picture. I tied a ribbon around it and stuck on a post it pad. I made one for us too...such a cute idea!

Cute!

Just Add Paint

I found this at a thrift store for $2.00 I loved the chunkiness and shape of it. I gave it a good cleaning, filled the cracks with wood filler, sanded it down, added some primer and then a coat of black paint.




Here is the sconce it its new home, looking much better. It's amazing what a little paint can do.

An Easy Frame Re-purpose

I found these pictures at the thrift store. The fact that I bought them (I HATE dogs) is just plain funny. The pictures were not what led me to buy these, it was the frames. I love them. They are a great color as is and are naturally antiqued. After getting the backs off of the frames, I discovered that they are from the 50's. The frames are well built and the glass is actually glass...imagine that.



The first item of business was to cut the matte squared to get rid of the angled corners.




Next, I swapped out those ugly dogs for these cute boys!


Next, I took two types of ribbon and layered them.



Attached the ribbon to the back of the frames.


Lastly, I made a loop to attach the pictures to this hook from Hobby Lobby.




I'm pleased with the way this turned out. Easy, inexpensive and fabulous!