after christmas shopping...

every year i try to hit up the after christmas sales at stores like target, hobby lobby, michaels, etc.  

if you wait a couple of weeks, you can usually get the merchandise 75-90% off.  

last year i quickly ran into hobby lobby a couple of weeks after christmas (i don't remember the exact date because i threw away the receipt to hide my shopping from don....he was still unemployed at that time and i wasn't supposed to be spending any money, heh!)

but i think it was somewhere around the 7th or 8th of january.  

everything i bought that day was 90% off.   90% off!!!!

10 cents on the dollar.  i really felt like i was stealing (it was a little thrilling, i must say).

anyway...

these are a few of the things i bought

a paper cone, beaded garland and a mini christmas tree topper.  i had the ribbon in my stash.

 do you see these prices?  at 90% off that equals out to $1.11 for the cone and garland.  the star tree topper was $1.19 so that comes in at a whopping $0.12.  since i had the ribbon and the paint that i used to spray the cone with, this project totaled out at $1.23.  i did buy double of everything so i could make two of them so $2.46.  wow!!!

 the first thing i did was paint the cone off-white.  i knew that you would be able to see the base through the beads and i wanted it to be a little more cohesive.  if you use red, green or silver beads, i would recommend that you paint the cone the same color.  

so...

i attached the beaded garland to the cone with a hot glue gun.  you can see the little gluey strands stuck to the beads...no problem. these pull off very easily when you are done. 

 when i made the first cone, i glued the beads on in concentric rows. 

you can see that the rows are kind of on top of each other.

 when i did the second one, i snuggled the beads closer to each other so it covered the base a little better.  this is very easy to do while the hot glue is still hot.

add the topper and continue all the way up over the bottom of the topper covering the springy looking bottom of the star.  i added the ribbon trim to the very bottom of the cone.

here they both are when they are done.

either way, a very cute, super cheap christmas decoration.  these would make great hostess gifts to take to a christmas party too!!  i'd love to see what you do with your bargains.....

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