I found this awesome vase at Target today on clearance. I'd been stalking it for awhile...there it was...in a random spot, for 2.98!! I saw something similar on Pinterest, and decided to give it a go!
It was easy too! Just whip up some yarn pom-poms', jab some branches in them and stick in the vase. Want to know a secret to getting the branches to stay where you want? Fill the vase with rice! That's it...easy winter decor! I can see changing this up for all the seasons!
I love this little area of my house...it's the top of my entertainment center, on one side and I love my little wintry pink yarny goodness section!! I love the vase because it looks like a cabled knit pattern! I've decorated for winter and it's so fun, since we don't do Christmas, it's nice to get to decorate for a whole season!
Here's a bit more winter fun I put up around the house:
We made melted snowmen to munch on!
Added pom poms to another Target clearance find!
I crocheted the runner and it looks perfect under the candlestick plate my sister made for me.
Close up of the plate. Isn't it lovely? Another clearance find!
Cheapy .50 snowman hanging from our ceiling fan.
Some fun yarn pom poms and snowflakes hanging on our blinds.
and some pretty roses I bought to pretty up the kitchen. I love winter, but it is a bit drab, so some pretty pink flowers will always help!!
5:48 am. That is what time my children chose to wake up this morning. I don't know why, I just recall a memory of saying, "GO. BACK. TO. BED." Multiple cups of coffee and episodes of Caillou later, I was still exhausted. So, E, the dog and I all snuggled up and snoozed away. H quietly played his Nintendo DS and I actually got to catch some Z's....complete with dog snoring.
I'd not have been so tired if I'd actually gone to bed at a decent hour...but nooooo, I had to stay up and watch my boy Marc Broussard on Lopez Tonight! :) I had to!! I gotta support my musicians!! He did FABULOUS by the way and you can snag the new album out NOW!
We did a run to Target and ran into another girl wearing a Fleurty Girl shirt...that was pretty funny. Ran into a couple of friends...apparently it was "walk around confused in the middle of Target's remodel day."
Tomorrow is an El Cheapo movie with H so hopefully we'll get a little time together. I know it's hard for H to share the love and spotlight with his little brother, so these little trips just us helps.
Speaking of little brother, Eli...the potty training is going well! So far no poops in the potty, but he's doing great with the pee-pee's!!! My little baby is growing up!!
So I'm making it! I confess to checking facebook today to confer with my fellow bloggers over at Real Housewives of NOLA...but that's it!!! (I think?) hee hee.
Ok, so I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Today was my first real venture into the world of CVS and Extra Bucks!! I'm no guru like many others, but I'm working it!
So I created my coupon binder this week! Much easier! I was even able to just hand a lady in the store a coupon that I didn't really need, so hopefully that saved her a buck :)
Today I hit up Walmart, Winn-Dixie, CVS, Walgreens and Target...all with the 5 yr old in tow. He did really well and I thought it was important to bring him to show him WHY Mommy does what she does...that if we plan and work at it, we can save enough money to do fun things!!
So here's today's deals!
Walmart is hard to save a ton of money in, and overall MOST of their prices on groceries are pretty good. I should note NOWHERE local doubles coupons..NO ONE. Target will "stack" manuf. coupons with Target ones but NO grocery store doubles. Bites, big time.
Anyhoo, so here is this week's Walmart finds...not pictured is another bag of chips ....DH stole those before I could take the pic. Between coupons and price matching, I saved 10-11 bucks...not major but helps! Grand total: $40.65
Winn-Dixie: I should note, I'm not a fan of most of the local grocery stores. Their "sale prices" are really not that great a deal when you look at how much cheaper they are at Walmart or even in bulk in Sam's or Amazon. But, their Buy 1 Get 1 (B1G1) deals are usually a pretty good savings. Not fab but not horrible. This round cost me $21.04---but I SAVED $23.16...more than I spent! So the non perishables go into my stock pile and the salads are to enjoy this week. I should mention...bagged salads are not NORMALLY a good deal. The CouponMom ran the numbers once and you basically are paying someone 5k a year to cut lettuce for you. Her theory is, if it takes you less than 5 minutes to do it yourself...DO IT. However, EVERY now and then, the bagged salads will be a better deal than the by the head lettuce. Today at Winn Dixie even the iceberg lettuce was 1.69 lb, so sometimes it's worth it for the convienence to me!
Next up, Walgreens. This one was funny because my son thought the Arizona teas were beer! Yes, little man...you stressed mama out so much she needs a Colt 45! They were out of the Crest Whitening Strips that were on sale, so I got a raincheck...but it's ok, I scored those later also at CVS.
Total at Walgreens: 2.68 saved 2.96. The teas were .50c ea with in store coupon, and the pantiliners were .99c with in store coupon PLUS I had a .75c off manuf coupon! ROCKED that one.
I didn't snag a picture of Target, it wasn't THAT impressive. 48 roll of Scott toilet paper, toy for the little human, movie for the little human (hey what's the point in saving if I don't splurge every NOW and then...his splurge cost me all of 13.00 bucks.) and 10 yogurts for 33.00! Not to shabby! Remember to sign up for the Target Red Card..you do NOT have to make it another credit card!! Mine is linked to a checking account and it gets you 5% off EVERY day!! If you're going to use a debit card anyway, not having a RedCard is like throwing money away!
Ahhhh, last but not least...CVS. Now...I'm a coupon virgin still compared to some and I haven't learned all the in's and out's of drugstore deals. I've not touched learning Rite-Aid yet...I wanted to master CVS and Walgreens first! So this is the first time I really paid attention and worked the CVS Extra Bucks program. The best way to work these deals is to break your purchases up! Also, the cashier told me, scan your CVS card every time you go in--REPEATEDLY! She said keep scanning it til it doesn't shoot any more coupons out!! She also said do it FIRST so you can help plan your shopping right when you walk in.
So today's CVS deal..I know many of ya'll can do WAY better, but this is great for me!
Grand total of $32.17 and that includes a 31.99 box of Crest White Strips (way in the back there if you can't see em!)
So basically I paid retail for the white strips then the cereal, candy, toothpastes, keychain and candy were free!! Now, I don't normally BUY Crest White Strips, but I figured I'd give it a try since it was such a good deal.
My point is...it CAN work. IT IS doable! You saw no meat purchases because I hit up Sam's and the recent sales already for that. My pantry and freezer is stocked! Just start slow and you can do it too!!
