Last Year's Christmas Clearance Goodies

I've always been the type of gal who makes a bee line for the clearance aisle. I'm on a quest for big treasures for little prices. My Mom taught me well. Last year after Christmas, I must have browsed Big Lots at the right time, because I found some remaining goodies to stash in the closet for next year. 2010 Sarah thanks you, 2009 Sarah, for being such a wise shopper. I don't have a ton of Christmas decorations, but every year I try to buy a few more pieces to add to my holiday decor. Without spending a lot of dough.

These red and gold shatterproof ornaments are my FAVORITE clearance purchase. I got TWO boxes of 48 bulbs, for 97 cents each. 97 CENTS people. That's less than $2 for 96 ornaments. The original sticker said $9 per box. If I do the math correctly (which is questionable), I saved about $16 and they were 90% off. My adrenalin was flowing. I didn't even know what I was going to do with 96 red and gold ornaments, but I sure was going to find something to do with them at Christmas next year. And I did find something to do with them, which I'll share with you soon.

Next find: Christmas cards. I'm a sucker for cards. I love the different designs, pretty paper, unique shapes and ones with glitter just seal the deal. I got these for $1 and $2. The original tags say $5 and $6. I couldn't resist. The real question is if I'll get around to sending any of these. But I like to have them on hand.

Last find: Gift boxes. You can never have too many gift boxes. Chances are, you're going to give somebody a shirt or something that requires a decent gift box at some point. I had a few small boxes, but not large boxes like these. This 4 pack cost about $1. I should have kept my receipt. I never would have paid $6 bucks for these.

At the end of that Big Lots shopping trip, I walked out of there with:
• 96 Christmas bulbs
• 36 Christmas cards
• 4 Gift boxes
...and a partridge in a pear tree
For the grand total of $6!
(not that last one)

Merry Christmas to me!