Rise and Shine, It's Shopping Time!

My three nieces came this past weekend to collect on their Christmas present: Rise and Shine, It's Shopping Time!


The deal was to come and spend the night at Elliott's Bed and Breakfast (movie and popcorn included), wake up early the next morning to a Personal Breakfast prepared by Chef Jim, and then head to the Mall to shop the After-Christmas Clearance Sales. They each had $25 to spend. That doesn't sound like a lot but you'd be amazed at the deals they could find when they actually had the time to shop around and compare prices. It took all day but they had a ball! For me, I needed a big glass of wine and a foot massage when it was all over!

I learned a lot from these nieces of mine. First, cheap jewelry Made in China is "out" and higher quality sterling earrings that are 70% off are "in". Fun colored tennis shoes are "in" (they already had those) and adding tie-dyed socks and colored shoelaces adds a lot of punch for not very much money-- the shoelaces were only $2.50.


My niece rolls back the tongues of her shoes so that her socks show and she can change her look from day to day. Who knew?


The spending the night part was just as fun. Remember the Cozies I made as Christmas presents??

Here I asked them to model "How to Use a Cozy"...


These corn-filled microwaveable heating bags were the Christmas hit of 2009. I have back-orders for Cozies until Spring, I think. Everybody wants one!

And, let me tell you, once you've loved a Cozy, there is no going back!


The snuggle factor of these bags have become part of the bedtime routine -- they do a great job of pre-heating the bed...

And, for some reason, the girls love to sit like gargoyles on the ends of my banisters to have their pictures taken...

And yes, they are still wearing their pants from last year's Pants Pants Revolution (you can read about that by clicking the tag on my sidebar) -- it's always a gift back to the giver when you see someone using the present you made for them, isn't it? And the more worn out and used it looks, the better.

It was a great weekend but I can see why their parents would rarely get time alone. For my brother and SIL, we gave them the gift of each other; a weekend of babysitting so they would have time to spend together doing whatever they liked. A gift certificate to a nice restaurant and a pair of hand-embroidered pillowcases (you might remember, I was stitching them at the very last minute!) rounded out the present.

The little embroidered umbrellas symbolize how they first met...It's a cute story so I'll share it...

My SIL was waiting for her friend to pick her up curbside and it was pouring down rain. My brother walked up with a big golf umbrella and stayed with her until her friend picked her up. The next time they saw each other, he asked her on a date and the rest is history. At their wedding, instead of throwing rice, everyone raised colorful umbrellas for them to run through...it was cool...

I guess now I can take down my Christmas tree...