Friday, December 30, 2016

Last haul of the year

I've been wanting to go to Hobby Lobby since Tuesday, yesterday they sent me an email saying 80% off of Christmas, so I thought I'd check out what they have left. Plus, even though it's after Christmas, I still want to make another Christmas flipbook.
Here's what I picked up:
 robots, pinwheel, sticky notes, foam letters, card file kit, Project Life cards, chickadee ornament, poinsettias
I love robots. I picked up the pinwheel, cause I'm pretty sure the sign said spring 50%, but it still rang up full price (it was only $1). I picked up the sticky notes for a swap. I will never say no to letters, I can still use them. I love the vintage look of this card file kit. I've been wanting these PL cards since I saw them come out, they were marked down to $3.00, so I bought the last two there. I picked up the bird ornament for a friend, I can't decide if I want to give it to her now, or hope I don't lose it before next Christmas. I liked the poinsettias.
Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's are in the same strip, so I thought I'd see what they had left:
 gloves, bag, tags, stickers
I love these gloves, don't know why I loved the yellow this time around. I picked up the bag to put the bird ornament in. You can't go wrong with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, plus I don't have to use them for Christmas. I love these sticker books, most of this one didn't have to be used for Christmas, I'm in a swap to create a winter pocket letter, and these will work for that.
Next up was the Asian food store, I haven't been there in awhile:
I can't tell what most things are in there because it's in Asian, but I usually just go with the pictures. I'm not entirely sure what these are.
Strawberry flavored corn snacks, love these. Strawberry rolls, these are sponge cake with strawberry frosting like filling. Hard candies, I've only tried one and it tasted kinda like grapefruit. Suckers, haven't tried these yet, but the pictures on the package are of strawberry/milk and peach/milk. Bayberry with honey, these looked interesting, sadly they were not good. Green tea mochi, I love mochi, and I love green tea.
Last stop was a local gift shop. I love their stuff. Having all the big stores put their Christmas stuff on wicked sale makes me spoiled, so then when I go to the regular stores I'm a little bummed they're only at 50%, I still found some stuff:
I only got 2 owls for Christmas and they were in a swap, so I picked up a couple more. The felt one was $2.50, the wooden one $2. The star is glass, it's so much more beautiful than the picture lets on, it was $5.25, the pumpkin was in their sale basement, I've been very drawn to fall stuff lately, it was $0.50.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Chocolate

Hi All, here's what I received for Christmas. My friend gave me a bag full of goodies on Christmas Eve and I couldn't wait until Christmas to open it, so I opened it that day:
 Here's what was inside:
 chocorooms, lychee candy, sandwich cookies, a robot, toy from Zootopia.
The weather has been mild, this is what our Christmas looked like:
 We actually had a rainstorm, complete with thunder and lightning, a big change from regular Iowa weather.
Here's what I got for Christmas:
 My brother got me two mugs, one is of banned books, when you put hot liquid in it, the crossed out titles appear, the other looks like a library check-out card. He also picked up Hunger Games: Mockingjay part II. My parents bought everything else in the picture. Ames is home to Iowa State University, and I have a collection of ISU snowmen. The rectangle on the bottom is actually a print of a paper cutting celebrating Ames' 150th anniversary from a couple years ago.
More presents:
 A couple pairs of black pants, fleece leggings, socks, printer ink, charging station.
Today, I went after Christmas shopping. I haven't been shopping in a month, I was really proud of myself, so a friend and I went to check out the after Christmas sales. I was surprised how picked over everything was. I feel the stores are speeding up the time lines.
Dollar Tree:
 stickers, measuring cup, tape, hooks
I picked up some emoji stickers, some of those vintage looking stickers and some alpha stickers. I misplaced my liquid measuring cup during the move. I saw this duct tape on The Messy Mom's life, it looks like someone was doodling on their notebook paper. My landlord would prefer I use these hooks instead of putting holes in my wall. I found some of the washi tape, my store rarely has it. There were other patterns, too, but I didn't think I'd use them.
Target:
 beef stick, chocolate, gummies
The beef stick was on clearance. Candy is only 30% off at Target, so I didn't save a ton of money, but I didn't get any chocolate for Christmas, so I bought my own, plus I got a few Target gift cards, so I didn't really spend any money.
More Target:
 stickers, sticky notes, stamps, tape, ornaments, toothbrush heads.
My dollar spot had Valentine's out, so I picked up the emoji stickers, the sticky notes, the cactus sticky notes, the alpha stamps, the felt stickers, and the rolls of washi. I love emojis, there were quite a few sets of the sticky notes, but I really liked the SuperHero girls one. I'd also seen someone haul the cactus sticky notes, and you get 100 for $1, so why not. I never seem to have enough alpha stickers so I thought picking up these stamps might help me with that issue, I haven't looked at them so I don't know about the quality of them. I love these felt stickers they are of sweet treats. I saw the holographic tape set, it was $1, and the other one is emojis on red background. I wanted the pizza ornament when it first came out, but didn't feel like paying $3, I got it for 50% off. I also loved the Raphael ornament, he's my favorite Turtle. The most expensive thing I bought today was the replacement toothbrush heads. I also needed razor blades, but they are wicked expensive. Why do these things have to cost so much?
Walmart:
The tape, ornament, chocolate, tags and wreath hanger were on sale. More alphas, Home Alone, packing tape, ornament, chocolate, tags, wreath hanger, coasters.
I already had Home Alone 2, but not the first one. I always need more packing tape. I picked up the ornament and tags for my brother. When I buy after Christmas stuff, I just pack it up with my winter decorations so I don't lose it during the year. The chocolate was 50 cents, plus it was cute. Since my landlord doesn't want me to put holes in my walls, I thought I'd pick up the wreath hanger to hang things on my door. I picked up these coasters for my co-worker.

I really wanted to go to Hobby Lobby, too, but I don't need anything at Hobby Lobby (not that I really needed the other stuff either), but I want to see what's left, I really want to check out the clearance section.

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Christmas questions

I was watching Amy's Got a Gluegun on YouTube, and she answered these questions and I thought it would be fun to do the same, so here goes:
1. What is your décor style? I collect snowmen and snowy stuff, so that's basically my style
I've scaled down a bit since I moved and don't have near as many as I used to, but here are my decorations:
 The tree is one of those ceramic ones that have holes cut out with plastic pieces and you put a lightbulb under it. I stopped putting the base on a couple years ago, because mine is vintage and I was a little worried about the wires. The cards hanging on it are from a swap that was called Merry Moos from a Yahoo! group, basically we created these little cards. You can see my patriotic snowman and my policeman snowman. I also love the cute couple on the right side.
Traveling around the corner you see this bookshelf:
 These are my Iowa State University snowmen. I'm in Ames, IA, which is where Iowa State University is and I also went there and work there. Most of them are snowglobes, but there are a few others there. You can also see the candy mold ornament someone made for me in a button swap, and my cute blue/green ornament. You can also see a guinea pig fabric button book I got in a swap.
Traveling along this wall, you come to this bookshelf:
 I love the little black tree I got on after Christmas sales at Borders one year. That snowman on the left also lights up. The one on the right, I call my artist snowman cause he's got a beanie/hat on. On the first shelf you see a Santa, that's actually a nesting doll my parents got me in Alaska one year. You can also see the 'ice cube' snowmen with their peppermint candles.
Going around the corner you come to this bookshelf (have you notice they all match?):
 At the top is a music box, right next to my 'real' Christmas tree, it's actually a part of a lilac tree we had to cut out at my old house, I took the bark off and sealed it with a light brown/yellow varnish. You can barely see the blue elephant ornament at the top of it, I collect elephants, though this is probably the only Christmas ornament I have. You can also see I'm still kinda stuck in fall with the ceramic pumpkin and Halloween snowglobe, I got them at the end of fall and didn't have enough time to enjoy them, so I left them out. Most of this bookcase is decorated with ornaments people have made me, quite a few are from button swaps. The little girl in front of the radio on the top, the dress form on the left hanging from the top, The square box in the middle hanging from the top, the stockings hanging from the first shelf, the mitten forms hanging from the first and second shelves. I also have a couple vintage snowmen: the cup on the first shelf, the round one on his feet behind the mitten on the second shelf. I also love the hot air balloon a friend gave me in a swap.
Going along this wall, you come to my TV cabinet:
 I love those two in the middle with their glittery hats. I had bought them at a garage sale and their heads were bare. I picked up these hat ornaments at the Dollar Tree. I really like the silver one, I added some tinsel around the outside and a sparkly button on the top. You can also see Christmas Kermit, I collect frogs (less so now), and a few wild animals dressed up for the cold.
Traveling along the wall, you come to my owl tree (this is actually out all year long):
 I had top bid for this tree at a local festival of trees event, it had ornaments made out of vintage buttons, it also has a garland made out of vintage mother of pearl buttons. The ornaments came off in the move and haven't made it back to the tree. When I first got it, I referred to it as my Charlie Brown Christmas tree because it looked that sad, so I stuck some owls on it and it has grown from there. I love collecting owls, most of them are Christmas ornaments, but as you can see on the shelves below the tree, I've gotten many others as well. That bowl on the second shelf I actually picked up this year on clearance for $1.50.
And around the corner, you run into my 'bar':
 My apartment is very small. I don't really have room for a bar. I do have baking supplies in that cabinet, but I mostly use it to store stuff (as you can see from the kitchen stuff behind the winter decorations). In this picture I have a lot of Christmas gifts waiting to be wrapped, I am happy to say they are all wrapped up and ready to be opened. You can also see my monster, I love monsters.
This window is above my TV, sorry about the darkness, it was night when I took this picture:
These two art pieces were from the local festival of trees, they have a silent art auction at the same time. 
2. When do you start decorating? Usually when it starts getting cold. This year it was Black Friday.
3. What are your favorite colors to decorate with? Mostly white
4. Do you change your décor theme every year? No, I add more snowmen, mostly what people give me now, I don't buy a lot anymore.
5. What’s your favorite winter candle? I don't allow myself to have candles. I accidentally left one burning overnight in my old apartment, so I'm not allowed to have them anymore.
6. What’s your favorite thing to decorate with? As you can see from the pictures, snowmen
7. How do you decorate the outside of your home? I live in an apartment, I can't decorate the outside.
8. What’s your favorite room to decorate? Probably the living room because I spend the most time in there.
9. What’s your most meaningful Christmas décor piece? I really like the ceramic Christmas tree. My grandparents had one when I was little, so when I saw this one at a garage sale a few years ago, I scooped it up.
10. Fake or real tree: We never had a real tree when I was growing up because of my mom's allergies. My apartment's have never been big enough for real trees, and I really like my little tiny trees, they are so easy to store and put up. 

11. Any Christmas inspirations or tips? No, it used to be I put everything in the same place year after year, so it was fun to find new places for my stuff this year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tuesday, December 06, 2016

Hodgepodge Vol 289

It's Hodgepodge time again. Head on over to Joyce's blog to see what other people's answers are.


1. Let's talk holiday decorating. On a scale of 1-10 where do you fall? (1=Scrooge and 10= Clark Griswold). What's your favorite corner-room-table-space to decorate? Is it done? Maybe a 5. I feel I just got done decorating in my new space, so I didn't want to bring out my Christmas stuff.  Black Friday at about 8pm I decided to do it though. Mostly all my stuff is in the living room.
 This is in the corner by my bedroom door. I love this ceramic tree. My grandparents had one when I was a kid. I bought this at a garage sale, I don't have the bottom where a lightbulb is on it, because I'm a bit wary about how old it is. So, I just take off the top and decorate it with these tiny cards I got in a swap years ago.
 This bookshelf is just to the right of the one above. It has all my Iowa State University snowmen on it. I used to have these in my kitchen at my old place.
 This bookshelf is on the same wall as the above one, but a bit farther to the right. As you can see most of my decorations are snowmen, mostly so I don't have to put them away right after Christmas. I found that tiny black tree at Borders one year on clearance. You can also see the 'ice cube' snowmen on the top shelf of the bookshelf. They have candles that look like candy canes in them.
 This one is right around the corner from the other one. It is the most decorated. But, you can also see I'm kinda hanging on to fall with my pumpkin and Halloween snowglobe on the top. A lot of the hanging ornaments are from swaps I've done throughout the years. That set of snowmen on the bottom shelf, one of them has pink the other blue, I just got in a swap this year, I'm loving them.
 This is my TV stand. I have a few decorationgs on the bottom. I really love those two with the sparkly hats in the middle. I picked them up at a garage sale over the summer and had to add hats to their bare heads, I think they look much nicer now.
 This is right next to my TV stand. It's actually decorated like this all year round. I collect owls, and it's my owl tree. I love this tree, it's a little barer because of the move, it used to have vintage glass button ornaments on it. If you look really closely, you can see the mother-of-pearl button garland on it.
 This is the bar into my kitchen. It's actually just holding most of my presents I'm giving away. I was having a hard time remembering what I had gotten for people, so I coralled it all here, now I just need to wrap them.
This is right above my TV. 
I got rid of a lot of snowmen before I moved. While I had the same number of rooms, plus a lot of closet space, I feel my apartment was at least twice the size of this one. My mom got a little upset a few years ago when they had garage sales to get ready for their upcoming move because I was getting rid of so many snowmen. I knew whereever I moved it would be smaller than what I was in at the time.
I do feel I'm missing a couple snowmen, but I've been through all my boxes, so I guess there were a couple I parted with that I didn't know I'd miss. Oh well.

2. Is there a nativity scene in your decorating somewhere? Post a picture or, if it's special to you in some way, tell us why. Or do both-it's Christmas! No

3.  Do you live in a social neighborhood? If so are you glad? If not do you wish you did? No. Sometimes I wish I knew some more of my neighbors. One of my former bosses lives just a few houses down, I'm not entirely pleased about that, she wasn't the best boss and I don't like interacting with her.

4.  As the saying goes, 'there's no time like the present'. How does that ring true in your life right now? Maybe to get rid of the boxes I still have around. Most of them are empty, I just don't have the room in our garbage can to put them, but I still have stuff to organize and put away.

5. Do you dread Mondays? Why or why not? Mondays don't really bother me, it could be because my regular day off is Tuesday, so that's always a nice perk. I don't just work Monday-Friday, so it's not like I'm coming off a 2-day break. 

6.  Poinsettia, Christmas Cactus, Amaryllis-which on the list is your favorite holiday plant? Are any of these on display in your home right now? I'm not a big flower person. I like that there's a lot of different colored poinsettias out there. I guess if I had to pick out of those, it would be a Christmas Cactus.

7. Share a favorite quote from a Christmas movie. I know it's not a traditional Christmas movie, but it takes place on Christmas. "Now I have a gun, ho ho ho"

8.  Insert your own random thought here. I got a new roommate this weekend and I am not pleased. Monday morning I woke up to see a mouse on my floor. My landlord has gotten traps, and while I haven't seen it since Monday afternoon, I've still heard it around. I'm afraid it's gonna start chewing on things. There's no food on the floor, so I'm afraid of what it will start chewing on.

Also, Christmas is in about 2 1/2 weeks are you ready?