$3.98 eachI have cut my Christmas giving list and most of my gifts will be handmade (such as cookies,breads,candy wreaths)
Grandson is also giving handmade items like card holders and candy dishes made of last years Christmas cards ( Thank you all for the cards last year it was nice to reread them and then recycle them.
Not as much food will be cooked this year to avoid waste. Turkey soup will be made with the left over.
We will get Christmas movies from the library rather than going to the movies or renting them. We did however go to the New Christmas Carol with coupon and early show saved some there.
I am always looking for more ideas! 1|1|Keeping things simple this year...|sunriver|lithiasalt@cheerful.com|17:11:08|11/15/2009|
Just buying for kids only and not stressing about what we do not have. We will just take time to be glad for what we do have.
I have about half of the shopping done (and the wrapping, by golly and that is totally 100% unheard of for me!) and for food we'll be eating a lot of pie (LOL! Just got a killer deal on pie and ice cream the other day... 8 pies and 8 cartons of ice cream for $16, so we'll have a dessert fest). I'll get a turkey soon, but I am not in a great hurry because I'll probably be walking it home (still need to get the car fixed... one mechanic looked at it and said he thought it was one thing and now I am drawing a blank on what he called it... but anyway he said to truly diagnose it he would charge us about $150. We said no thanks. It drives but just barely and when I took it by the gas station yesterday the guy there said he would diagnose it for free, so we will get it over to his shop when the buses are running so we can get back home a little easier. I'm just hoping it is worth fixing because it is a 20 yr old car, but I know we need to do something and we can't buy another one anytime soon... but anyway I digress...)
Anyway back to my plans. We'll also make a day trip out of visiting Santa at the mall which is a huge deal to my kids because I avoid the mall like the plague. Hopefully I will have some JC penney coupons in hand by then (please!) because those always help us get clothes for the kids too. I know there are still some good deals ahead and I am looking forward to finding them. The thrill of the hunt is what keeps life exciting!
Good to see you post, Nancy!
V.
2|2|Thank you good to be back! |nancygal|brennansnanna@hotmail.com|14:05:27|11/16/2009|
>Posted on Nov-15-09 at 05:11 PM (Eastern)
>by 96.39.161.44Just buying for kids only
>and not stressing about what we
>do not have. We will
>just take time to be glad
>for what we do have.
>I have about half of the shopping
>done (and the wrapping, by golly
>and that is totally 100% unheard
>of for me!) and for food
>we'll be eating a lot of
>pie (LOL! Just got a
>killer deal on pie and ice
>cream the other day... 8 pies
>and 8 cartons of ice cream
>for $16, so we'll have a
>dessert fest). I'll get a
>turkey soon, but I am not
>in a great hurry because I'll
>probably be walking it home (still
>need to get the car fixed...
>one mechanic looked at it and
>said he thought it was one
>thing and now I am drawing
>a blank on what he called
>it... but anyway he said to
>truly diagnose it he would charge
>us about $150. We said
>no thanks. It drives but
>just barely and when I took
>it by the gas station yesterday
>the guy there said he would
>diagnose it for free, so we
>will get it over to his
>shop when the buses are running
>so we can get back home
>a little easier. I'm just
>hoping it is worth fixing because
>it is a 20 yr old
>car, but I know we need
>to do something and we can't
>buy another one anytime soon... but
>anyway I digress...)
>Anyway back to my plans. We'll
>also make a day trip out
>of visiting Santa at the mall
>which is a huge deal to
>my kids because I avoid the
>mall like the plague. Hopefully
>I will have some JC penney
>coupons in hand by then (please!)
>because those always help us get
>clothes for the kids too.
>I know there are still some
>good deals ahead and I am
>looking forward to finding them.
>The thrill of the hunt is
>what keeps life exciting!
>Good to see you post, Nancy! V.
>
nancygal
3|3|Keeping it simple, making some home made gifts also...|HONEY11|HONEY1@AMERITECH.NET|14:17:56|11/16/2009|
I made a set of pj's for my great niece, I cheated though and gave them to her already..lol! so much for holding out for a x-mas gift. I'm doing thrift store shopping this year, the kids are rough on toys, they break them so am buying gently used, cleaning them and wrap them up...doing lego's and foam blocks for the boy and for the girl a baby doll & little musical keyboard. I'm making home made breads as a couple gifts...and buying for my niece kitchen stuff, towels, dish clothes, food storage containers etc...some I will buy at thrift and some will be new..For my son robert I just giving him money $50(put aside little by little from my rebate checks)...not much but all I can afford to spend...and bf I still have to figure out what to get him. I have made candy wreaths before those are really cute and people love them...do you attach a tiny pair of scissors to yours?? people get a kick out of cutting of a piece of candy at the door...he-he..
http://monkeybizness1.blogspot.com/
o
o
@..@
(----)
( )--( )
o0..0o
Linda
4|4|This is my first year making the wreaths and I will be adding the scissors to them. Glad to hear folks like them hope mine do. I bought six 3.5lb bags of hard candy at dollar store the day aftter Holloween for little less than $6.00 so I have a lot of candy to use up.|nancygal|brennansnanna@hotmail.com|16:53:21|11/16/2009|
nancygal 5|5|Nancy, I am sure your candy wreaths will turn out really cute, people will love them!! They are great gifts and conversation starters...us big people feel|HONEY11|HONEY1@AMERITECH.NET|17:26:12|11/16/2009|
Posted on Nov-16-09 at 05:26 PM (Eastern) by 76.217.60.42
like little kids when we get greeted at the door and offered to cut off a piece of candy, something about picking it and getting to cut it off wreath..lol!!
6|6|Thank you for the encouragement.|nancygal|brennansnanna@hotmail.com|19:15:38|11/17/2009|
nancygal 8|6|ok crazt ? can you please tell me how to make them?|pigpin|revels123@msn.com|19:36:17|11/17/2009|
thanks money is tight.. 7|1|I love handmade gifts, they mean so much more to me because they come from the heart~*~|RebekkaVA|queen_vulture@msn.com|19:18:24|11/17/2009|
~*~REBEKKA~*~
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Married to my Soul Mate William
"My husband has cancer, Please pray for him"
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Timothy 5/80
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*EMAIL*: queen_vulture@msn.com
Feedback link: http://www.refundsweepers.com/dcforum/feedback/796.html
9|1|Here are the directions I found for the wreath .|nancygal|brennansnanna@hotmail.com|19:52:54|11/17/2009|
hA very simple, yet eye-catching Christmas craft is the hard candy wreath. Give it to friends as a gift around the holidays, or hang one on your door or office cubicle. Because it encourages people to take a piece (or two!) of candy, it's always a conversation piece and a nice way to add some holiday cheer. Kids especially love this decoration!
What you'll need:
* lots of plastic wrapped hard candies (either a multi-colored assortment, of the festive, red and white peppermint striped)
* sharp scissors for cutting and curling ribbon
* lots of colored curling ribbon (again, depending on your candy choice, choose complimentary colors)
* wire coat hanger, or wreath form
* one large bow for top of wreath
* spare "kids" scissors to attach to wreath
What you do:
* If using a wire coat hanger, you'll need to cut it and form it into a circle, depending upon the size wreath you wish to make. Of course, the bigger the ring, the more candy you'll need--you want the wreath to be FULL of candy!
* Next, cut a number of pieces of ribbon into 12" strips.
* Then take one piece of ribbon and make a loop around the ring, the way you would to tie a bow. Before you tighten it, insert the plastic wrapper of the candy and then pull it tight and tie a knot. Take the sharp scissors and curl the ends of the ribbon tight to the ring.
* Keep in mind as you go along, that you want to completely hide the ring, so getting the candy snugly against the wire is very important.
* Continue this all the way around the ring, overlapping some of the pieces to make the wreath fuller. Leaving some of the ribbon curls a bit longer than the other adds a nice effect as well.
* When all the candy is in place, attach the bow to the top of the wreath.
* Finally, cut one piece of curling ribbon approximately 6" longer than the length of your wreath. Tie one end to one of the scissors' handles, and the other to the top of the wreath at the back. The scissors should hang down below the wreath, thereby welcoming visitors to snip off the treats!
10|2|here is a link, with the photos of each step.. of the process....|car_mont|car_mont@hotmail.com|20:03:40|11/17/2009|
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2008/12/10/how-to-make-a-candy-wreath/
PLEASE INCLUDE - USER NAME AND YOUR OFFER if we are in a trade. 11|3|I've made a couple different types, but used styrofoam rings for all of them...I made a pinecone wreath, a fabric one, and then glued ribbon bows, with the |HONEY11|HONEY1@AMERITECH.NET|20:15:43|11/17/2009|
Posted on Nov-17-09 at 08:15 PM (Eastern) by 76.217.60.42
with the ribbon strands left a little long and then glued the candy to the strands, just something different I whipped up.
Linda
o
o
@..@
(----)
( )--( )
o0..0o
Linda
12|1|To keep the cost of the kids presents down.. I have|jdlaurie|savethosepennies@aol.com|20:21:13|11/17/2009|
1) I cashed in points on all my credit cards and got gift cards that I could use towards presents.
2) I've been buying stuff on ebay REALLY CHEAP! Here's some of what I have purchased:
4 NEW Full Size Webkinz $5 each shipped (regularly $14.99!)
1 NEW Nascar Racing Costume with Hat $11 shipped (regularly ?? $25??)
1 New Build a Bear Nascar Outfit $5 shipped! (regularly $10-$12)
1 USED Playstation 2 game with 3 controllers, 1 memory card, 17 Playstation 2 games and 8 Playstation 1 games
$38.87 SHIPPED!!! Can you believe it!!
Many Playstation 2 games NEW and LIKE NEW for $5-$7 shipped -most were $5 (Cars, Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles,
Harry Potter, Pirates of the Carribean (2 different ones!) and more!
I found Army Fatigues NEW for $18 and $22 for the outfit (less than 1/2 what the army stores online wanted!) My son
loves camo clothing!
I've picked up some boys and girls build a bear item lots and split them between the kids. Making the outfits only a couple dollars a piece each.
I'm sure there are tons of other things I have found online... but I can't think of them all right now! LOL
3) I've been to many many stores and have found $6 Leapster games at Kmart and $5.99 PS2 games! If only I had brought my $5 leapster coupons with me! I might have to call them and make a trip back.
4) I found 2 Leapster games new in the package at goodwill. One for each kid $3.98 each
5) I've been using coupons on everything! It's amazing what coupons are out there for gifts! Build a Bear has coupons, JCPENNEY Coupons, Kohls Coupons, etc. -- I've been taking all coupons with me shopping, just in case I stop somewhere to look!
6) I've been shopping stores running early black Friday sales and only getting what I had decided to get.... I've shopped around to insure the best deal! I found a toy for my nephew regularly $29.99, on sale 40% for $17.99 with an extra 30% off! Does anyone know if Kohls takes a printed manufacturer coupon for an item they might sell? That would be the only way I could get it cheaper!
7)I've been doing all my shopping only with money I make on ebay. A chore in itself!
8) For thanksgiving dinner, I have coupons and forms so I can save on the turkey, mother in law is bringing some sides and dessert and other family bring small items.
I'm working on gifts for everyone else. We have decided not to exchange gifts with some adult family members, as it just benefits all of us - we are all broke. The kids of course are the only ones getting gifts exchanged with these family members.
I even had something shipped from Walnart to the store for pickup in order to save $10 in postage!