Joani Plenty

With the holiday season, well…here, I’m starting to get that feeling.  You know the one; the excited butterfly feeling in your stomach that you get when you sniff nostalgic holiday smells like pine, apple-cinnamon or my fave, the smell of logs burning in a fireplace nearby.

These feelings can also cause a bit of anxiety because holiday cheer and financial fear go together for many of us.  I say that I am going to start shopping in January while everything is on sale for the following holiday season and never do.  So why do we get “jammed-up” come November?  We know when Christmas (or whatever holiday your household chooses to celebrate) comes each and every year!

So, here it is Nov. and I’m considering myself still ahead of the game (found cute no-spill bottles of blowing bubbles in a cart on clearance in K-Mart for $0.49!  On my way to being labeled as a badass mom for that stocking stuffer (that’s a good thing)!  ; )

One thing that I find each year is that I never seem to have what I thought I had stored in my decoration bins the season before so when I go to decorate, it never fails, the decoration bandit has cut out with half of my Christmas ball booty.  Hence, several trips to Target for lights and mistletoe are inevitable.

This year, my obsession is with mercury glass!!  I Can’t wait to pick up some more things and start decorating!  If you like it as much as I do…here are my top 5 FAVE spots to not only shop for mercury glass but everything for my home (especially during the holidays…amazingly beautiful):

• http://www.ballarddesigns.com
• http://www.frontgate.com
• http://www.potterybarn.com
• http://www.horchow.com
• http://www.grandinroad.com

Now, I don’t buy EVERYTHING from my favorite online spots listed above, that would be way too expensive… soooo, my little design tip of the day is: To fool the eye.  Buy a few high-end, expensive items to place strategically around the room among your favorite Target, Marshall’s, Home Goods and thrift store finds for a completely fabulous luxe layout (I just picked up the most beautiful, heavy/quality Ralph Lauren low-ball glasses with the RL Crest etched on the front from Home Goods for $3 each)!!  So head to the sites above for inspiration and check the clearance/sale links first!  You can also make much of your holiday decor yourself and it’s a lot easier than you think!  I will be posting my fave sites on home-made decor and gifts soon!

If you haven’t started either your holiday gift shopping or your holiday home item shopping…get crackalackin!  Start small if you need to (“Oh, look!  Those snowman dish towels are so stinkin cute!”  PICK THEM UP!  Don’t wait!  You don’t have to buy everything at once.  If you love it, buy it and put it away…build your holiday design glass ball by glass ball)!

Next post on ‘Helpful 4 The Holidays’ will be on Sunday 11/13/11: Favorite Holiday Tradition!  I will share with you some of my favorite holiday traditions and explain my obsession with adding new ones each year.  So please, feel free to stop back and take a few of mine with you to use in your home.  From holiday kick-off traditions to get the family in the spirit early, to warm and fuzzy Christmas day traditions that I couldn’t live without!