It snowed!
What a nice treat, I was in the middle of decorating the exterior of my house for the holidays and it started to snow. It was a wet kind of snow, so I had to stop because I was getting soaked, but when I went back outside everything looked so pretty that I went back inside to get my camera. I like the classic red and green theme for the exterior of my home and was lucky to get some real deals on some decorations.
I have worked on and off for Macy’s doing visuals since I was in college, starting at the flagship New York Store to the one in San Francisco, and most recently near my home in suburban Philadelphia where I was hired for a few weeks to help decorate the store for Christmas.
There were 3 of us and it took us 5 weeks to light, decorate, and hang all of the decorations throughout the store. At the end of the job, Macy’s had a visual sale. They do it every few years to clean out the prop rooms. I got the big garland over my front door for $5.00, wreaths for the windows were a few bucks a piece. These are not your run of the mill garlands and wreaths. They are really full and fluffy. A whole carton of twinkling, not blinking white lights for $5.00, cartons of wide shimmery wired ribbon, and a gazillion red and gold ornaments with thick wire attached to mold around garland and trees. There was tons of stuff to choose from, a good portion of it was big and oversized.
Since I worked there I knew what was going to be sold and had first pick. I brought a van and my friend Karen – we had a great time. The garlands were huge and heavily covered with fake fruit and gold ribbon, we could hardly carry them through the store, let alone try to get two of them in the back of a mini-van. When I got home, I stripped everything off and fluffed and replaced with the white twinkly lights and red ribbon – a simple classic look.
Employees usually know in advance about these sales and usually buy the bulk of what is being sold. If you know someone who works at a department store, they would have the inside track. If you don’t and would like to get some great stuff-and not just Christmas decorations you should call a local store and ask to speak to the visual manager. Tell them how excited you would be if they could e-mail or call you when they are going to have a sale. Tell them you won’t need any assistance getting it out of the store and into your car and that you will have cash ready to pay for it all.
If you can’t find one of these sales near you, here are a few tips to create some outdoor Christmas decorations on your own.
1. Beef up the skinny 9′ garlands they sell at craft stores by wiring a few together to create one thick one.
2. To get ornament balls perfectly placed on wreaths and garlands remove ornament cap. Cut a 12″ length of heavy gauge wire and bend 2″ from one end into an L shape. Thread the bent end through cap and then into the ornament. Push cap back into place. The bent end of the wire will keep the wire from coming out of the ornament. Use three different size ornaments for more interest. Twist the wires together and wrap with florist tape. The heavy gauge wire lets you mold the ornaments exactly where you want and they will stay in place.
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