"Eggcellent" Easter

I suppose friends and family appreciate the decorating that I do. My neighbor commented, "Aren't you going to decorate our hallway for Easter? When I opened the door the other morning I thought for sure you would have made it look pretty". Hehehe hadn't really planned on decorating the hallway. But okay why not. So I got creative with some Crayola Construction Paper. I made Easter Bunny ears for the hallway window. Simple, easy and yet adorable. And best of all a decoration for in the hall and out the window.

I still had the pretty blue garland from the Shoe Shindig so I left that up. And tied a bunny headband to the railing. And on our apartment door, I rehung last year's green basket with the little white stuffed bunny rabbit.

I spent more time on decorating the outside. I found two inexpensive large sets of plastic Easter Eggs at our local CVS pharmacy.  As I had ExtraCare Bucks this made the eggs not just inexpensive, but free. Free is always Fabulous! I always have ribbon. I love that our local dollar store sells huge rolls for just a dollar. Purchase once and decorate forever. I wove the ribbon (you need to fold it in half - rather a pain by the way) through the small holes in the plastic Easter Eggs. I created two garlands of Easter Eggs. One was used to decorate each side of the front steps.  

Last year I found a blow up Easter Bunny in the clearance bin after the holiday. I thankfully found it again in time for this Easter. I admit I love those blowup Easter Bunnies. They remind me of one that my Aunt Joanne gave me when I was a small child. The thing was bigger than me at the time. But I paraded around the house carrying that thing forever. We had it for years and years. It was pulled out of my mother's Magic Closet this time of year. (Hehehe guess the decorating bug is hereditary. Yes, my mother had what she called her "Magic Closet" as we got older it was the off limit closet where presents were stored and decorations were kept)

Hope you had a very Happy Easter!

Having a Ball Decorating for Christmas

So every year we have a different theme for our Christmas party and Christmas decorating. This year I asked the husband what came to mind when he thought of Christmas decorations. He replied, “Christmas balls.” So I looked for party supplies with Christmas balls. As always I started the process early. It's odd searching for items for Christmas while decorating for Halloween... but it makes things less expensive. Last year's Christmas stock was available for 50% off. Yay!

So this was this year's inspiration:

Inspiration - Fête Avec Moi

Fête Avec Moi

In late September, I found some large Christmas Tree Store decorations in our theme. I purchased 4 big Christmas balls (2 gold, 2 silver). Had them rattling around in the trunk of my car for months. But it was well worth it when I pulled them out this weekend to decorate our front walkway. A few weeks ago, I also found a great garland of large (but not as big) multi-color Christmas balls.. Add to cart!

At a local Target and a dollar store I found beautiful silver and red ribbons. As I dug out our boxes of previous year holiday decorations, I discovered silver garlands that I could reuse. Free is good. I wrapped the walkway stair rail with silver garlands. Then I suspended the balls from the ribbons. The ribbons were a nice quality with a wire along the sides. They help keep the Christmas balls from blowing in the wind too much.

At a CVS at the start of the holiday season (sadly this means October), I found battery operated led Christmas tree lights. I remembered when we were first married we had a small potted faux Christmas tree. I hunted and dug it out of storage. Add a few mini red Christmas balls, the left over end of a silver garland from outside, and the battery operated lights. Tada, beautiful mini-tree in the hallway landing. Thank goodness the neighbors appreciate my decorating and don't frown upon me taking over the halls.  Also, reclaimed the light up battery operated gift package decorations that I bought at 50% plus a coupon in January of last year.

I found online at Target (some of my biggest steals) a battery operated strand of red glass ball shaped lights. Yay! Mix with another silver garland and the inside stairs look rather festive. Love that they are battery operated even though they are so large. Yes, folks this Christmas I will be piloting using a few rechargeable batteries. I found some chargers last Spring that charge via usb. Bingo! My green side cheers. Will let you know how they go.

On the first day of Christmas Target found for me... 50 red Christmas balls for $15 dollars. Also 50 silver Christmas balls for $15 dollars. Do you think, I have enough Christmas balls now? I hope so but my crafty side isn't sure lol. Plan to add a few more to the staircase inside on our floor this weekend. Plan to display in glass vases here in the apartment. And plan to offer them as favors to friends during the holiday season. I love personalized ornaments.

I'd love to hear what you think. Voulez-vous faire la fête avec moi? Joyeux Noël à tous. More to come soon as I prep for this year's annual Holiday Cookie Exchange. Are you hosting your own Cookie Exchange this year? One tip, I just have to share... evite.com  has an adorable free invitation that you can send via email or Facebook. So very cute.