I Will Honour Christmas In My Heart

I will honour Christmas in my heart,
and try to keep it all the year.
I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.
The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.
I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!

~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Monday, January 5, 2015

Christmas Reflections, Traditions and Shopping Before and After Christmas Sales


First, I want to Thank Maria over at Simple Nature Decor for featuring my post,
 The Outside of Our Home, Part 1, Our Christmas Home Tour,  
from her Fabulous Fridays Party from a few week's ago!
 Thanks so much Maria!!

And I also want to Thank Tanya over at Tanya's Kreative Korner for featuring my post,
Colorful Christmas in the Guest Room, Part 11, Our Christmas Home Tour , from last week's
Wake Up Wednesday Party!!

Thanks so much, Tanya and all the other hosts of Wake Up Wednesday!!

Please visit and link up to these great parties!!!

Christmas Reflections and Traditions........

If you missed my post over on my regular Blog, My One Little Word for 2015, please Click HERE

This post explains a bit about what a stressful and crazy Christmas season it was for me.
 
But this helped!!
Joe goes to the Mohegan Sun Casino which is right down the road from us but had stayed away for about a month and then decided to go one day to play his $25 of Free Play.......

And he won $2211!!!!
After tipping the girl $111, who took his tax information and brought him his winnings, this is what his winnings looked like.....
I did ask him why they gave him an air freshener..........
Look up in the far right corner.......

It says " Smells like Winning!!"

Now that is quite a play on words, wouldn't you say?????

LOL!!

Needless to say, this made for a nice Christmas even though most of it went into the bank and Joe and I do not exchange gifts anymore!!

It helped pay for all the food.........

LOTS OF FOOD!!!!!

For Christmas Eve , we had Christmas Eve Holy Supper, a Polish Tradition......

Pierogies bought from a Russian church near my MIL's where those nice little ladies make these weekly and charge only $6.00 a dozen , already cooked with butter and onions!!
With scallops and fantail shrimp.........
And chicken fingers because even though traditionally, it is supposed to be a meatless meal, Joey, my oldest son, will not touch fish with a ten foot pole!!!
I get my the fish and chicken fingers already cooked up from a local seafood distributor that supplies all the grocery chains and restaurants in the area....

I also made whole potatoes with butter ( Joey will also not eat pierogies!) and mushrooms

It was just the 5 of us for Christmas Eve Holy Supper and I was off......

Christmas Day Dinner........

Smoked Kielbasi
I cook up and then give the boys a link of their own to take home.  I used to help my Dad make fresh Kielbasi for the Holidays.... 

Ham......
And turkey, stuffing with sausage and mashed potatoes!

And again, it was the 5 of us........

Then I went to work on Christmas Day night!

On Sunday, the 28th, we celebrated Joey's 33rd birthday which is actually the on 29th.
We ordered from our favorite Italian restaurant.........

And it was the 5 of us........

Other Polish foods for the Holidays .........

Nut Roll......
I used to help my Mom make these along with poppy seed rolls which I never liked because as a child, i thought they were filled with ants and I have not been able to get past it!!

LOL!!
We order them from a lady that Joe knows ,who knows a guy, who makes them!!

$10.00 a roll but worth every bite!!

For New Years Eve , Joe cooked lobster and I again got scallops, shrimp and chicken fingers with fries and cole slaw and again, it was the 5 of us!!  I was off from work.

For New Years Day, the tradition in this area is pork and sauerkraut, of which I am not a fan of neither!

About 25 years ago, after eating all that spicy Polish food as my oldest son calls it, I was craving Pasta, which is my favorite food in the whole world!!

So I made lasagna and now that is our New Year's Day tradition!! I made a double batch this year and sent the kids home ( yes, they were over for dinner and it was the 5 of us again!!!) with take out containers!! And I went to work on New Year's Day night.

Now the funny thing is that I really HATE to cook!!

But for the Holidays and because my kids choose to come home to eat, I will always cook for them and do it with JOY and a smile!!!

One last thing......

I then make turkey soup from the turkey breast from Christmas Day dinner in this MONSTER pot......
 This is something that my Dad always did......

Just broth and then add noodles......

Why the big pot??????

Because the kids love it and I send some home with them........
 A tradition that my Dad started and Joey still remembers eating my Dad's soup!!!!

 I know my Dad is up there saying "That a girl!"!!!!

Those are our Traditions and my Reflections on them!!

Before Christmas Sales.......

A lot of the stores dropped their prices on Christmas merchandise well before Christmas.......

This is what I bought at Sears for 50% off before Christmas......
4 packs of red , green and gold beads that I plan on adding to the large Living Room tree next season......
They are really pretty in person and have that Old World look that appeals to me......

I wanted 2 of those velvet throws for the Living Room but I did not want to pay $20-$50 each and I happened to find these on Sears web site ..........
They had them in the Sears store right down the road in the Wyoming Valley Mall and were on sale for $7.99!!!!!
Totally love them!!

They will stay out for Valentine's Day......

I also bought these Bells.......
And hung them on the front porch railing.....

And these , on the lantern......
I had Rewards Points so all this was under $20.00!!!!

Joe does the food shopping at Wegman's for the most part and they always have wonderful Holiday and Season decorations and discount them fast.......

Here is what he picked up......
Love those LED candles for $1.99 and the packs of star ornies for $1.25 each!!

And this......
Stock up lights......
I am only buying LED now....

Several packs of beaded garland for 99 cents each!!
And these things!!
A Set of 3 in a pack for $2.99, down  from $9.99
Do you just see the uses for these babies?????
I can't wait to play with these!!

Beautiful Cardinal ribbon!!
Good Job, Joe!!
Big Lots.......
These were half price......

 Big Lots had a great selection of Pinks!!

These ornaments were sold in packs for originally $4.00 and were not $2.00!!

 A pack of 6 Stars.....
A pack of 6 birds......
 And packs of 18 large and 24 small balls.....
How can one go wrong??????

Then I went to Kohl's and fell in love with these.......
I first bought the white one which was marked down to $17.99 and I had a $10 coupon so it was $7.99!

I was so thrilled with it because of the 6 hour timer feature, that I bought 2 gold ones when they dropped down to $12 each!

Here they are.....

See them??????
And all lit up!!
Love them!!
I am already planning to use them for the Fall and for Valentine's Decorations!!

Okay, now for the After Christmas Sales.........

I wanted to get to Sam's Club to see if I could pick up another set of the 4 LED lighted Mercury Glass Trees ( see in photo of top of TV Center) for half price which would have been $20 but they opened at 7:00am and I did not get there until 7:30 am after leaving work the day after Christmas.

I did pick up these rolls of ribbon.......
For $3.91 each for 50 yards in each roll!!

Joe later picked up 2 more rolls of the French Script one.........

The Day after Christmas, I went after work to J.C. Penney's who advertised 70% off Christmas but actually had them marked down to 80% off in the store!!!

HAPPY DAY!!!!!
I bought this mini LED lighted Tree which was $50
with 80% off and a coupon for $10 off $25..........
It was $6.48!!!!!!!

These $14.00 snowflake ornaments were only $1.81 each!!!
Loved these.....
And the red bottle brush tree which I will show you in a minute........

All that for $19.50!!
I went back the next day with another coupon and bought these......
The Mercury Glass Owls that you can use tea lights in , will be used for Halloween......
Cost for all this was only $14.42!!
The original price for those Owls was an outrageous $80!!

See the red bottle brush tree and "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" ornament!!
Okay, since Target first opened up in this area, I have been one of those maniac after holiday shoppers but this year, I vowed I would not step foot in the store to buy until Christmas dropped to 70% off and I stood my ground!!!
Here is what I bought.......
Those trees will be used in the kitchen next year.....

Love this......
The Cookie Jar will be used for every day in the Kitchen....
The plaid ribbon looks like Fall to me!!
And 2 mini tree skirts will always come in handy!!

Bird's nests and spools of ribbon again will be used for every day projects......

Large green beaded garland for St. Patrick's Day.......

Smaller brighter green beaded garland to add to the Den Tree next year....

And pink Balls for the Craft Room Tree.....
Some ornies......
All this was only $40 and some change!!!!!

Then I went to Michaels.......

I had not stepped foot in Michaels since before Thanksgiving Day!!!

Now I was truly exercising restraint with that!!!

Bought only these for 70% off......
Scentsicles for next year at $2.39 each from $7.99!

And more sparkly pink goodies.....
Under $10 spent!

50% off at Bed, Bath and Beyond......

Love this chalkboard like rug for my kitchen .......
Marked down to $7.49!

And these again!!!

Only this one has a bark Tree look......
$10!!

and this cute pine tree.......
Another LED lighted with Timer.......
 Chair Seat Covers at $4.99 a pack......
Here's how they look.......
Will substitute different longer ribbons to tie around the legs....

And the back....
Fastened together with velcro......


I went back for 70% off and picked up a few more of those pine Trees as gifts and this....
Marked from $19.99 to $6.00!!
Also those wonderful LED lights with a Timer!!
Here is where I put them......
 On the railing on the stairs.....

.I will leave them here for Valentine's decorations........
For some of my smaller Tree ornaments .......
Storage boxes at Dollar General for $5.00 each!

And Joe bought these.....
These are a favorite in our area made by a local candy company called Gertrude Hawks!!

After each Holiday, all their candy is half price!!

And I went back to Michaels for 80% off........
Loved these white branches......
Ribbons.....
More greenery......
Who can't use white birds.....
And look at these........
They do not even look like Christmas and will be used in the Craft Room......
A total of $20.82!!!!!!

So that is my haul for this year.......

I honestly did exercise restraint compared to other years.........

I did buy a few other things that are non Christmas related that I will be sharing with you in a later post over on my Regular Blog which is where I will now return to posting. Click HERE to read!!

I hope to continue to post here on A Debbie-Dabble Christmas from time to time through out the year especially on Rudolph Day which is the 25th of each month.

I am not going to promise to post on each Monthly Rudolph Day because I do not want to commit myself to that but I will make an effort to!!

The Christmas Season is now over even though Russian Christmas has yet to be celebrated this week in our area.

I am taking my time and I am in NO hurry to take down my Christmas decorations. It took me too long to put them up so I want to enjoy them a bit longer..........

So until next time........

And I hope you will honor Christmas and keep it in your heart all year long......

A Debbie-Dabble Christmas


I am linking up to these parties:


Fluster's Creative Muster Wednesday's
 Wow Us Wednesday
 Sizzle into Summer Party
What's It Wednesday
 Ducks in a Row Wonderful Wednesdays Blog Hop 
Wake Up Wednesdays 
  Before and After Party

THURSDAY
Home and Garden Party Thursday
  Homemaking Weekend Link Up Party
Share Your Cup Thursday
 Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop 
Inspired Creations Linky Party
Grace at Home Party
 My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday
 
 FRIDAY
 Simple and Sweet Fridays
Home Sweet Home Friday
 Show and Tell Friday
Friday Favorites
   Flaunt It Fridays
  What To Do Weekends
 Anything Goes Linky Party
Anything Blue  Fridays
Friday's Five Features Party 
Fabulous Fridays 

SATURDAY
 Pink Saturday
Say G' Day Saturday 
Friday Features Linky Party
Welcome to the Weekend Blog Hop
 
SUNDAY
Bouquet of Talent Linky Party
Share It One More Time Sundays
DIY SHowcase 
Sunday Brunch Party
 Snickerdoodle Sunday

MONDAY
 Busy Monday
Mod Vintage Mix Monday
 Make It Pretty Monday
 Monday Link Party 
Blue Monday

Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and every day that you take the time to visit with me!

Hugs,
Debbie

29 comments:

  1. Well done! I did ZERO shopping after Christmas this year. I got the stomach flu and was OUT like a light. I'll check the Christmas sections when I go to the stores to see if there is anything left.

    Wait! I got a box of Hallmark cards, reguarly $14 for $3. There are 16 cards in the box, so a good deal!

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  2. How many beautiful finds! The led tree is fabulous, i love it very much. I'm sure you will use all these wonderful finds for the next Christmas.
    Kisses
    Alessandra

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  3. I'm glad your hubby hit the jackpot! It looks like you hit the shopping jackpot as well. You found so many great buys. I didn't shop at all. Sigh.

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  4. Way to go Joe.....congrats on your winnings! You found some gorgeous things at a great price Debbie! The only place I went was to HL for their 80% off sale. I bought some more of those $10 branches like I used on my short fat Christmas tree.....and some chandy ornaments. Kyleigh goes back to school tomorro but we are expecting more snow.....so I don't know if I'll be able to get down some more of my Christmas decor. all the empty totes to put it in are out in the shed so it's hard to track thru the snow to bring them in! Hugs, Penny

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  5. Hello Debbie...You and Joe are a dynamite duo.

    So glad you got lots of treasures.

    I picked up a gorgeous tablecloth today myself---50% off and it is a beauty.

    You really have the holiday spirit and that is great. You are amazing. Susan p.s. Those pierogies looked YUMMY.

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  6. P.S. Congratulations to Joe on his FABULOUS win. Oh wow. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Susan

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  7. You got some great stuff, especially that lit tree in an urn, my favorite.
    Looks like the both of you hit the jackpot, way to go.

    I was not gonna go into a store after Christmas because I would want to buy lots of stuff for next year and was resisting, until today , Roses had the best sale and I found all kinds of Christmasy ribbons and boxes and wrap.
    Happy New Year
    betsy

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  8. I love a good sale too!! Hey I would love it if you shared your stuff on my new Link Party that starts tomorrow...Thursday! Its called My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday! here is the link...You have great stuff!! Thanks for sharing!! http://www.cookinandcraftin.com/my-2-favorite-things-link-party-1/

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  9. Debbie, you found some really found some great bargains! I stayed away from the stores and did not buy anything new. I just have so many decorations that I do not need more! lol! Your dinner sounded delicious and making the soup is a fun tradition. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  10. Wow! It was so fun to see what you bought on sale! And I like that your Joe Joe does his part too! Your Joey and I have the same birthday...except I had to turn 4 years older than he did! Booo Hooo!
    Erica :)

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  11. Hi! I just found your blog at www.kathrinescorner.com on the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop. You're a gal after my own heart as I too LOVE Christmas!!! I look forward to perusing your lovely blog.
    Have a GREAT day,
    Lori @ www.becomingdrlah.com :)

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  12. Wow On your husbands winnings ! I am so sad I didn't go out to shop the after Christmas sales ! You got so many fabulous things Debbie ! My favorite is that white tree in the urn from JC Penney ! Love all your new little trees ! You will have so much fun decorating with all your new goodies next year ! Loved reading about all your Christmas traditions !

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  13. WOW! Brilliant buys, Debbie!
    I especially like the lighted trees with the bark look!
    Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you enjoyed your holiday shopping!

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  14. Boy, you found some fun goodies! I love the idea of buying up green beads and such for St. Pat's day, and red for Valentine's day, what a great idea! All of the food looks yummy, I am especially fond of the pierogies. :) Congrats on your casino win, how exciting! :)

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  15. Debbie,
    First of all, your Holiday meals look so delicious! How nice that your family was together to enjoy all those special dinners with you and Joe!

    Also, congrats on all the great shopping bargains! You found some wonderful items at fantastic prices; great job! I did not get a chance to get out to shop the post-Christmas sales, so I missed out on some bargains, I would guess, but, God willing, I will next year!

    Love all your beautiful decorations and appreciate all your hard work to get them up. Thanks for letting us enjoy your beautiful home!

    All the best to you and your family in the upcoming year!

    Sincerely,
    Pat F.
    Las Vegas, NV

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  16. Pat Frank,
    I was not able to get in touch with you any other way but i wanted to thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to leave such a sweet comment!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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  17. You are the best when it comes to decorating. So much beauty and talent. I would have a heart attack if I won at a Casino like that. If I go, I play penny slots. No doubt your hubby plays big. I think it is wonderful. That does not happen often.Enjoy.

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  18. Congrats to Joe, how amazing :) great finds here Debbie :)

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  19. Woohoo! Congrats to Joe! And how thoughtful of him to be a good tipper. I'm sure it was much appreciated.
    Great job on the bargain hunting. I always love to see deals and steals. I love the little lights in the red tubing you used on the railing. And you're right about the little white birds. I'm drooling over all that pink - know you'll do something awesome with it.
    Loved hearing about your Adventures in Holiday Cooking and your family traditions. My MIL makes a lot of the same goodies. I do like the poppy seed roll though lol, I'll even make it and Lekvar bobka.
    I'm glad you are enjoying all your decorations. I don't like to rush taking them down either.

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  20. What a haul, I mean the CASH!! You sure had a great incentive to buy all those glorious Christmas sales!!
    Ann

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  21. Thanks for sharing with my party at My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday @cookinandcraftin.com!! Hope you come back next week and share more wonderful stuff!!

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  22. Wow, wow, WOW! You got some amazing things at incredible prices :) I love the music note ribbon.

    So glad you shared this at Roses of Inspiration, sweet Deb. Hugs to you!

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  23. I loved hearing about your Christmas food traditions, and those trees from Penny's were a great find. Love them! I never think to shop there for Christmas decorations. Wish you the best in 2015!
    Laura

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  24. Looks like you did awesome in all of your scores. I love getting me a bargin after Christmas. I never knew you could buy LED Mesh. Thanks for sharing over at Snickerdoodle Sunday.

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  25. All that food was making me hungry! YOu got some fabulous steals and deals!! I haven't even stepped into a store (except a grocery store) after the holidays! I should!! Thanks for linking up!

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  26. Wow, Debbie you had a great holiday filled with your traditions, winnings and great after Christmas sales. I may have to follow you around next year. Thank you for sharing at Share It One More Time. Cathy

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  27. Debbie you always find the best sales! Thanks for joining HSH!
    Sherry

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  28. Hi Debbie
    I love all the traditions in the kitchen you have for Christmas. And, you scored big (and I'm not talking about Joe's casino win)!
    I love all your fabulous finds. Your post is a feature at Friday Favorites this week! Thanks Debbie! Happy New Year! laura

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  29. Your husband did great! I grew up with Holy Supper, and I make a modified version for our family. This year, we even made pierogi and nut roll, and they weren't bad! Thanks for sharing. Hugs, Dee :)

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