5 Things to Buy at After Christmas Sales

This post is copied, with permission, from Imaginative Homeschool.

I love after Christmas sales.  They can offer some of the best prices of the year on a day where I rarely have any holiday plans, and I love that I don't have to get up at 5 am to take advantage of them.  Here are some of my favorite things to get on December 26th.


1.  Holiday Decor and Gift Wrap

I buy nearly all of our holiday decor on December 26th.  Holiday items will be 50% off or MORE, so it's really the perfect time to shop for it.   Since all of this year's decor is still up, its a great time to assess what you would like to change, replace, or improve on for next year, and get all that shopped for before you pack it away in January.

But don't just think of things for next Christmas.  Consider other upcoming holidays too!  Usually packs of plain red, white, and green Christmas tissue will be on sale with the rest of the Christmas wrap, which can be used for Valentines and St. Patrick's day too!  I stock up on that stuff this time of year. Look also for sparkly wrap in gold or silver that could work for birthday wrapping paper, and if you have a little girl that loves Elsa, snatch up anything with silvery or sparkly blue snowflakes for future gift wrapping (as well as snowflake garlands and ornaments and even tinsel for Frozen party decor!)  

2. Holiday Candy
Candy tastes as good no matter what it is wrapped in, so I sometimes buy a few "after Christmas" treats...as well as some candy for New Year's parties, where  "Christmas Specific" designs are still acceptable.   Last year I found several candy items that were easy to repurpose for other upcoming holidays too.    Look for plain red and green candies (easy to repurpose for Valentines and St. Patrick's day), and bags of candy where the only holiday markings are on the outer bag.     You can also find fun cartoon character and movie themed stocking stuffer candies on sale that don't have any holiday markings--which I save for Easter baskets and birthday party favors.

CANDY SHELF LIFE
How long a candy will last depends on the type.   Below is a guide to the shelf life of various candies if unopened and stored properly.   It's organized according to the holidays items will last til if bought the day after Christmas (click here for a printable version) 


VALENTINES
Most Chocolate (2-4 months)
All of the Below...

ST PATRICKS & EASTER
M&M: Peanut, Peanut Butter, Almond (6 months)
Gum (6-9 months)
All of the Below...

SUMMER - 6 months
Caramels (9-12 months)
All of the Below...

HALLOWEEN & THANKSGIVING
M&M:  Regular Variety (1 Year)
Gummy Candy (1 year)
Jelly Beans (1-2 years)
Individually wrapped hard candy (1-2 Years)
All of the Below...

NEXT CHRISTMAS
Candy Canes (2-3 Years)
Skittles (2-3 years)
Gobstoppers (Indefinitely)
Fireballs (Indefinitely)

(NOTE:   Chocolate and M&Ms can be stored longer if refrigerated or frozen) 


3.  Gifts For Easter Baskets and Upcoming Birthdays
There are lots of stocking stuffers which are un-Christmassy enough to use as party favors or Easter basket filler.  And while toys and gifts may be a little picked over you can still find some great buys on Dec 26th sales.  Don't forget to shop online too--there's some amazing online sales this time of year.  


4.  Next Year's Holiday Outfits
It's a little risky trying to predict what size your kids will be next Christmas (especially with very small children), but things like Christmas sweaters tend to be a little more forgiving if you guess larger, and if you have a larger family buying a few extra sizes to hand down doesn't hurt.


5.  Christmas Cards
I admit I haven't sent Christmas cards for several years now, but back when I did I ALWAYS bought them a year ahead for half off or more.

What are your favorite things to buy December 26th?

Volunteer Opportunity: Visit a Nursing Home

The Quality Care nursing home in Waco is looking for the following:

1.  Kids to come trick or treat at the nursing home. 
2.  Students to come to for regular visits to their residents. 

If you're interested, contact Jerry Lamrock for more details...

jlamrock@qcwaco.com
254-752-0311

Alternative to Easter Grass

Do you hate Easter grass...with a passion?  Were you still detangling the stuff from your Vacuum come Christmastime?  Do you want a a better alternative?

Well, thankfully...you can find one.

Just search your local After St. Patricks Day sales for this....

Yep, a fuzzy green wig is GREAT for alternative Easter grass.  And it can be reused year after year!

Plus, my kids loved playing with the wigs afterwards.

BONUS POINTS FOR COOLNESS!

If you can't find one at your local store, you can also get one online.

(Yes, that's an affiliate link which earns me money if you buy through that...but seriously, those after St. Patties sales are great...try there first!)

Egg Fillers at the Mayborn Museum Giftstore.

I always have trouble finding things for boys that fill fit in Easter eggs for our Easter egg hunts (other than candy...which I prefer to not go overboard on, since there's already some in their baskets).  I was excited to find some great fillers at the museum the other day...

Rocks!

These little bags, if I remember right, cost $2 or less (or there's a larger bag for $3).  Putting one of these pretty rocks or crystals in each egg I can fill 13 eggs with this!


Mini Subs
I didn't get these, but really considered it.  They had a package of three baking soda propelled submarines for $5 (so, less than $2 per sub...perfect if you have three kids, like me).


Tiny Animals
They had a number of little plastic animals, dinosaurs, and bugs for 50 cents each.  There were larger (but still egg size) ones in their clear bins next to the wind-up toys...but I went for the super tiny ones by the register.

The museum giftshop has lots of other stuff that would be sweet in an Easter basket (even if it wouldn't fit in an egg), like the "hatchable" eggs I mentioned in a previous post.

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My opinions are my own.  I was not payed for this post.

5 Alternative Easter Egg Ideas

Here are some egg shaped items to fill an Easter basket, or add some spice to an Easter Egg Hunt.


Hatch an Egg



I saw some of these (or similar) egg hatching kits at the Mayborn Museum Giftshop recently. You can also find lots of types of these on Amazon which will "hatch" into all sorts of animals.  If you have several baskets to fill with these, you can try some of the egg sets I found on Amazon below....

• 12 Dino Eggs for $13.10
• Various Mixed Sets of 3 Animal Planet Grow Eggs for $12.99
• Mixed Set with A Baby Chick, Duck, or Rabbit, Kitten, Frog and Robin for $24.99

Dinosaur Fossil Eggs

We've done dinosaur bone excavation kits before and they are great!  I've been amazed to see my child who doesn't like to play alone for 5 minutes spend HOURS working to unearth a dinosaur bone from a kit similar to this one.  I've seen the kit above in local stores (either HEB or Walmart...can't remember), and they were much cheaper than you can get them on Amazon.  But if you're buying eggs for a bunch, these I found a 6 pack set of dinosaur eggs for under $10 which might be a better deal.

 Egg Shaped Chalk




Walmart has these locally, and though I can't remember the price, it's a lot cheaper than the ones on Amazon (pictured above) which were ridiculously expensive (they're under $5 at Walmart...maybe as low as $2, can't remember).

Egg Shaped Soap

The colorful soap eggs above is made by an Etsy crafter right here in Waco!  (She doesn't allow pick-ups, but at least you know that it will ship quick since it doesn't have far to travel). 

Egg Shaped Bath Fizzies

Powered By Toastie Studio - Etsy Tools

I haven't seen egg shaped bath fizzies locally this year, but there are some cute ones on Etsy.   My kids love watching them bubble and fizz.

Christmas Around Waco

I meant to share these pictures BEFORE Christmas but it just didn't happen (also, would have loved to get better ones, but here there are, such as they are.)  I had never seen either of these before...do they do this every year, or did I just miss this previous years?

I love the "Santa on Armadillos" at Pappa Rollo's Pizza.  

And this toy soldier painted on...well, whatever that thing was near

where HWY 6 and HWY 84 meet...was just so charming, in spite of the bleak surroundings.  I've always thought that thing looked sort of like a man.

Linking up at... 

Our World Tuesday

After Halloween Sales...

After Halloween is a great time to pick up candy for other events, costume items for presents (great for your child's dress up box), and orange/fall items that can be repurposed for Thanksgiving.  I wasn't needing any more candy (my kids have enough for a nice sugar rush, thanks), and the candy at my local Walmart was already pretty picked through yesterday anyways.  But I did find these Star Wars suckers that I'll be putting in my kids Christmas stockings.  There was also some Halloween pretzels that could work for lunchbox snacks, and some Halloween shirts for next year...all 50% off.

Did you shop the after Halloween sales?  If so, what did you find?

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I'm joining in at Two Question Thursday and Aloha Friday and Frugal Fridays!