Christmas Thrifty!!

Hello, welcome to all things thrifty.

Today's post is about combining some new items with the old stuff to give it a different spin. I just started my Christmas decorating this past weekend. I was determined to find places for the all the decorations I snagged at the Goodwill Outlet. If you will remember at the Outlet you pay by the pound only $.79 for home decor.

The first picture is a greenery swag. It even has battery powered lights. All I had to do was fluff the greenery a bit, add a bow made out of the roll of ribbon from the Outlet and hang it up. Final cost $2.00.

This is the first year I have decorated the inside of the antique hutch. Those snowmen are from the Outlet as well as the wooden box with all of it's decorations. ( See previous post about the box) Those plates came from Dollar General a few years ago. The books and candles were leftovers from Christmas past.

That little red truck on the top shelf came from a yard sale. I thought I over paid for it at $7.00 but when I compared it to the one I really liked at Target that was $20.00 I felt pretty thrifty. While Target is one of my favorite places to shop they can be a little pricey but you can get some great ideas! 

This little number combines a couple of ideas from Pinterest. The sled with the wreath on it and that little black tub with the birch logs, lights and greenery. I had the sled. The wreath and ribbon came from the Outlet as well as the black tub. Our neighbor cut down their birch tree so I brought a couple of limbs home for Thrifty Honey to cut so they would fit in the tub. Don't pass up something you can use even if someone else has thrown it out. LOL! Total cost for this project $4.00.  

Here's hoping as you begin your decorating for this wonderful season you will be inspired to look at the things you have in a completely different way. Total cost for all these new decorations $13.00. Oh, and don't forget to stay merry, happy and Thrifty during this season.

The Power of a List!

Morning to all you thrifty folks!

It's shopping. cooking, baking, wrapping time along with all the parties, kid's school plays, plus the out of town guests and family get togethers. Even writing all those things down overwhelms me. How's a person to get it all done and keep up so you don't miss any activities?

Enter the list! Oh the power of a list! Yeah, I know we might take a minute or two and write down what we need from the grocery store but this time of year everything begins to amp up. We really need to remind ourself of the power of a list. While we might believe we can remember everything why would we take a chance?

While there are plenty of cute little notepads to make your lists on you can use an old notebook or a piece of copy paper. The main thing is to make your list so you can keep up. I can't tell you how many times I didn't make a list of things needed for a recipe and when I got ready to make my special dish I was missing something. That's really bad especially if you have a lot of the ingredients already mixed up. LOL. I'm determined to not be caught short or miss a single thing this year.

Remember the power of a list ... it's your best friend.

Christmas Decor! Thrifty of Course!

Well its's Marvelous Monday!

We all know Christmas is just a very few weeks ahead. So we might as well catch up with the retailers who have had decorations out for how long? LOL

Now you all know I like a bargain and for me one of the best places to get one is at the Goodwill Outlet over on Berry Avenue in Nashville, where they sell things by the pound. They are in the Christmas mode too since a lot of the buggies they brought out for the "diggers" had Christmas stuff in them. So this Thrifty Sissy jumped in with both feet and did I get some good stuff or what?

I had visited one of the florist shops in our little town just a few days earlier and saw a really neat little wooden box with a handle filled with greenery, ribbon and berries. The price was way past thrifty ... $49.00. So when I saw a similar little wooden box. a roll of plaid ribbon, some greenery and a berry bush in the Outlet buggies, I grabbed them. When I checked out with my bargains I found out the Outlet has reduced the price per pound on all housewares from $1.39 to $.79.

Wow! The total for all the goodies I bagged was $3.00. When I got home I rummaged though the box of odd ornaments and found three red dot Christmas balls and added them to the little box decoration. Now I realize it is not an exact replica but it is close enough to get the place of honor in the front hall.

Here is picture of the original Christmas box.

Shh! Don't tell my secret. Here are the items I snagged at the Outlet.

So are you ready for the Thrifty Sissy reveal?

Really this is nothing more than sticking some greenery in the box, adding the berries and the ornaments then sticking a ribbon into the box. So maybe this will give you some ideas for your own thrifty version of something cute you have seen. After all it's never to late to get ready for Christmas.  

Have a very thrifty day!

Calendars! Planners! ... Keeping it Together

Good day to everyone!

I guess you have already started to see the 2016 calendars and planners in some of the stores. As we get closer to the end of the year they will flood every store and kiosk in the mall. Some calendar designers are trying to get a leg up. They are putting out the next year's calendars in June of the current year.

Here's the thing. If you see a planner or calendar you like in June you had better get it because it will be gone by the time you need it. I saw one at Target in June and went ahead and bought it so I could get in the new calendar rhythm.

It took me a about an hour or so to get all the stuff transferred from my old calendar/planner over to the new one but now I'm on track. You may be someone who uses your iPhone calendar instead of a paper one. But a couple of years ago I got burned really bad doing that. My phone messed up and I could not retrieve any of my appointments or special plans. Wow! That's a wake-up call when you don't have a clue when your doctor or dentist appointments are scheduled. Plus you have made commitments to other people and you are totally in the dark about them. So this girl got back to paper really quick.

My favorite calendar is one where you can see the entire month at one glance and then the following pages are sectioned into weeks with plenty of room to write reminders and a to do list. I also put flyers or event notices in the front of the month in which they are happening. That way I have all the information about them right at my fingertips. With a calendar/planner like that I only have to keep up with one thing. I don't know if you have any problem remembering things you need to do or not but I do. I can be in one room and think of something then before I can get into the next room I can't remember what it was I was going to do.

I leave my calendar/planner open on the kitchen counter. I kind of call it my control center. We all know most important things happen in the kitchen. LOL. So when I pass by it I look to see what's on the schedule today. I take a quick look at the entire month on Sunday night so I can see what's in store for me. This helps me get things together before I race out the door. Most of the time I go ahead and put those the things I will need in the car so I don't get halfway to where I'm going and realize something I need is back at the house. This may sound silly to you but it works for me so I'm just passing along info hoping it might be of some help to you.

This is my new mid-year calendar/planner. I don't know what else to call it. At least now I'm on the new calendar schedule.

If you are not a calendar girl I hope this will inspire you to become one. Every girl needs to have her act together and a calendar is a great place to start.

Happy calendar day to y'all!!