Lee, the Santa is 16" high to the top of his head, 18" to the top of the cap before it tilts. They had gorgeous angels that matched him. (the purple Nutcrackers were gone already, glad I got mine right away last week.) I saw a lot of the 'bark' decor last year. Trees and deer and such, but never bought any. This little tree just got me for some reason this time tho. The cut-outs on it are bark ones, so its very rustic. Looks real good by my old wood Reindeer too! Thank you so much for the comments on the floral I made Suz. I literally just cut a hole in the pumpkin, stuck in a tall grass thing, and two daisy ones, then just tied a regular bow using wired ribbon. Took me less than 10 min. Yes Ladies, I got my frame. I needed a fairly big one and I was so thrilled all the frames were 50% off. It came to just $20 then. Except the darn cashier rang up all the other stuff and my frame ended up costing me $120 instead. Do I get 'points' for buying a bunch of garland for my two girls? It was such a good buy, ranged between $10 and $20 regular price, and all at 70% off. And their joy when I delivered it to them last night was priceless to me! Here's the 3 types I bought. I got each of us one berry garland, one with the little gold leaves, and then 3 each of the big color leaf garland. I also have another good excuse. Michaels is 8 minutes from me! So is Goodwill. Dollar Tree (and Ross) are 5 min. How the heck am I suppose to resist stopping by? Tho for someone mostly housebound, I seem to be on a roll at the moment. LOL. hugs, Karen

Hello Everyone! I'm really glad i found this thread! I have some tips as well. :O) I am a female type A 1.I saute in chicken broth my onions,cilantro,tomatoes and squash with my chicken,fish,shrimp or turkey. 2I make homemade hot sauce boil together then put in food processor.season to taste Also, you can hand cut tomatoes,peppers and onions to make a pico de gallo. season to taste 3.. turkey meatball- Make golf ball size balls. 1 15 oz tomato sauce,3 small tomatoes,1 small onion,1 green and 1 red bell pepper,1 tsp parsley,1 tsp garlic,1 tsp oregano,1tsp basil,2 packets splenda,2 egg whites and black pepper. mix all ingredients together and cook. When meat ball are ready mix sauce in with the meatballs. let simmer 5 minutes. Serve. 5. these are some ideas i have thought of or got from someone else. I use my own type A food and my own ideas. :O) 0.Hash browns 0.oatmeal muffins 0.pancakes 1/2 cup of plain oat meal,4 eggs,1 splenda,1/4 tsp vanilla. Grind oatmeal then mix all ingredients. 1.fiesta eggs 2.turkey veggie soup 3.sweet and sour meatballs 4.turkey burgers 5.pizza- 1/2 c oatmeal uncooked and ground up, 2 tsp of Italian season,3 tsp garlic,1 1/2 nsa baking powder,2-3 tsp water.Mix and patty out.sauce-1 small can of tomato sauce,1-2 tsp garlic,2 tsp balsamic vinegar.splenda to taste. toppings- turkey,tomato,onions,peppers,etc. 6.meatloaf 7.turkey tacos 8.chicken fajitas 9.chicken fried rice 10.hot chicken fingers 11.pepper chicken 12.stir fry 13.beef stew 14.chili 15.cabbage 16.pepper steak 17.pot roast and veggies 18.meat loaf 19.seafood gumbo 20.red snapper stew 21.bass 22.spicy shrimp 23.crab cakes-2 oz crab,1 egg,1/4 c. onion,1/4c. bell pepper.Mrs dash to taste,1/4 c. oatmeal. mix all ingredients and fry like pan cakes. add hot sauce. Yum! veggie stew 25.Garlic vinaigrette dressing-1/2 c. balsamic vinegar,1/2 c.nsa garlic vinegar,1 tsp garlic chopped,2 tsp thyme,1/2 tsp ground ginger,splenda to taste. 26.sweet potatoes- 2 lg sweet potatoes,vanilla flavoring,orange flavoring. Mix and bake on 350 for 20 min. 27.candies yams- 4 yams,splenda,cinnamon to taste. bake on 350 till caramelized Have lots more. But i will have to add more later. :O) Hope this helps someone. Sorry it's so "short ans sweet"

Lou - LOL! I hate any store bought cookie - even the "gourmet" ones. They are all too greasy or oily or dry as dust. Thank you everyone for your comments! My Kitchenaid makes cookies and cakes sooooo easy! I pre-measure everything and put it on paper plates and just dump each plate when the recipe tells me to. If I don't pre-measure, you can bet I will leave something out. Here are my favorite 2 recipes that everyone goes nuts (pun intended) for. Cookies: Oat-rageous Cookies 1/2 C shortening 1/2 C sugar 1/2 C brown sugar 1 egg 1 Tbsp water 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 C all purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 C quick cooking oats 1 C semisweet chocolate chips 3/4 C cranberries 1/2 C chopped walnuts 1/2 C English toffee bits In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars. Beat in egg, water and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients. *Drop by rounded Tbsp 2" apart onto ungreased baking sheets. **Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. *I use a cookie scoop and get 32-36 cookies per batch. **I prefer to bake them at 365 for 15 minutes. ***I leave out the chocolate chips. Bundt Cake: Ingredients � 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix � 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix � 1 cup sour cream � 1 cup vegetable oil � 4 eggs � 1/2 cup warm water � 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan. 3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar. * I add 1 cup of Angel Flake shredded coconut

I go in streaks on using coupons. I don't get the Sunday paper anymore so my sourse of coupons is dramatically reduced. Couldn't justify paying $2 to recoup 50 in coupons. Actually I got the paper for the ads as a convenience and hoped coupons would pay for the paper. When I got the paper for 75¢, it sometimes would pay but still not often. Now I found that it's a good idea to pull any coupon for a product I would use, whether or not I normally buy it. Not to ger caught buying something I pay more for because of a coupon but for clearance items. I had a bunch of $1 coupons for Old Spice body wash which I like. I found them on clearance for $1.04. On top of that the clearance was on a promo package that was buy1get1 and a free travel size. So for 4¢ plus sales tax I got 2 regular size bottles and a travel size. I bought 4 or 5 of them along with some deodorant that was the same deal, buy1get1 but a little more expensive. I also got some coupons for a free bottle of Tide, up to $5.29. Found it on sale for $5.29. Cost me the sales tax. Sometimes there's store coupons and you can couple a mfgr coupon with a store coupon. I also had a $1 coupon for Tidy Cats cat litter. Normally I wouldn't buy it but Target had a deal for $11.99 for 38# and if you bought 2 you'd get a $5 gift card at the register. Now there's other times I would couple a coupon with a rebate. I had a detergent coupon and a rebate that came out as a net profit, even after tax. Now, I want to make it clear that these are highlights of some of the best bargains I've gotten over the years. I do not get them all the time. That said, you do need to be organized with coupons. And you'll have a lot of them expire that way. However many stores will take them after they've expired. Rebates can be great. I like Menard's for their rebates. This past week I got the following free after rebate: 2 crank up flashlights 4-4pks of alkaline batteries a Drill screwdriver set Combination square Framing square 2 bottles of windshield wash/deicer 2 paintbrushes and there was more that I don't recall. This was a good week. It's been a while since it's been worth going there for the rebates. Granted I picked up a few other things that I needed and I used rebate checks from previous purchases to pay for the purchases. The rebates come in the form of a store credit, but that's fine with me. I shop there. If nothing else I'll still be spending money there since they're better prices than Home Depot or Lowe's. I have a cousin who really gets into coupons, store "bucks" promos and rebates. But he does wind up buying things with the coupons that he normally wouldn't buy. I usually try to watch for them for cleaners and health & beauty items. Toothpaste, dish soap, deodorant, etc are often on sale and you can couple with coupons. Around here only one store doubles coupons and it's only one day a month with a limit of 5 coupons up to $1 each. This is a great time if you have a $1 toothpaste coupon or something since it'll offset the higher price. Occasionally you can catch a sale too.