55 Days

55 days till Christmas.


Are you ready?
Got some good ideas for decorating the tree?

The Eve of Halloween

Backward, turn backward,
O Time, in your flight
make me a child again
just for to-night!
~Elizabeth Akers Allen

Happy Halloween to all!
Gosh, I miss the excitement of taking the girls out.
Please stay safe and watch for the kids trick or treating. ;)

DIY branches, Finds & Kmart

These are the branches that I painted.
Cost- free.
Branches came from the neighbor's wood pile and I "splotched" the craft paint on with a sponge.

I have seen branches online for over $10.00 and that didn't include shipping.
I am thinking about maybe adding some little faux moss pieces later on.
The look right now is Fall and then Winter.
Maybe for Winter I will add some pine too.

Pardon the grainy pics below...they are from the cell phone.
I still don't have a camera to replace the one I loaned my daughter.
Camera companies, if you are reading this; please, send me one! I will blog good stuff about you :)


Dollar Tree has lots of Christmas decorations marked down to 4 packs/$1.00.

The icicles are very thin and fragile looking.
I am not sure if I am leaving the silver ornies "as is" or if I am going to make them look more like Mercury glass.
Mercury glass seems to be the big thing everywhere.
You can see it here, here and here.
but there are great tutorials out there too.
like this one , or this one and this one.

Here is another Dollar Tree find- the black crow.

Mr. Crow will definitely be a keeper in my Fall decor stash. :)


Now, here is where the post gets long.
Go pee, get a sandwich, coffee or whatever else you need to do to finish reading this.

I am ticked off at Kmart.



Last weekend, I found a code( on a whole bunch of sites) for an extra $100 off Kmart clearance TVs. Best part was you could even put them on layaway( I am a layaway kinda gal). So, I ordered the TV, added the code and went to check out..... Whoa Nellie!!
Shipping was $179.00!!
Well, I called customer service because the TV was at the store, I was going to pick it up there, why would I pay shipping??
Customer Service gal said "no problem", and to take the code to my local store since she couldn't get shipping( on the screen) to come off either.
I did that.
Manager Jason, said there was no way to enter code at the register. I came back home and spent 2 hours and 3 minutes with another customer service gal on the phone.
The screen kept saying I had already used code, even though I had not processed order previously. I had to take a screenshot of my order, the code, etc. and send it to them.
The next day I got an email saying the code wasn't a "Kmart code". I then emailed back "thanks anyway". I also reminded them that the first customer service person had entered the code and it worked fine.
I figured that was the end of me getting a great deal on a TV.
So...

On Thursday, I went back to Kmart.com.( Can you tell I am a glutton for punishment here?)
Well, guess what code is NOW on clearance TVs on their page??!!! 100OFFTV!!
The same code I was told (in an email) wasn't their code.
Then to make matters worse, they state that the TVs are showing another $100.00 off previous price. Well, no they are not!!
I have the online page from last weekend. The price is the same.
I hate people and places who lie and try to cheat.
Plus, one of the clearance TVs that they are selling, is from a company that went bankrupt AND it gets even better- that TV does NOT come with a manual.
To figure out how to hook it up you have to go online.
Kmart is still selling an extended warranty for it. Who do they think is going to back the warranty??

I sent another email yesterday about ALL of the above.
Last night I got an email back with a number to contact a special customer service manager.
Now that certain TV that was reviewed 48 times ( on their site) for the bankruptcy and no manual problems now states it is "temporarily out of stock".
I am calling the number tomorrow morning to see where this all goes........

I think I can do better.........

I think I can do better than $12.00 for 5.5 OUNCES of Faux Snow

That's not even one cup.

I am now on a mission to find Faux Snow..

19¢ Fish

I found this fish at the local Goodwill.
Price 19¢.

I knew I could do something with him.
He is about 18' inches long and heavy.
He was sad- and black.(why do I keep calling him, "him"?)

Got out the white spray paint(already had) and "went to town".
Not literally to town; its just a saying I got from my grandma.
"went to town" def:; To proceed enthusiastically, vigorously, or expertly..

Two coats later, a little sanding around the edges and here he is-




Another shot, with a picture of my girls when they were young.
Aah, the good 'ol days. :)


This is just a little extra idea to share.
I took a picture of the pumpkin and gourds outside on the bench.
Downloaded them a few weeks ago and did some editing. Rite Aid was running a special to get 50 prints free; so I took advantage of it and copied a few pictures from around the yard.
The frame is from Dollar Tree.

Total cost $1.00!!
Unique and personalized artwork at a great price!!! :)

and I promise............

....that I will have a decent post on here by Monday!


Enjoy the Weekend. :)

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