allshoppedout

Wow, congrats on your great deal! Doesn't that just make you MONTH?? And it is Exactly what your daughter wants :)

Wow, that worked out, I prefer 25 dollar ones too, to give as gifts..not that that'd happen again. Thanks Princess 7794 for the list :)

I saw this white tree and loved how it was decorated, although it could use a few more gingerbread and cupcake/candy ornaments, just had to take a picture at Kmart so I could post :) If I had a white tree I'd decorate it like this. OH GOODNESS it is huge, if a moderator wants to resize pic go ahead, sorry. https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=c2fd69c833&view=att&th=1334a6d0ad5b1c17&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=1383914356302938112-1&zw

Thanks BDF, I did see your post! I did enjoy the GARDEN Ridge experience and they had alot to choose from, it may be just deer aren't in big demand, so they aren't trying to come up with something exciting/new/rich looking. . . well they had some odd kinds....ones that are prancing whose bodies are so oddly bent that they'd need a chiropractor...and some that are only lit mid leg down, and look amputated from far away But I have to say I recommend them for the great price for RIBBON and shatterproof ornaments, specialty ornaments/twigs to insert in between branches and store was set up so nicely. We were there quite awhile. I got ribbons and some ornaments and a spiral tree (but I will be returning it) They had some cool blow up kind of decor but I get too much wind where I am at, so not option 4 me. And they had a few very nice green trees but not nearly enough ones with LED. They had 1 scary looking one, lights were purple, red, blue and white, YUCK...looked almost halloweenie... and then one white LED, too blinding...all rest incandescent. Checked home depot near me, finally got their stuff out. So high up that you can't even touch the edge of any of it. . Their deer are no better, waaaay overpriced and some not very big at all..so I will stick with the ones from Walmart, they are the best sized deer for the amount of lights and smaller price point. I am sure some people may have black friday sales, but I try to worry about presents for others on BF day, not decor items... Can't be everywhere ya know.. My big lots put out many more things a in the past week!! a nd I did find a cute twig tree there! LOVE it! Thanks everyone who gave me input. Now that I got stuff I want to decorate tomorrow but am going to TRY to hold off until week of November 6.

TERRIFIC move BB!!

Mele Kalikimaka!I saw that on guide and I DVR'D it !! Obsessed!!

About 12 yr ago I had a tree like that--- but I bought a tree too big for my living room truthfully ---had to move furniture to be able to display it right. It has alllllllll individual branches, took me about 5 hours to put it together (myself) and another 8 hours to do the lights. I too did all the light strands up and down and it looked great, plus was easy to get off/on, it was 7 1/2 feet and I used 1300 CLear lights on it. EVERYONE thought it was real, everyone loved it--but NO one believed I did it myself, and no one believed I used that many lights, but I took a picture of all the strands on the floor after I undecorated it... I did it alone for 3 years, but another child came along, new, bigger furniture and I just don't have time or room. I LOOOOOOOOOVE that tree, the best artificial tree I ever saw at my house/friends/family.... glad I did it but wish I hadn't spent the money. I tried to sell, but NO one wants to buy as it is BIG, NOT prelit, and all individual branches... But it was grand to have such a lovely tree even if only for a few years. . . But for my suggestions to the OP of this thread---and I have owned about 7 trees in the last 20 yr. and bought some I have returned... 1=MEASURE, MEASURE, MEASURE. . . Unless you don't care how much you spend/replace trees--then do as you please, but I would think of where I want the tree, FIRST choice, and then Second choice and what if I get new furniture and I'd arrange this way in 2 yr. time, will THIS tree I am looking at still fit? Make sure it could fit in a corner, that it doesn't stick out into archway/ high traffic area... I have a smaller house and really anything bigger than 42 inch base is out of the question...they just stick out too far in the room.. 2-Do I love the color of green it is, does it look like a REAL pine tree? Do the needles look real? If you are really trying to make it look lush and real, and it doesn't, no amount of expensive ornaments will make the greenery look real... If that isn't important to you, then go for budget/your priorities first. 3- Pre--lit or unlit choice??? hmmm I have had 3 prelits so far, 1 has issues, I only used it 3 years, it could be fixable, but I have tried finding the bad bulbs to no avail and so it is sitting in the attic and I want to throw it out....but we'll see. Another tree lasted 7 years before any burned out, and hubby fixed most of them/replaced them, etc... that is a smaller 4 ft tree... And the 3rd tree has been just fine for 4 years now... Unlit gives you endless choices, I love changing things up, and so its nice to have unlit, but if you have any dexterity issues, or skin issues (eczema) alot of artificial needles have really irritated my hand/wrist/forearm when decorating...So much so that blotches have lasted a few days and 1 time I went to the doctor for it. . . So I prefer to only have to touch the tree for ornaments, garland...and fine tuning/putting together. What I have done for past 2 years to one of my trees is add additional lights on my one prelit clear one... I have added 2 strands of red (took no time at all to put on) for a candy cane look and another time, added 2 strands of LED multicolor. Both looked lovely and I am undecided what I want to do this year. I do like multi alot but never find it bright enough in my opinion and so would only want multi WITH clear on the tree also.. I hope you find something to make your home beautiful. I wish I could be one of the shoppers who find a deal after holidays, but being that I now know what I know, and need to keep it 7 feet or less, and have a smaller diameter, I usually can't find one that is full and meets all the criteria I have...but then I usually have to take care of the kids on christmas break and really can't drag them out to many after xmas sales....

I am leaving at 1245, appreciate any thoughts..

anybody have an opinions? info?

I may be lucky enough to go to Garden Ridge today-- I've never been. Has anyone ever had MAJOR problems with big decorations they have purchased from this company? If there was something wrong, were you able to exchange. I will be leaving at about 11 a.m. if anyone has input, if you could let me know asap. Thanks a bunch :)

Is there a particular "cause" you know that he supports, by what he says/wears (like Recycling, being Eco-friendly, rainforest, etc? Perhaps you could buy him a t-shirt that the profits go to/support that cause? If it is something he believes in, he'll surely wear it...

I would be ok with it, I guess if you think the people are kind of "snobs" I wouldn't gift it to them...but if you know that your good buddies, or coworkers like a certain place I am sure they'd appreciate your gift. The recipient who likes to go to the spa for instance, could think of it this way "Wow I love that I got a 50 dollar massage certificate from Sue, rather than a box of candy!" (because they know you probably paid about 1/2, $25 & couldn't have afforded to give them a nice massage gift otherwise and they don't need the candy to go straight to their hips).

Sounds great! How I wish we had that tradition. Almost wish I could be adopted by another Gottadealer family that likes decorating as much as me! LOL. My husband is mostly a scrooge and thinks BF is waaay to soon to put tree up. Most of the time I put it up alone. . . but he often helps with outdoor decorations. His parents were very non-traditional people. There is nothing they do "every year" except for getting tree a few days before xmas--not that I am knocking folks who do that purposely, but I really think it has to do with procrastination..

Right, well it was just a suggestion. I am not a bag person myself, but those bags may be helpful and very convenient for someone, so just thought I'd point them out.

Wow thank you all for your helpful suggestions! Ribbon sounds very popular. Does anyone recall roughly how much ribbon they purchase? I have a 6 1/2 and a 7 ft tree...

For all of you who dislike wrapping, I thought you might want to consider these type of gift bags-- a 60 piece set from QVC. I dislike the paper type bags with rope handles for Xmas because kids/people can easily peek inside/they can get knocked over and gift comes out of tissue. http-~~-//www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.H192041.desc.60Piece-Holiday-Gift-Bag-and-Gift-Card-Set (If you click on the link it'll take u to QVC and then click on VIDEOS and you'll see how they demonstrated them) These bags, have a ribbon built in that you can "cinch" and if you want, even re-use them another year. They looked alot prettier on-air than they do just in a photo. Also, they'd take up virtually NO room to store. Maybe this will help, If I hated to wrap, I'd buy 'em.

Know why I think I enjoy wrapping so much?? Because it was something I WAS ALLOWED TO DO :) So Often I was told not to touch this or that, or I couldn't hang said ornaments because they were glass, etc... and so gifts to teachers/others/ were "safe" for me to handle... So I got good at it because it was all I was permitted to do.. LOL.

Wow, that's a shame they sent a "note" rejecting the gifts...I can honestly say I have had about 40% of the teachers we've given things to never acknowledge them. I thought maybe it was because they are not supposed to accept gifts, so they don't want evidence (a t-you note) showing that they got a gift..but then I just concluded they were rude. Depending on my budget, I don't always give expensive gifts but worth at least ten dollars, (I don't feel that is being cheap) do you? I gave a teacher a present 3 years in a row and she never sent a thank you. I did it because she helped my son a good bit--but thought her rude not to acknowledge...

I always have too much left, as someone else said, gifts are in smaller packages, so I use less I love wrapping though. I might use 2 rolls of 50-70 for one Christmas.. I dislike having to see the same design year after year--so I never buy 100 ft rolls or multiples of designs... I saw cute FROSTY, DORA, SPONGEBOB, & CHRISTMAS STORY paper at Walmart the other day, it was $3 for 70 feet. I didn't buy it though, but almost. . . I think I will wait for Walgreens, they have a sale BEFORE Black Friday, and I think it is Buy ONE get Two rolls free, because it is NEVER cheaper the whole season, they'll have it in BF ad, but it is always cheaper 1-2 weeks before BF. I think it is made by a sub-division of Hallmark or Am.Greetings, I think it's decent for the price. For a few years I wrapped the gifts my mom (GRANDMA) bought for all her grandkids because hands are bad and she dislikes it anyway... F - U - N !

IT DOES! Thank you, I might just try it this year. I've used beaded garland, tinsel garland, little bows, angels, candy canes/ornaments...My tree has looked good with various themes, but I wanted to feel "wow" when I look at it..

Hey, the ribbon that trails down from the top, do you just let it hang?Or secure it somehow?

I have seen this on tv, but no one I know has their tree this way, I have always been curious, how do you (anyone) SECURE the ribbons that flow downward? Do you pin them to the big bow--on the underside--that is at tree top? Or do you hook them randomly down? Sorry if my question sounds silly but we have a high traffic house and I wouldn't want my ribbons flying off weekly..LOL.. Thanks

Thanks for posting, they are beautiful and I see the tree they have posted decorated (as an alternate picture on site) and it is lovely. I think I'd have to wait for the following year, wouldn't want to put the 100.oo now, although they surely look like they are "worth it" thank you for sharing.

I am sure the answer is ALOT of ornaments/stuff but I wondered if any of you use a SITE to suggest the amount of lights/ornaments and SIZE of them... I wanted to make my tree look like the ones I see in the background sets of QVC for example. Well 2 years ago, I tried--bought a big multiple pack of balls in a medium size and another in a large size, but put them on tree and they just looked gawdy to me, maybe I was too close, and it'd look better from afar? But I packed them all up and sent them back... I'd love to hear suggestions from any/all who have experimented with different themes/sizes. Colors, types of garland, and details of where you bought them would be helpful to me, as well as maybe other gotta dealers. Thanks

Thanks, I went and got the buck and doe this afternoon! They were not on display in store, and I had also called another store to see if they were, so I could look before I bought, but they weren't so just bought them--They are not 60 inches, but still substantial, I mean they are 12 inches smaller, but also half price of ones I found at Target, Lowes (which I didn't like).I STILL Can't believe that the home depots near me do NOT have Xmas decorations out, everyone else does...