After Christmas clearance sales

Time for those after Christmas sales! Now that it is a few days after Christmas you need to go to the store and save money on all those after Christmas sales. Now is the time to save 50% or more on what is left.

Check out your wrapping paper, bows and ornaments that will be marked down. This is where I save big because I stock up and have enough bought for at least the next couple of years. Paper and bows will not go bad or out of style in a couple of years.

 

Buy those Christmas cards and stock up  now. Buy enough to last a couple of years and save big. Go to the post office and stock up on those forever stamps because stamps are always going up.

I like to buy my Christmas napkins, plates and table clothes after Christmas for the following year. Saving money is always the ultimate goal here. Take advantage of the 50% or more off and save big time.

If you have children, here is a great way to buy St. Nick gifts for next years.  Don’t forget that this is a great way to buy those $5 to $10 dollars gifts you need for school exchange of work exchange.

 If you like your chocolate this is the time to save.Christmas candy is also on sale at this time at 50% off.

If you can wait for about a week some stores will have Christmas items left for 75% or more off.

Have fun shopping for all these deals and saving money in the process. Happy New Year’s from Suzie Homemaker.

Christmas Trees

Christmas Trees! Should I buy a real one or an artificial tree? When we were first married money was very tight so we decided to buy an artificial tree. This way you could use it over for the next year. Then my husband’s parents said we needed to buy a real tree when the children came around. Now that my children are almost grown up, do I need to have a tree at all? Every family has traditions, but depending on where you are in your life you can  decorate for Christmas any way you like. Today I will tell you all the ways that we have decorated for Christmas over the years.

When I first met my husband he never had a tree so I surprised him the next year with an artificial tree. This is where I saved a lot of money.  I bought the tree after Christmas on a clearance sale. I waited until almost all the trees were gone and then bought my tree at 75% off. I also bought all my decorations and garland at 75% off. This tree was used for over 6 years before we decided it was time to sell it at a rummage sale.

When the children came we were told they needed a real tree. As you know real Christmas trees are very expensive. They can range from $30.00 dollars and up. This gets very expensive when they are only up for a few weeks. To save on a real trees try cutting down your own. What we did as a family was find a tree place that sells trees cheaper if you have the whole family buy their trees there. We had over 6 families buying a tree at the same place and they gave us a discount.

Now that my children are grown up we decided not to have a Christmas tree. 21 years ago I received a fern as a gift, and it was only 6 inches tall. Today my fern is over 8 feet tall and is now my Christmas tree. I put an angel on top and bows and candy canes on for decorations. This has become my Christmas tree now for the last 3 years.

Have a very Merry Christmas from Suzie Homemaker.

Christmas Wreaths

Christmas time is for family and what better time to make some Christmas candy, cookies, and my famous Christmas wreaths. Every year at this time, I have people asking me to make my Christmas wreaths.  This has become a family tradition for over 25 years. Today I will give you my family recipe so you can start your own tradition.

Green Christmas Wreaths Ingredients

o   1 Package of Marshmallows                                 ¼ Cup butter

o   1 Package Red Hots                                                Green Food Coloring

o   6 Cups Corn Flakes Cereal

o   Makes about 2 dozen wreaths

1.       Take a very large glass bowl and put in ¼ cup butter and one package of marshmallows. Place the bowl in the microwave oven for about 1 minute. When marshmallows start to get big and fluffy they are melted enough and ready to be taken out.

2.       Take out of microwave and stir until butter and marshmallows look creamy. Add a few drops of green food coloring. Depending on how dark of green you want, you can always add more drops for a deeper green.

3.       Add your 6 cups of Corn Flakes Cereal. Stir until all cereal is cover and looks green.

4.       Line a couple of cookie sheets with wax paper.

5.       Make 1 to 2-inch size balls and put them on your wax paper lined trays. Take your finger and put a whole in the middle and then shape your circle to look like a wreath. Place your red hots around the wreath for color. (To make this easier you need to butter your fingers and hands every couple of wreaths. This way the wreath doesn’t stick to your fingers so bad.)

6.       Let stand for 1 to 2 hours to harden. Keep on wax paper until you are ready to serve.

I hope you enjoy one of my families Christmas traditions for Suzie Homemaker.

             

 

Cheap and Easy Christmas Pillows

Christmas Gift Ideas

Now here's a great Christmas gift ideas that won’t break the bank. Did you ever wonder what to do with those old pillows that are going flat, don’t throw them away reuse them. As you already know I don’t like to throw things away because I like to find ways to reuse them at a later date. Today I would like to give you a few ideas on what to do with those old pillows going flat. 

1.       First take out the stuffing and save the cover. Wash the cover and stuffing and reuse it. Sometimes I take the stuffing from two pillows and put them into one cover to make a pillow.  Now you have a brand new pillow. If you don’t want to do this just save the covers and turn them into rags.

2.       The second thing I like to make is a little pillow to give as gifts. This is why I save the stuffing and covers from old pillows. Go to your local material store and pick out patterns or prints that would make a nice pillow. This will be the fronts of your pillows. The backs of your pillows you can reuse the covers cut down to size or old sheets or scrap material.

3.       Take some scrap material and make a patch work pillow. This pillow was made to look  like a Christmas pillow

4.       If you have a hunter or fisherman in your family, this pillow is a great Christmas gift.

5.       If you have kids these pillows area great for Christmas gifts to throw on their beds.

6.       For the adults add some lace to make it a little fancier and decorative.

7.       Take your stuffing from your old pillows and make new ones. Stuffing from Fabric Stores is very expensive. Reuse your old pillow stuffing for free. Plus for your backs if you do not want to use your covers from your old pillows or old sheets, look for little scraps from your local fabric store.    Buying little pieces of scrap material is a lot cheaper and more practical than buying yards of material.

Making pillows for the whole family is a  great gift and not too expensive to make when you reuse your old pillow covers and stuffing. Everybody love pillows to throw on their bed. Hope you like my cheap and easy way to make pillows for a Christmas gifts from Suzie Homemaker.

Different types of Rags

Rags! Rags! Rags!  What are rags and what do we use them for? Rags are anything that are getting to old  too thin, or just don’t need or want any more. I do not buy rags from the store when I have all I need just lying around my house. To me, a rag can be an old shirt, stained or thin dish towel, old bath towel or wash cloths or any scrap of material. Anything can be turned into a rag. Today I want to show you some ways I use my rags

1.       Old shirts can be used for many different things. I use old shirts for bedding for my cats. I have a pregnant cat and this is a great use of an old shirt.

2.       I use an old shirt to wrap around a broom or dust mop to clean. When spring cleaning time comes around this is great for knocking down cob webs and wiping down walls.

3.       My kids hate this one. Old cotton under wear is great for using as dust cloths. They are also good for wiping up floors, sinks, toilets and bath tubs.

4.       The one I love the most is rags for a Swiffer Duster or mop. When you buy these in the store they are really expensive.  If you have a Swiffer duster or mop that all you do is press in your replacements, why not just use an old rag cut down to size and just wash when you are done. This will save you a lot of money and time. Using the rags over and over again makes more sense than buying those replacement ones every couple of weeks.

As you can tell I do not like to waste things, so why not use what you have available at home instead of buying them in a store. This is just another way I save money by using old or worn out clothes and towels for rags. Why should you spend more when you don’t have to.  I hope you liked  my ideas for rags for Suzie Homemaker.