Tis the Season ... for Bargains!

I had to make a quick run to Wal-Mart on Saturday for a few grocery items. I haven't done much grocery shopping lately because our freezer is full and so are our cabinets! My husband and I decided that we really need to use up what we have before we get any more, regardless of how good of a bargain something is. I can't fit any more in my freezer, and it's HUGE! It's a good "problem" to have! :)

Anyway, I made a quick run for toilet paper and special bar soap that my husband's hands require in the winter. When I got there, I discovered that all Halloween merchandise (except candy) had been marked down to 90% off!

I can hear you now, "Wait a minute! I didn't think you celebrated Halloween." No, we don't. I have no time for a holiday that celebrates evil, even if not everyone celebrates it that way. However, I'm not above going through all the costumes for dress-up gifts for my kids! (And let me tell you, my kids LOVE to dress up!)

Here's what I got for my daughter (I hit the jackpot for her size):

I plan to discard most of the inserts (I might keep the pictures) since she doesn't need to know that an otherwise-princess-looking outfit was supposedly a sorceress or gothic vampiress (neither of which I would ever allow her to play). I got:

• a black and purple princess (aka the sorceress costume)


• nurse


• Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (We read the books.)


• Red Riding Hood


• rainbow princess (surprisingly modest and pretty with no alterations)


• black/gold/red princess (aka the gothic vampiress; this will need a higher neckline put in, but that's easy enough)

These were all either $1.40 or $1.90 each on clearance!

For my son I got these:

knight warrior

Zorro (because it looks a bit western - he has no idea who Zorro is)

ninja fighter

ninja accessories

Again, these ranged anywhere from $0.50 - $1.90. Not bad!

Now for the homeschool stuff I've been eyeing for months ...



I saw these castle decorations quite by accident a few months ago on my way past the Halloween section to the pharmacy. I took a look at them, but the room wraps were $10 each and the accessory packs were $4 each. I could handle $4, but I wasn't going to pay $10. So I decided to wait and see if they were still there when the Halloween merchandise was clearanced.

I really didn't expect to get them for 90% off. I would have been happy with 50 or 75% off, but I somehow forgot about Halloween clearance last week. (Maybe because I had one of my main teeth pulled?) That's okay, though, because they were still there! :)

Let me show you a closer peek:



Here is a picture of the wall wrap, 4' knight, coat of arms, axe and bookshelf. If I can't cut the rat off the bookshelf, I'll just eliminate it. Other than the rat (munching on a bone - YUCK!), nothing here looks frightening. It just looks like it came from a castle.



Here's a better picture of those accessories. This was from the fronts of the packaging. They're a LOT bigger than the picture. (Remember, the knight is 4' tall.) Yes, I got two packs. You can't argue with $0.40, and I figured I'd regret it if I didn't buy two.



Here are the doors and windows. The door is 6' tall! Yes, they do look a little bit like a dungeon (with the barred windows), but castles had that look to them, too. So I'm not the slightest bit worried that my kids will think I've created a dungeon scene in our schoolroom. They'll definitely love the castle!

Um ... did I mention that I bought three wall wraps? I wanted to be sure I had enough, and $1 is dirt cheap, so I got them all. Well, I did the math on the size when I came home. They are each 360" wide x 48" high. I could probably wallpaper my entire schoolroom with them! :)

When we're done with them in the schoolroom, I can put them up in their toy room. Who knows? We may even do a knights/princesses theme for a future Cousin Camp. We're pretty careful with things around here, so they should last for awhile.

Let's see ... I spent $4.60 to outfit an entire room as a castle. That's a great deal!!