Decorating For the Holidays –Update on 12/8/07***on a shoe string!

November 21, 2007 at 10:17 am · Filed under 99 cent Stores, Christmas Fear, Faith, Health, Holiday Joys, HOME ECONOMICS, single parenting, ThanksGiving and Giving Thanks!, Uncategorized, Views from Within and tagged: 99 cent stores values, Bargin Hunters, Green Acres Mall Flea Market, Holiday Decorations, Holiday Shopping, Martha Stewart, ThanksGiving Food

I just got some last minute ideas on decorating my diningroom table. A friend of my told me how to make a Christmas Tree and wreath from construction paper!  No—it is not a new idea….but instead of spending alot of money on decorations….I have plenty of glue and paper.  I love Arts and Crafts!  Today after I sing at a concert I will go and do that!   Last year I had limited financial resources!  What else is new?  But I still brought a Christmas tree.  I paid about $35.00. And this year I have the same financial problems but that does not stop my holiday Spirit! *****My update is about an actual 99 cent store that contacted me today.  It is an actual online shopping spree for those looking for the economic thrills of low budget shopping.  Here take a look.  Now mind you….I have not actually gone to the store….but it gives the address and I love to drive….I will take a ride out there and let you know how it looks.  Here is the online address pasted: http://www.99centplusonline.com   Posted today 12/4/07—Hurry Holdiay shopping is in full swing!  Enjoy!**************************** ***************************************************************   I love a live tree.  My childhood was filled with a fake tree.  But what my mother could afford back then I cannot.  My mother’s fake tree had fake snow coming out of the top, and the tree itself rotated, and my mother even had a strobe light on too.  What a holiday I truly enjoyed!!  My mother was very creative.  She made a wooden tree and hung it on the front door of the house and put candy canes on it foir visitors or the mailman to take and eat!  There were little elves hanging all aroud the house.  I would play with them and then put them back where ever my mother hung them!  I loved Christmas!  It was the spirit of the holiday –NOT THE GIFTS!  My mother made the holiday a special  time in our house!  Not the shopping!  I did not even see her shop.  I truly believed that Santa was bringing me my gifts!  So it was not comercial like it is today!  I thank  God that I had the mother I had, and the father who could help her to supply a very fantasy,  sheltered DisneyLand mentality for my childhood.  That is probably why I still enjoy the holiday season.  I love to recreate that for my son!   So I enjoy that live tree–it smells soo Good! The live tree is good!  I don’t have to put it together. Although securing it is not always easy—but my son and I tend to get it anchored into it’s base after a few tries!  I shop at the 99cent stores to get my holiday decorations.   Why should I spend and arm and a leg getting a decorations?  I like my food,  and holiday gifts to be around the tree also.  So I have to stretch my dollars.  So  99cent store is just fine.  Last year I used a lot of red little bows on the branches and a few Christmas plastic red,  yellow and green balls.  I always love a little Santa,  and a few elves!  All of these things cost 99Cent.   Sometimes I go to the***** Valley Stream Flea Market off of the Sunrise Highway behind the Cineplex!*****   It is free to go in,  and you have vendors.  The vendors have great close outs,  cheap costume jewelry, some silver jewlrey and even jade,  jeans,  coats,  some leather,  some designer closeouts.  There is even a vendor who sells suitcases.   I see eager shoppers who have relationships with these vendors.  Certain vendors at the flea market are so committed that they know each other and all of their regular customers too.  One vendor always remembers me,  I  buy a few things each time I go. There are also$10.00 sheets for the bed too.  There are MINK blankets for sale too!   What a great opportunity to have the things that others buy for much higher prices!   There are people who sell spices,  and plants too.  So between the two places,  the 99cent store and the Valley Stream/Green Acres flea Market I make out pretty Good!   I  want to put up Christmas Lights also.  I love to have rotating lights and white lights.  I have a Manager scene,  and bells on the front door.  I want to purchase a colorful tree skirt this year.   I spend some dollars  at Marshalls  also.  Marshalls has such beautiful holiday decorations.  I buy a few special pieces at Marshalls just to add a little pizazz to my 99cent  decorations.  I will give more entries later.  Tonight when I get home I have to run right out to get my Spanish Rice ingredients for tomorrow’s meal.  I am cooking of course.  I truly believe I would be a Martha Steward if I had more personal time and more energy!   I list my menu later on tonight.  But baked ZITI will definitely be on the menu for our THANKSGIVING DINNER!  My sons bakes the zitti.  I get it started and he seasons to his taste and puts the whole tray in the oven.  I that’s right I have to pick up more butter and Eggnog too!  I love to cook and bake.   I going to make an apple pie and some sweet potatoes with the marshmellow topping—yummy,  yummy!!  Oh,  boy,  Christmas Decorations and Great food!!!   I truly have a lot to be thankful for. I  will check in later to night,  and I will tell you how my cooking and decorating and shopping goes this weekend too! Today is ThanksGiving!  As always I am running behind schedule.  I have to run to the LIQUIDATORS in Valley stream to pick up more aluminum pans and such.  Ziti noodles, more butter, turkey seasonings, more Apple Cider, Black Cherry Soda, more cheese,  pie crusts,  apples,  brownie mix,  cake mix,  marshmellows, and more sweet poptatoes!  I always take my time!  I love to cook.  I would do it all the time if I could.  I also want to pick up a themed  table cloth if I can find one for a low price.  Well,  I will check later!  It is 8:44 and my son is still asleep! Gotta get him up and get this show on the road! **************************************************************** Okay,  I’m Back! I cooked my turkey….until it fell  off of the bone!  YES!!!  My son ate, and my Mom ate,  and of course I –the chef had to ate it and saw what I could improve upon.  Well my ingredients for the turkey are first in the cleaning preparation.   I rinse the turkey,  take out the giblets and the neck.  I scrup the turkey with the KOSHER salt.  I rinse and then  pour lemon juice from concentrate inside and outside of the turkey.   I rinse several more times.  I cut up celery, and onion and place in a small pot with butter and water.  I let that come to a boil.  I have already prepared my stuffing.   I rub the last bit of KOSHER salt and pour it inside of the turkey.  I rinse one last time and then I take the boiling vegetables out of the pot with a holed spoon and then pour the boiling mixture of butter and water over the turkey.   It does a good job of sealing it for cooking.  Then I use the BELL TURKEY seasoning, mixed with a little Adobo seasoning too.—(not too much) just for a little zing!   I massage the entire bird with this delicate mixture of flavor–YUMMY!    I place four pats of butter on the bottom of the pan and then lay my nearly green bird down.  It looks a little weird….but guess what it is golden brown when it is finished cooking…after I stuffed the bird with the boiled vegetables, and Stove Top Stuffing I poured the last bit of butter and water combo over the bird and then I reconnected the legs…checked the done pin and then poured more vegetables on the top of the bird.   I used foil  and alot of butter to cover the wings so that they would not burn or cook faster than the rest of the bird.   I noticed that the foil and the temperature at 350 according to the directions  practically steams the bird to perfection!  Great!   So we had a great turkey. Today I went out to WholeSale Liquidators.  I was shocked because I was there yesterday and spent $75 dollars on food and utensils that I needed.   I received a $10.00 gift card from the store.  So guess what?  On BLACK FRIDAY,   I gave the card to my son and he brought something that he wanted for Christmas with it.   I have never gotten a gift card from a store before!   So check out Wholesale Liquidators in Valley Stream Green Acres Mall—at the opposite end from Walmart.   I was so happy.  My son was more than happy to buy a controller for one of his game systems.   I did look at their decorations….they have them for a buck too!  Great!  What else should I say?  Oh,  I was a bit upset with Old Navy—I got there late (meaning 8:00 in the morning)–  The clerk told me that I had to be there at 5:00 am so that I could have purchased the $20.00 worth of items and then get a $40.00 value MP3!   But it did not say that on the flyer that I got in the news paper!  Oh, Well!  I ‘m satisfied…I got to GameStop at 7:00 just in time to get my son his game system.   It was a difficult decision for me to make.  I struggle—but he did get an A in 9th grade American History and he holds a pretty strong B average in everything else.   Saturday will be my Green Acres Mall,  Flea Market Day.   I’ ll let you know what they have out there.  Or better yet—you take a look for yourself!  Blog to you soon! 

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