Bargains!

I let you all in on a little secret, my house still has Christmas stuff everywhere! Our decorations are no longer artfully displayed, and our trees are standing like naked reminders that I need to get this stuff put away, so what's a girl to do? Go shopping of course! I'm not a big Black Friday, or day after Christmas shopper. I like to do things in a more relaxed and calm way. So I let all of those early risers rush out the day after Christmas to fight the masses and come home with armloads of great deals. I told Mr. Tide that I'm more like a scavenger when it comes to my shopping style, if I stumble upon something, and it's been picked on a bit, but still has a little meat left on the bones, I will help the environment by stripping it bare and cleaning up the final remains without having to elbow anyone else to get to it.

Here is our dining room table cluttered with the remnants of Christmas Past!

So on Saturday I convinced my husband to run around to a few of my favorite local stores to see what I could scavenge. For living in a relatively rural area, we have always had the great fortune of having wonderful little shops filled with unique items. Some have come and gone over the years but thankfully new ones have opened to replace the old ones.

Every year we have a tradition where we give each of our children an ornament that signifies something special they have done during the past year. This year our daughter received a glass Santa wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes in honor of her Spring Break trip to Scotland to visit a friend. Our son joined our local Volunteer Rescue Squad so he received an ambulance ornament. The idea behind this tradition was that when both children leave home and set up their own households, they will one day take these ornaments with them to adorn their own trees.

After both my parents passed away I decided to add them to the tradition, so for the past five years I've purchased something that reminded me of my mother, and then started purchasing for my father when he died 2 years ago. Last year my father received a tractor, as he was an avid gentlemen farmer following his retirement from the government, and my mother received a pewter pineapple wreath ornament from one of her favorite places, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Although our tree has been beautifully clad in these meaningful ornaments for many years now, I realized as I was de-constructing the tree a few nights ago, that most of the ornaments we have will one day go with our kids, leaving us with a fairly sparse tree!

This year, after realizing just how few ornaments were really "ours" so to speak, I have been on a mission to purchase some after the holidays bargains to re-stock our supply.

The first stop on our bargain hunting trip was Lola Belle Co. This great little shop hasn't been around all that long, but it's filled with charming and unique items at great prices. Much to my delight, everything in the store was on sale and their Christmas items were 50% off. Furniture, which was marked down 40 - 50% was flying out the door, but I kept my focus...with the help of my husband and headed straight for the Christmas decor.

These Glass ornaments caught my eye and I knew that I would keep them out year round in the big black cupboard I have in the dining room. They look perfect next to the other glass ornaments I had collected on a trip to Vermont a few years ago.

They are the small one on the left and the large one on the right

Here is a close up of the largest glass ornament. Something about it looks beachy to me so I just had to have it.

This glass Moravian Star was another great find at Lola Belle Co. It reminded me of an icicle and a snowflake combined.

It was hard to leave Lola Belle, especially with those two perfect leather club chairs tugging at my heartstrings and at 50% off they were a steal, but we moved on none the less.

My son gave me a gift certificate to Traditions of Loveville, a store I've purchased so many wonderful things from over the years. His gift had been burning a hole in my pocket since Christmas and I was itching to see what sort of after Christmas bargains I might find. As usual, I was not disappointed and came out with a bagful of great things. They too had everything in their store on sale, and their Christmas items were 75% off so I took full advantage, picking up some terrific deals. A steady stream of customers were also enjoying the savings of 10 - 75% off items in their store, including artwork and furniture. While checking out, a woman came back to pick up a beautiful floral painting that would have looked perfect in our daughter's old room...oh well, maybe next time!

These mercury glass leaves will add some sparkle to next year's tree, but I also plan to put them out during the Fall, so I'll get to enjoy them twice as much!

This one almost looks heart shaped...hmm maybe I have Valentine's Day on the brain?!

This perfectly pale aqua Christmas tree with jewels and glitter was the last of it's kind, so I didn't want it to be sad sitting there all alone. One day I will have a large white feather tree adorned only in beautiful pastel ornaments like this one.

This wasn't Christmasy per se, but it was too good to pass up. I've wanted a European-style latte bowl for quite awhile now, so when I found this one that was marked 50% off, I couldn't resist!

Next stop on the shopping adventure was Cecil's Country Store, another favorite haunt of mine. It's located in an old country store and I've known the owner since I we were kids. Like both Lola Belle co. and Traditions of Loveville, at Cecil's I know I will walk in and find something I love, every time I visit! It's full of nautical items and beautiful artwork by a favorite local artist Mary Lou Troutman, and many of the "special" ornaments for my children and parents have come from Cecil's Country Store. Christmas items were all marked down and bargains could be found throughout the store.

Even though these heart ornaments were considered Christmas items, so marked down 50%, I plan to keep them out as part of my Valentine's Day decorations.

This heart says it all with "I Love You" written in gold glitter and these lovely mercury glass votive candle holders were also marked down and came in soft shades of pink, silver and aqua.

And last, but not least, is this cute plate that I thought would be perfect for cookies, brownies, lemon squares, you name it at our next year's Christmas party.

All in all it was a VERY successful shopping day and I got to spend a Saturday afternoon with Mr. Tide, which is always a treat. What great after holiday bargains did you find this year?