Target 90% off Christmas

While some Target stores went 90% off Christmas yesterday, the rest seemed to drop today. Food is 70% off.

The first Target I went to (48th and O St) had the best selection. I even scored this $360 tree for $36!

Here are some pics from the stores followed by what I actually purchased and how much it cost:

LED icicle lights for $1.49!

Hobby Lobby 90% Off Christmas

Hobby Lobby just dropped to 90% off all their Christmas items! Here are some pics of the Lincoln, NE store:

Barn door = great backdrop for wreaths

It doesn't get easier than this! I had an old barn door laying around and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what to do with it. It was just too big. Cutting it in half was the perfect solution. In all honesty, in the left picture above, the barn door is already cut in half. I forgot to take a before picture so that's why you might be able to see some faint cut lines.

Halloween clearance update

Has anyone stocked up on Halloween clearance items yet? Here are the markdown as of today:

Target - 70% off decor and costumes, 50% off candy
Walmart - 50% off (although I've heard others have dropped to 75% off)
Shopko - 70% off
CVS - 50% off
Walgreens - 50% off
Michaels - 80% off
Hobby Lobby - 66% off
JoAnn Fabric - 60-75% off
Pier 1 - 75% off
Toys "R" Us - 75% off

These discounts are what the Lincoln, NE stores reported. Discounts may vary so don't shoot the messenger ;)

Here are some pics from Target that I took earlier this week:

Why you should sign up for Panera rewards...

Heck yeah! I just got an email saying I get free coffee everyday in September from Panera! They do this every so often for their rewards members. I also get coupons and other freebies throughout the year. You should all sign up by clicking here. Did I mention it's free to sign up?

Here's the email I received about my free hot or iced coffee:

Free haircut at Paul Mitchell for military, police, fire fighters, and paramedics

I think this is so cool! Paul Mitchell (the school) in Lincoln, NE is offering free haircuts September 8-12 for military members, fire fighters, police officers, and paramedics. Call 402-261-5322 to schedule an appointment. They are located at 5601 South 59th Street, Suite D.

Props to Paul Mitchell and thank you to all those who serve!

Landscaping for year-round color and hardy plant recommendations

I took a great landscaping class yesterday night - lord knows I need all the help I can get! It was offered through SCC and was called Mind the Gaps: Ensuring Year-Round Color. It was only $19 and was a little over two hours long.

The instructor had a ton of experience and did a nice job of identifying hardy plants that are good for our zone. I live in southeastern Nebraska so those of you in zone 5 should find this information helpful. Even if you live elsewhere, it's worth skimming over.

The instructor created a handy chart for us that lists which perennials, trees, shrubs, and vines are blooming in each month. Click on the image below to make it bigger. You may need to go to my Facebook or twitter pages, click on the photo, and then download it if it doesn't get large enough through the blog.

She only included plants that are easy to find and have a good track record.

I also listed the chart info below if you're having trouble viewing it...

March

Perennials: Crocus, snowdrops, iris reticulata, early daffodils, scilla

Trees: Maples, Magnolias

Shrubs: Forsythia, Pussy Willow

April

Perennials: bergenia, bloodroot,bluebells, columbine, crocus, daffodils,dwarf iris, forget-me-nots, groundcover phlox, hellebores, hyacinth,  iris reticulata,  merrybells, mukdenia, pulmanaria , prairie smoke,  speedwell, spring anemone, tulips, wild phlox

Trees: Magnolia, Peach, Crabapple, Buckeye, Pear, Redbud

Shrubs: Aronia, Azalea, Forsythia, Lilac, Quince, Viburnum

May

Perennials: allium,ajuga, baptisia,  bleeding heart,  brunnera, catmint, coral bell, cranesbill geranium, daisy,hespera, iris,lamium, pasque flower, prairie smoke, penstemon, peony,   poppies,  rose, salvia, speedwell, trillium

Trees: Buckeye, Crabapple, Dogwood, Horsechestnut

Shrubs: Azalea, Bridal Veil Spirea, Lilac, Rhododendron, Viburnum, Wigelia

Vines: Clematis

June

Perennials: Asiatic Lily, Allium, aruncus (goat's beard), bee balm, daisy, daylily, catmint, columbine, geramium, geum, knautia, larkspur, oriental lily, penstemon, rose, salvia,thalictrum, thermposis, trollius, veronica, yarrow

Trees: Lilac Trees, Catalpa

Shrubs: Hydrangea, Spirea

Vines: Honeysuckle

July

Perennials: Allium, Asiatic lily, bee balm, catmint, coneflower, coreopsis, daylily, geranium, gilardia, groundcover sedum, hosta, ligularia, phlox, rose, rudbeckia, russian sage, salvia, scabiosa, stokes aste

Shrubs: Bottlebrush Buckeye, Hydrangea, Spirea, St. John's Wort,  berries on Aronia

Vines: Honeysuckle

August

Perennials: Agastache, centranthus, coneflower, rudbekia, helenium, liatris, sunflower, salvia, catmint, scarlet gilia, tall sedum

Shrubs: caryopteris, hydrangea, berries on aronia and viburnum

Vines: Sweet Autumn Clematis

September

Perennials: Aster, Chrysanthemum

Trees: Seven Son Flower (she talked really highly of this tree!)

Shrubs: caryopteris, hydrangea

October

Perennials: Fall color on bluestar amsonia, hosta, fern, mukdenia, peony,  and bloodred geramium

Trees: Fall color on sugar maple, blackgum,  kousa dogwood, bald cypress, red maple, sourwood, sasssafrass, sweetgum, japanese maples

Shrubs: Fall Color on brandywine viburnum, winterthur viburnum, barberry,sumac, spicebush, chokeberry, virginia sweetspire, oak-leaf hydrangea, bottlebrush buckeye, clethra, ogon spirea, hydrangea paniculatas

November and December

Perennials: Some perennials persist into fall and winter. Coral Bells, hellebores, & wild ginger often look good for much of winter.  Another way to continue interest from your perennials is to not cut all of them all to the ground in the fall.  I like to leave plants that have strong stems like coneflowers and goldenrod.  They look great with a little frost or light dusting of snow.

Trees: Interesting bark on amur bird cherry, bald cypress, beech, birch, blackgum, kousa dogwood, lacebark elm, paperbark maple, seven son flower, stewartia, sycamore

Shrubs: Interesting bark on harry lauders walking stick, oakleaf hydrangea, yellow and redtwig dogwood.  Have berries: cotoneasters, holly,  firethorn, winterberry.  WitchHazel blooms in the winter.  Evergreens give you a spot of color and life.

Vines: Honeysuckle, wisteria and trumpet vines have a nice structure that should be left intact.

Seasonal

Extedend interest in the perennial garden regardless of blooms by focusing on foliage. Combine different leaf colors including: greens, blues, yellows, reds and silvers to have impact during the entire growing season along with different textures and sizes. Plant ferny (soft fluffy textures) foliage, big bold leaves, curly leaves, cut edges. There is even foliage with polkadots (pulminaria).  If carefully planned you could have a gorgoeus garden without a single bloom.


All credit goes to Shelley Stoltenberg (the instructor and garden advisor). If you want her contact info, please let me know and I'll get it to you. She's great!

I hope you found this useful. Happy landscaping!

Build your own bar with faux granite countertop

Good morning! Well about as good as it can get for a Monday ;) A lot of you have seen pictures of our basement bar, but I never got around to doing an actual tutorial. This post is mostly about how to create a faux granite countertop like what I did in my kitchen, but I wanted to include some pictures of the bar before as well.

4th of July savings at the home improvement stores

Even after buying close to 100 bags of mulch this year, we still need more (ridiculous). Thankfully Lowe's has marked their colored mulch down to 5 for $10 again. Now is a good time to watch for sales at home improvement stores. Lowe's, Menards, and Home Depot will all be offering special deals leading up to 4th of July. Lowe's is even doing a special buy of the day similar to what Home Depot does all year round.

Half priced shakes at Sonic today

Today, June 18th, you can get half priced shakes at Sonic all day! Click here to see their different shakes. Umm... yum!

Sonic

Another door turned corner shelf

Recently I posted about an old door turned into a corner shelf. I kept that one for myself, but have been on a mission to get rid of stuff! I grabbed another door out of my junk stockpile (that totally makes me sound like a hoarder doesn't it?) I did the same thing to this door, but distressed it and gave it to my mom.

50% off at Kaw Valley Greenhouses

Courtesy of their Facebook page

I love Kaw Valley and think their products are top notch. Starting today, you can get 50% off at many of their retail locations (not all so double check before heading out). The Lincoln, NE locations always get marked down this time of year because they have to pack up in time for the fireworks stands to move in. For a list of Kaw Valley locations, click here.

Their hours are:
Monday through Friday - 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturday - 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday - 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

P.S. Their potting soil is hands down the best. 

National Donut Day

Super Saver

Who doesn't love donuts?! Get them for free or at a big discount today at the following places:

-Dunkin' Donuts - Free donut with beverage purchase

-Krispy Kreme - Free donut, no purchase necessary

-Lamar's - Free donut (has to have a hole), no purchase necessary

-Russ's Market - Glazed donuts marked down 4 for $1

-Super Saver - First 200 customers recieve a free glazed donut and a coupon for 50% off a dozen donuts and rolls

Have a great weekend!

Old door turned into corner shelf

You've probably seen these all over. I can't believe how popular they are! I normally see them for over $100 so here's your chance to make your own and customize it for much, much less. I actually spent $0 on this because I used up what we had on hand. If you have to go out and buy everything, I think you should easily be able to make it for less than $50.

Lowe's Memorial Day ad

Lowe's has some good savings starting tomorrow! My favorite deal is the 5/$10 colored mulch. I don't recall seeing home improvement stores ever price it lower than that. Check out the ad here.

Lowe's Memorial Day Ad

Curb find redo... staining made easy!

Good morning! I found an interesting piece of furniture on the curb a couple weeks ago and finally got around to giving it a makeover. This project is similar to the dresser redo I did a while back.

Nail string art

I've seen these projects all over pinterest for a while now and finally got around to trying it out for myself. I spent nothing on this project because I used what I had on hand and used coupons on the items I did need. If you have to go out and purchase everything, you might spend around $15.

Planting a privacy screen with arborvitaes

Since our street is somewhat new, there aren't many trees. We had zero trees on our lot when we moved in. Last year we planted two decorative trees up front and two shade trees out back. Our lot still looks bare and we need privacy from a road on the south side of our house so we're planting an arborvitae screen.

Guess I don't have any good pics of the road, but here you can see it in the top left hand corner of this pic (taken around 4th of July). The trees will be in a line to the left.

Isn't this gorgeous? We're not planting that many and I'll never have that nice of a backyard, but one can dream, right?

Tax day deals

Hopefully your taxes are done and you can celebrate with some of these deals today! Here are the ones that caught my eye because we have these companies in Lincoln, NE:

Burger King - Buy 1 Whopper, get 1 free with this coupon

McDonald's - Participating locations offering buy 1 get 1 for a penny Big Macs and Quarter Pounders

Olive Garden - $6 off dinner for tow until April 19 with this coupon

Sonic - Half priced cheeseburgers all day, no coupon necessary

Schlotzksky's - Get a free, small "The Original" sandwich when you purchase a 32-ounce drink and a bag of chips

Free 8x10 from Walgreens

Walgreens

Through April 4th, order a free 8x10 from Walgreens with code FREE2FRAME! Pick up in store to avoid shipping costs. (The code will not work on Walgreens mobile site.)

Thanks to Chick Digs Deals for the heads up!