How to Decorate your Christmas Tree for Less!

 

The Ornaments I bought for myself this year!

   I love Hallmark Ornaments but I never can afford to purchase them for full price! So I have a tradition that started because of my horseback riding instructor/friend loved Hallmark Ornaments. She goes every year after Christmas and she purchases Hallmark Ornaments.I have gone a couple of years when I have had extra money.  I go to the Hallmark stores/Gold Crown Stores and I arrive at opening time so I can have first pick. I am lucky to be right across from the Hallmark Gold Store so it just requires me getting up early and having some spare money. Then I purchase the Hallmark Ornaments that I want for half the ticket price. I was alone at 8:00 am but at 8:10 am people were flooding in. A couple days before Xmas I looked over the ornaments to see where the ornaments I wanted were and then I made a plan of attack.

   I have a Hallmark Gold Store card so I earn coupons now for the purchase so that leads to more of the discount. I wanted to have the card last year but they were out of them and they never arrived in time. I did not spend that much on ornaments this year but since I got some money for Xmas I spent $101.00 on ornaments more than half of them I am selling on Ebay.

Penny as a little pup and the mini live Christmas Tree!

The first year we were married we did not get a tree. The next year we got a live mini Christmas tree and did not decorate it because of the fact Penny was a puppy. The live mini Xmas tree died before we could replant it so we considered that a waste.

Christmas tree 2012 with limited amount of Ornaments with Penny

2012 Christmas tree without presents or Penny.

2012 Christmas Tree Topper.
It was an Ornament I got for Christmas 2008!

Last year I mostly got dog photo ornaments
because we adore Penny!I got the ornament years that
she was here with us for a pretty good deal!

  Last year was the first year that I bought a tree. I went across to Michaels with a good coupon/sale and I purchased a  fake small tree because I live in a 600 square foot condo. Last year I went eBay hunting because a lot of my hallmark ornaments and ornaments were ruined.  After Christmas in 2012 I restarted the tradition of going after Christmas to get Hallmark Christmas ornaments. I have sold some of those that I purchased on eBay and the duplicates I saved for myself. I also got a lot of ornaments from eBay for crazy deals. This year there was a flood in our storage unit. The outside of the Christmas tree box got soaked but I was lucky that I did not have to buy another Xmas tree. It was not wet when I touched the Christmas tree but I made sure that it was dried before I plugged in the tree. It works and it now is stored away in its Christmas bag in the condo.

Burke Decor Bag I got for $2.50 I got four and one is for Ornaments!

My Ornament bag and I also have one for my Christmas tree!

 Ways to save on decorating a tree:

•  Buy after the season. 
•  Use cheap wide bendable ribbon to wrap the tree gaps (you can save even more by buying after Christmas).

On long roll of Bendable Red with Silver ribbon I got from
Michaels for $5 and I reuse it every year! It makes it look luxe for less!

•  Use a cheap piece of faux fur to wrap the bottom of the tree instead of a tree skirt (I use one that I bought from Joann's fabric years ago for a couple of dollars as a tree skirt).

I bought the ornament on eBay and
that is the faux fur piece of fabric I use as a tree skirt.

•  Use eBay to find the ornaments that you want for a deal. You can get great deals on New in box items! But save even more on used items if you don't mind if they are out of the box. You can use the price range option on the left hand side to narrow your search and pay only as much as you want for items. If you don't want to bid you can also use the buy it now option to narrow your search to only those that are buy it now. 

I bought these on eBay for a steal!
Also notice the bendable ribbon I got for a steal I use to wrap the tree!

• I also do not have a topper I like to use a big ribbon and use an ornament that I like as the topper. 

Pictures of my tree this year

My 2013 Tree with the lights off but the tree lights on.
The Faux Fur as the tree skirt works!

The purchases I got post Xmas last year and from Ebay

I got this 1994 ornament for the pictures of my
dog for $3 including shipping last year!

I got both the bride and groom on ebay for $7 last year on eBay

I got these both on eBay as well for a steal!

I found this hard to find "A Christmas Story:
Double Dog you" for a good price too!

I was unable to get this 1st Xmas Ornament
for our first  Xmas but I got it last year for our 4th!
Thanks eBay and it was cheap!

More Ebay cheap Ornaments!

I got that Santa and Dog ornament for free with my Ebay bucks! 

Those are two of my new ornaments from last year!

A Christmas Story turned 30 this year!
This is the Old Man that I got on Ebay.

My favorite it is not Hallmark but it is "The Pink Nightmare" ornament!

        Happy 30th Birthday A Christmas Story!

"The Pink Nightmare" scene from A Christmas Story

Pottery Barn's Holman Shelves A Review

Pottery Barn Holman Shelves

   Holman Shelves from Pottery Barn are not in the Pottery Barn store. You can see a one foot or the Holman entertaining shelves examples in the stores. The reason this is because they are not an easy shelf to put up. If they had them in the store then you would see how they really don't meet up! There is a reason that they are only shown in the picture above from far away!

   I chose to get them in modern white. I got 4 four foot shelves, 2 corner shelves and 6 three foot shelves. I got them 15% off but I had to pay for them to be shipped which was 10% of my order total. I paid close to $1,000 for shelves, $300 for install, plus caulk and new plaster hardware for the shelves. If I knew that my husband's friend would be available I probably could have gotten the shelves up for less! I have to say that they are well crafted but they are not designed to come apart for a more custom fit. I also have plaster walls which makes the hardware included obsolete. Do not even buy the corner shelves because they are only for a perfect 90 degree corner which no wall is! You have to ruin the corner shelf to have it go onto the wall!

Jet Stream Paint from Benjamin Moore

 Against the Jet Stream paint color from Benjamin Moore they pop well! But if you want to connect them and especially the corner shelf you are not going to be able to easily get them on the wall. We had to hire my husband's friend to put up the shelves. It took four visits to get all the shelves up because it was so frustrating for the carpenter/handy man! He was talking about California closet how they basically have the same brackets to put up the shelves. The only issue is that Pottery Barn has the system based on a perfect wall (which no wall is) and the cleat system does not have a generous lip. The California Closet System according to my husband's friend is easy and is based on the same concept of the Holman Shelves. The exception where the Holman Shelving system fails is that it does not understands that the wall is not perfectly square.

The gaps go towards the front on the wall of the dressers

   The result is it was a pain to put up the shelves because the shelf could not go on the cleat system because walls bend. In order to get the shelf on the wall the bracket had to be loose but if the bracket was loose then the shelf would not go over the bracket. This caused my husband's friend to go mad and he had to leave a couple times just to get his cool back! Also it caused gaps on the walls. I was also told that the gaps happen if you try to butt up ready made shelves across a long area of the wall. This was not because my husband's friend cannot put up shelves. But the fact that the shelves were pre-finished he could not cut them without ruining them! He had to cut the corner piece otherwise the shelves would not have fit together. This is because some walls bow in and others bow out. It happens with any kind of pre-fabbed joined together shelf. You cans see this in the pictures I have posted. 

A really big gap! This is because the way the wall bends!

This is two shelves not quite making it together perfectly!

From far away it does not looks so bad! Caulking the shelves for a seamless finish!

 If I knew that I would be able to customs shelves and that my husband's friend was available to create shelves I would have from the start. I have learned my lesson. I thought since I saw the video on pottery barn.  It would have been easier and we would have already been done with the room! But now we have to caulk the shelves and then paint the caulk on the shelves! 

 There are also really cute ideas for non tradition shelves like the plumbing pipe shelves with reclaimed wood.  Here is another example. 

Here is more what I was thinking of if you wanted a floating shelf. Use plumbing supplies to put reclaimed wood or wood over the shelves. 

   My advice do not buy the Holman shelves from Pottery barn if you plan to do what is shown above! Get a good carpenter to install custom shelves because you cannot fit pre-finished shelves. It is apparently a joke within the carpenters/handymen about pre-fabbed shelves that they never easily go up! If you want a custom shelving look don't go pre-fabbed!

 I am hoping that my bedroom will be finished before my husband goes into surgery! 

Give Back This Season!

   

  I wanted to donate to a toy drive this year as my Christmas Charity. But so many places were advertising a toy drive but I did not know which one to do or to trust. Ever since graduating college, even when I have been broke, I have donated to a charity. I make a policy to donate to a charity even if I do not have the budget to give out gifts. This is another year of not even sending out cookies to my friends. At this time of year I cannot forget about being grateful for what I do have and not think about what I do not have.

  I am only giving gifts to my husband, to my family and to my in laws this year. I am baking for Christmas as my gifts to my in laws. I am combining my father's December 15th birthday/ Christmas gift for everyone in my family. I am sending them Legal Seafood to their door so that they can make a good memory out of the gift. If I sent them what the value of what I spent each individual gift would have been weak and thrown away/a waste of money. The gift I got them will have them get together and the pooled money is a much better option. 

  I usually post on Thursdays but I make an exception this week for the Toy Drive for The Coalition for the Homeless that ends December 13, 2013. One of my good friends made a casual Facebook comment with a link to the The Coalition For The Homeless in New York on December 5th. They make it very easy for you. When you go on this website they give you the address, links for donations, and the link to the wish list on Amazon. Within five minutes of seeing the post and going to the website I already sent out the items! It is so easy and convenient. But if you see it posted for less money you can check off that you purchased it via the online wishlist and send it to the address: Coalition for the Homeless,Attn: Toy Drive,129 Fulton Street,New York, NY 10038. I saw after I purchased the items that Toys R US has free shipping after a purchase of $49 and the prices are lower. If you go through ebates you can also get 2% back on your purchases. 

  I decided on this particular toy drive because it goes to homeless children. The children who are homeless (and who celebrate Christmas) should not be denied happiness on Christmas. I was very lucky to have had an amazon gift card from the cash back from ebates so I was able to splurge on three gifts. I got two items from the list: one African American  Ballerina Barbie and one soccer ball. I wanted to get both a "boy" and "girl" gift. Then I realized that I really only spent (after the gift certificate that I got from going through ebates) $4.05 and that these kids should be spoiled for one day. I had budgeted for $25 so I felt like why not? I still came at my budget. 

  I wanted to get the I can be president someday African American Barbie but at $30.50 that was pretty steep! But that Barbie is pretty amazing! The President Barbie can actually stand on her own! But I did find an awesome Astronaut barbie not on the list that I also sent out. I just feel like even though I am donating I have to let those girls know that you can be more than your looks! Also encouraging women to be better in math and science is always better for our future by empowering these girls today! 

  The Coalition For The Homeless and The United Federation of Teachers host a Holiday Carnival for the kids at the UFT. The toys go out to the Boys and Girls living in New York City Homeless Shelter. The Carnival is a festive holiday lunch, face painting, carnival games, costumed characters, musical entertainment and even Santa will be there! Each kid will get a gift bag and a toy. If you would like to help sponsor the Holiday Carnival contact Marisa Butler at mbutler@cfthomeless.org

If you would like to mail your toy directly to the Coalition, please send it to:

Coalition for the Homeless
Attn: Toy Drive
129 Fulton Street
New York, NY 10038

(212) 776-2112

Black Friday Shopping Separating Out Good Deals, Wants, and Needs!

 I always stay in for Black Friday!

  So I was kind of bad on Black Friday not that I bought stupid things but I went down to $75.00 in my bank account (not that there was a lot of money in there to begin with). I shopped online because I never like to shop in store on black Friday because I am afraid of the people that will kill for 0.50 off of an item! But there were a lot of emails and lists of wants that had to make room for Needs. And it seems every Black Friday there are so many good deals and it is always a time when I have never have money!

 However I did get a much needed winter outfit and for a good price at Talbot's. Even that made me want to go kind of crazy because I actually needed other things as well. But what helped me from going out of control (besides my limited bank account) was that I was to pick one outfit and that was it. I got 50% off of the highest item and then 40% off the rest of my cart plus the price of taxes/shipping. What helps when you are on a budget or when you don't want to get out of control is to think: What do I have in my closet? Do I already have an item just like that? Do I have all my staple wardrobe items taken care of? Will I wear it? Will I wear it a lot and Does this make an outfit(s)?

  I need to get long sleeve tees because I need somethings to layer in the winter but I had to limit it to an outfit! Those shirts would get wear if they were in my clothing rotation but I did not even get one. I also wanted to add: a black cashmere turtleneck, navy blue cashmere crewneck, chunky cable mock turtleneck sweater, Amelia Plaid Coat and a lot of Pima cotton crewneck tees. I was upset that the Buffalo Plaid Skirt sold out before the sale in red (and it is almost sold out in Blue in any size!). The Red Buffalo plaid was one I had originally thought I was going to buy but I think the black/white skirt I will have more wear out of it.

   I decided on two classic turtlenecks in ivory/shadow heather (aka gray), the black/white carroll tweed A-line Skirt, and a Riding Red Puffer Vest. I was very tempted to go for cashmere and add other items. What I decided was that I had a black turtleneck already (although it has an odd neck/short sleeves) and that I could get more wear out of the two colors of turtlenecks. I also rationalized that it is going to be a cold winter and I right now I needed turtlenecks more than long sleeve cotton tees. I also am more of a wash/wear as I am not working in an office and I did not want to have to pay to dry clean the cashmere turtleneck. Although in my mind I could see how in the cashmere sweater I looked beautiful! The puffer vest is something that I need because it can be worn in the East Coast indoor during cold weather and it can be worn in 3 seasons. Since I like to go for walks outside it would be used a lot. Also I could see the gray or white turtleneck being paired with the black/white skirt and with the red puffer jacket. Another outfit  grouping could be one of the turtlenecks, jeans/pants and the puffer jacket.

 I also got two pairs of Yoga pants for 50% off which made them reasonable. I wear yoga pants when I like to go walking and I had wanted to get more pairs so when I saw that they were on sale I tried one new style of yoga pants and purchased another pair of yoga pants that I knew I liked. When I wear my yoga pants to go for a long walk with the dog I then have to put another pair on so now I can do that for 3 days. Readers might remember that my husband does the laundry at work which means that I cannot rely on doing my own laundry. I fantasize about having a laundry room to do my laundry like most straight women day dream of Channing Tatum! It is a want that for the future is not going to be fulfilled but yet I cannot help but think about it! Plus you could do laundry off of those wash board abs.
 

 I know that I said that I never go out to Black Friday BUT I had to go exchange the wrong roman shade that was sent out to me back to Pottery Barn. I was afraid but I walked down (I was afraid of being run over, run down, smashed into and etc) and I left at noon time arriving to Pottery Barn at 12:30 pm. I got some much needed exercise post Turkey day and I also had an expiring coupon to William Sonoma. So luckily I was able to quickly the Roman Shade to Pottery Barn. I think that this was because the one in the Stamford Mall sells nothing really and is not really giving any Black Friday Deals. Sure if you spent $100 you go $20 off (but it had to be bought in store and it could not be from the catalogue/online) and there was 30% off ornaments but they were still expensive. That is probably why I did not get trampled. Also the deals usually are before noon. Then I had a $10.00 off coupon to spend a William Sonoma and I had been eying the Cinnamon Bun Pan for a while. I decided that I finally was going to purchase the pan because I wanted to make them and I heard this was a quicker way. I have never actually made them but I heard they are very labor intensive so I thought I would get the pan. Also I figured I could make other things like coffee cake and cakes. The pan allows for whatever cake/bread/etc to be pull apart so it works for me! So the pan was not on sale but it was reasonable after the $10.00. Those are all the items that I purchased on black Friday. 

  This was what I had wanted to buy but then I realized I put money in the savings account that did not get accounted for yet so... I had to leave it. Saturday.com which is Kate Spade store was having an AMAZING DEAL! They had a spend $150 get $50 off and spend $300 get $100 off! I had been eyeing these two bags and I was going to purchase them. In addition Ebates was giving back 7% on top of that. I have been eying the Stripe Weekender bag for so long and I have plans to go away at some point. It has this great compartment for shoes and lots of pockets for wallets, passports and etc. However I think that this is not going to sell out, I don't need it right now, it was still expensive at $130 after the discount and I am gambling that it will get down to $90-$100. If I had also purchased it with a small weekender bag I would have gotten it for even better deal! But the small weekender bag was suppose to be $105 but it kept ringing up as $150.00 so I just decided to not to do it! You just have to know the trends and buy when it is going to be at the lowest! 

 Do not even get me started on the 15% off on Crate and Barrel and CB2 I just had to walk away from that one! There is always something amazing there that I did not know that I must have. I know if I looked around I could make a want into a need and I could not do that to myself! So I just stuck with clothing and the one splurge was the Cinnamon Bun pan which I am going to use around Xmas time. Plus I can get a post out of that so it was worth the money. 

 So anyway... I was pretty "bad" on Black Friday and so now to off set all the money that I spent I am posting on ebay. My User ID is: Freshmegamix. It is going to take a lot of work but the Christmas season is the best time to sell. I have to make up the money that I spent and put more money in our savings account so that we can save for a down payment on a house. In the long run I rather have a house than a lot of great stuff. 

  

 And once again here is Channing...

I Wish I Found this Website Three Weeks Ago!

 

  In honor of Thanksgiving I would like to sing the praise of a great website that my friend told me about Ugly Sofa. Sure it was too late before I invested $350 on Roman Shades. I got two Pottery Barn Roman Shades for $29.56 after using a web code I saved $4.00. They are similar to the shade that I wanted from Pottery Barn that cost $249 each! Except the ones on the site are 63 inches long vs the Pottery Barn ones that are 64 inches long. Since that is still long enough for my windows I don't mind the one inch difference! I would mind it on a pair of pants since I am tall but not for my window shade!

 I have not received the items yet but so far this seems to be a great deal and they were on clearance on the website. They apparently buy unsold/slightly irregular/or already monogrammed items from Brands like Pottery Barn, Land of Nod, Pottery Barn Teens/kids that might be slightly irregular I am guessing. Then they X out the names of the shades. But for under $30 for two roman shades if it does not work out I will not feel so guilty if I have to donate the Roman Shades. However I hope that the Shades work out because I really need some Roman Shades and soon!

 They allow returns but it is very narrow here is the policy: 

Shipping & Returns

Shipping
We can ship to virtually any address in the US and Canada. We charge actual shipping costs within the US and Canada. Please allow 2 business days for processing normal orders. UglySak Bean Bags, Ugly-Where Chairs, Idea Desks and Loungers can take a little longer for processing. Allow 5-7 business days for ground shipping. All shipments are automatically insured with the carrier.

During the holidays, shipping is slower due to the demand for our products. Our holiday rush began in Mid-October this year. We guarantee any order (within the US) through December 15th to arrive before Christmas.

Returns Policy
Returns must be postmarked within 72 hours of the original shipping arrival date and should be sent prepaid. We will not accept CODs. All merchandise returned must be unused and in perfect condition. Packing slips are required for all returns. Indicate on the back of your return form the reason of your return so we can serve you better in the future. We recommend you to send the package back to us via traceable carrier and to insure the full amount of the merchandise you are sending back to us. We are not responsible for missing packages.

Returns are processed within 14 days after we receive the merchandise. You will receive a confirmation by email when your returns are processed. We will not be able to process your return without having your original order back to us. We will offer a credit for the original purchase for the purchase price of the merchandise, excluding actual shipping cost. You can use this credit to purchase other items in our store. Shipping costs will only be refunded when the return is a result of our error. We have the right to deny credits if the merchandise returned does not meet our return policy requirements. If you have any question regarding return/exchange, please email us Monday – Friday (except holidays) between 10AM – 6 PM PST.

 Etsy and EBay are another good resource before purchasing from websites but I did not find any right ones that could be shipped out in a limited time frame. However it is funny because we still have to retouch the paint so we cannot put up the shades yet. It is going to be even more delayed because Jonathan works all weekend/then goes away until Thursday. So Hoping that these shades come quickly! I got a discount of 15% off the Shades Store and it would have cost $800+ for two basic custom Roman Shades. Compared to The Shades Store, Pottery Barn does not seem so bad! 

Sometimes It Is Better Just To Get What You Want The First Time

 

 So my husband and I have been painting our bedroom for a couple of weeks. I needed to get two roman shades for the bedroom and quickly. I usually have good results with Pottery Barn but it is just so expensive! So it would have cost me an extra $100-197.80 to get the Roman Shades that I had wanted. But I figured between the painting the room, the trim and the 12 Holman Shelves it was starting to just add up for the bedroom redo. I did get to have 15% off of the Holman Shelves which did help with the price since I ordered through the Pottery Barn store in Stamford during a promotional deal.

 But I chanced it on a pair of Roman shades that were nonreturnable but a very good deal at $149.99 each. The Roman Shades were the pottery barn Cameron Cotton Cordless Roman Shades in Sea glass Blue. They looked like the blue in my bedroom online but they ended up being more green in person and not me. Now I am trying to relist them on eBay to try to get back some of the money but with shipping it was $350.00 and I hate them! I rarely hate things I have gotten from Pottery Barn but this is so not me and it is not even close to what is pictured online!

  However I should have gotten the Roman Shades that I wanted which were Cameron Cotton Cordless Roman Shades in white $199 or Black Grosgrain Ribbon Cordless Roman Shades $249. Because those were the ones that I wanted and if I did not like them I could have gotten a refund on the item. I also stupidly got 3 of them because one is going in the Kitchen. However in the kitchen they do not look as bad so for now I am keeping them!

  But that is what you get when you gamble sometimes you win big and other times you take a loss/have to post it on EBay. I look at my windows everyday because my bed faces the curtains and I should not look at a compromise! Sometimes you should budget things that make a big impact or that are going to be looked at for most of your time in a room.

 I do think that in the short time crunch and the fact even on Etsy/eBay there were still too expensive choices that would take longer. I have to let myself not be so upset that I wasted money because it is just money. I now have to find two new Roman Shades and spend money which will be more than if I just bought what I wanted the first time.  If I do not sell the items I will have to find a way to just recover the shades or maybe do a little fabric painting. But since I cannot sew it will delay this project. Let's hope that the shades sell because they are nice but don't go with my color schemes. Check me out on eBay at: http://www.ebay.com/usr/freshmegamix 

Working On Painting and Updating Our Bedroom

  I am in renovation hell! Our bedroom badly needs to be repainted and I am trying to get my Holman Shelves up. So far all week no paint and all mess! I will update you with better pictures of fresh paint and etc when it is ready.

Pottery Barn Holman Shelves wrapping around a corner

 We never picked out this green sherbet color but we just worked with it after the disaster of painting the living room and hallway when we first moved in! 

   My mom made those really sad roman shades which had a cord system that did not work! I loved the fabric as they were a celery faux bois fabric by Joel Dewberry. I really like faux bois and since it relates to my last name I like the sort of pun. When water leaked in during a couple of hurricanes it ruined the window shades! 

  There is a lot of work before we can paint. We had to empty the room and then we had to rebuild the walls in the room! We have plaster walls that are damaged so we have to put some compound on the walls and sand before we can paint. I also had to use Zinsser spray paint where the furniture rubbed against the wall. We were so tired I decided to add a smiley face to the wall. It started to look ghetto so I just went with it.  Here is a before after I finally was able to move pretty much everything out of the bedroom. 

The window wall that needs repair

The window got really stained from a couple of hurricanes/water leaks

Bed pushed up against the wall until we are ready to paint

Smiley face view of our two small closets!

Window wall with patching

Another view of the bedroom-before picture.

View of the bedroom  through the door-before picture

The first time in a long time we have had cleared out closets!

Our ghetto bed until we are done with all of the painting!

Come back soon to see how it turns out!