After-Christmas Shopping!

I just love after-Christmas bargains!  Some years I don't have the wherewithal to go out the day after Christmas, but this year, Ari and I ventured out to find neighbor gifts for next year.  My system this year did not work.  I have to have it done ahead of time.  Right away, we found wrapping paper 50% off and bought two unopened 60-roll cases.  The guy at the store loaded them into my car, they will be easy to store, neighbor gifts are done for 2012 and...that's a wrap!

Ari and I hit Target at just the right time for 50% off stuff for friends and teachers.  Cards, ornaments, gift tags, stockings, etc.  I knew exactly the kinds of things I was looking for and I think we're set for gift wrapping and all those little gifts you have to come up with.  You know, 20 teachers, a dozen friends per kid, hostess gifts, etc.  Plus all the fancy garnishes to make the gifts look pretty.  It's all labeled and put away.

Scott and again, Ari, were at the right place at the right time today and got two hundred dollars' worth of chocolate candy for...wait for it...ten dollars!!  Ari must be a good luck charm for deals!  Harmon's was just bringing out cartloads of the good stuff and marking it $5.00 for as much as you could fit in a bag.  Look at the haul!  I took most of it and separated it into "Valentine-worthy" and not Valentine-worthy.  We'll have to eat all the green-packaged chocolate, but the red, purple and white is going in the hundred or so Valentine bags we always put together for the kids' friends and classmates.  As soon as valentine cards hit the stores, those bags will be tied and ready to go before Tziporah gets here!

And the cutest and most glittery bargain...the pink, green and blue arrangement Golda and I found for 70% off at Ben Franklin.  It was our inspiration for giving Xanthe's room a make-over.  The whole room looks much better now, and I found a bunch of stuff that had gone missing.  I forget Xanthe is a hoarder.  She hides other people's important stuff, like ballet shoes, under her bed.  Anyone want to psychoanalyze that?  Anyway, if you use your imagination, you can find a ton of Christmas items on sale that don't really look Christmas-y once you get them out of the Christmas aisle at the store, like Xanthe's pink sparkly branches.  I also bought a whole sheet set for my bed for $14.00.  It was part of a Christmas line, but it was plain white flannel.  I love new linens this time of year. 

Now I'm trying to stay home and avoid any further opportunities to "save" money.  But I might have to go back and see if they still have any of the fun ice cream cone ornaments that match Xanthe's branches.  They were pretty cute!