Ahhhh what a day! Not only did we run straight out the day after Christmas and purchase our gifts for each other this year (iPhones), but it was one of my most favorite shopping days of the year. It couldn’t have gone more perfectly.
We went straight to AT&T and got those practically-life-altering-definitely-bank-breaking gadgets. We were told that it was best to drain the phones battery completely before recharging it to extend the ultimate life of the battery. Perfect! Now Jeremy had a distraction: to play around on that shiney new phone and drain the battery as quickly as possible so he could recharge the phone over night and wake up with his new baby fully charged and ready for a full day!
(Jeremy later realized how little I had used my phone on the first day and couldn't understand how on earth I could wait to get familiarized with it. As you know from my last post, I definitely have a great appreciation for this great Christmas gift, but this is a perfect example of how much I LOVE shopping the day after Christmas!)
- Silver Tray: $14.99 ($7.49)
- Ornament Storage Boxes: $8.99ea ($5.00ea x2)
- 10pk Christmas Cards: $6.99ea ($3.49ea x2)
- 12 Medium Silver Glass Ball Ornaments: $2.50ea ($1.25ea x2)
- 15 Small Silver Glass Ball Ornaments: $2.50ea ($1.25ea x3)
- Indoor Lights Digital Timer: $9.99 ($6.98)
- 4pk Sparkly Snowflake Ornaments: $1.00 ($0.50ea x3)
- 16pk Beaded Ornament Hooks: $3.99ea ($1.99ea x3)
- 6pk Snowflake Glass Ball Ornaments: $6.00 ($3.00)
- Grey Beaded Candle Holder: $6.99 ($3.48)
- Red & Green Mercury Glass Votives: $0.99ea ($0.49ea x7)
- Silver Mercury Glass Bird: $4.99 ($2.49)
- 2pk Mirrored Disco Ball Ornaments: $2.00 ($1.00)
- 28pk Asst. Silver Glass Ball Ornaments (not shown) : $9.99 ($5.00)
Sale Total: $63.57!
I love scoring something for 50% percent off, but that many items... it's definitely one of my favorite parts about Christmas. Another favorite part is that since these decorations won't make it up this year, it's like shopping for free when I pull them out of their boxes next year! A lot of times I forget what I've bought the year before too, so the surprise of what I might find in those boxes is always exciting.
Here are a few trees that I bought last year mixed with my new silver tray, green mercury glass votives and a handful of pinecones I already had. This might be my holiday centerpiece next year:
Now, I know some of the items and quantities of what I bought might seem a bit strange. First of all, I'm not exaclty sure what I'm going to do with each of the items I bought, but I know I'll have fun being creative when it comes time to decorate next year. And no, not all of those silver ornaments are for the tree! I know the disco ball ornaments might seem like a tacky homage to the '70s but I was inspired by some of my other favorite bloggers here (Sherry's disco ball ornaments) and here (Katie's Advent Calendar-Day 23) who have used them in these and many other ways that are anything but tacky. The ornament storage boxes included a cardboard grid for protection, but they ended up being for ornaments larger then the ones we have. We decided to keep one as an upgrade to the cardboard box we've been using for our strands of lights, and the other box we'll save for any new decorations that might be accumulated next year. Clearly my obsession over mercury glass (I bought every last votive I could find) and birds (the Christmas cards have a cute red sparkly bird on a snowy branch) is not yet over! And neither was my shopping...
Next stop - Hobby Lobby! For those of you who have never been to a Hobby Lobby you are missing out... unless you go after Christmas. You see, it's a giant craft and home decor store (think Michael's, Joann's or Robert's on steroids). They've got great prices, even better sales and they are owned by Christians... an added bonus! What's not to love, right?
Wrong!
Their sale started December 21st. Ugh! That's right, I think I remember that from last year. How could I forget! I missed it! Almost all of their holiday merchandise was gone and I was bummed. But, I did happen to find a few things worth mentioning:
And again, my favorite part, the price breakdown:
- Quatrafoil Mirrors: $24.99ea ($12.49ea x2)
- Mercury Glass Ornament: $5.99 ($2.99)
- 6pk Mini Glittery Star Ornaments: $4.99 ($2.49)
- Silver Ribbon Ornament Hangers: $1.99ea ($0.99ea x3)
Sale Total: $33.43!
The mirrors are for a different house project but I just love the shape of them! I'm not sure if I'll leave the frames as they are. We'll have to see how the project pans out when I am able to get the rest of the items. Again... mercury glass shows up. I fell in love with a set of silver mercury glass ornaments with bronze tops just like this from Crate and Barrell but we don't have a C&B here in Utah and by the time I discovered them online they were only available in-store. So, naturally when I found these at Hobby Lobby I practically jumped for joy, which definitely got the attention of my husband, whose face was still glowing (both figuratively and literally) from his new iPhone! They only had a few left and it took almost everything within me not to buy them all. But after a little bit of rational thinking I decided on just one. There weren't enough left to repeat around a Christmas tree to keep the tree balanced, not to mention they are pretty darn heavy and still a bit pricey even after the 50% off. I grabbed one and headed for the registers.
Last stop.... Kohl's.
Normally Jeremy would have been way over his shopping time limit by now, and we had just about hit our $100 budget, but his phone was proving to be a perfect distraction. I'll admit, I took advantage of the moment.
We had gotten a pretty late start on the day so it was almost store closing time. I didn't have high expectations for what might be left in the store, and that was a good thing, since there wasn't much left in their holiday section. However, they were having a huge store-wide sale, although... don't they always?! I could have gone crazy, but I kept my sightline focused. I skipped past the clothes, shoes and jewelry and headed straight for the back of the store. Here's what I found that I couldn't leave without:
Price breakdown:
- Grey Isotoner Mittens: $24.00 ($7.69)
- Monogrammed Ceramic Candle: $12.99 ($3.99)
- Glass Candlesticks: Tall $12.99 ($6.49), Short $9.99 ($4.99)
- Glittery "Peace" and "Joy" Ornaments: $3.99ea ($1.19ea)
Sale Price: $25.54
Wow! I saved over 70%! Love that!
I've been wanted a pair of mittens for a while now. I lost the left glove of the only pair I owned last year in one of the many snowy day "adventures" I had. (Loooong story short: I got my car stuck at the entrance of our neighborhood one snowy morning and went back that evening after the roads had been plowed with just my spare key to drive it home. I proceeded to set the alarm off multiples times without my alarm remote and managed to annoy just about every neighbor before finally getting it home. The glove was lost in one of my multiple trips walking back and forth between the car and our house.) Glad to have a new pair again! Let's hope this year is a little less "adventurous" then last! And although the monogrammed candle and glass candlesticks are not holiday related, I couldn't pass up the price!
So, since technically the ornaments are the only Christmas related thing from Kohl's, and the mirrors from Hobby Lobby are for a different project, if I add up the totals and include tax, I actually came under budget this year! Ok, maybe that's a stretch... after all, Christmas related or not, I still bought the items during the After-Christmas Sales. Either way, I was pretty darn close and definitely streched my dollar!
I am excited about my thrifty finds and can't wait for my free "shopping" adventure when I pull out our Christmas decorations next year. My goal is to get decorating the day after Thanksgiving, and to make that a tradition. But for this year, it's all boxed up and ready for the basement.
