On the third day of August the shopping gods gave to me…..the Christmas Tree Shop! Yes that’s right folks, strike up the band, the Christmas Tree Shop has officially opened in Bangor, Maine! And who is thrilled about that?! Um….this girl! I somewhat accidentally (ok ok, I knew it was open) stumbled open the store on my way to Target one afternoon/early evening. I make weekly Target runs to Bangor and the Christmas Tree Shop just so happens to be on the way. Of course I stopped in to check out the newest Bangor shopping establishment. I had not intended to buy anything (the place was a mob scene) but then I stumbled upon this comb for a dollar and I had to have it:
I didn’t have any cash on me and felt foolish pulling out my debit card for a dollar so I gave myself permission to bring home a few friends as well. I still can’t believe we have one of these in Bangor now! Granted, it’s not as big as the one in Portland but it’s still pretty awesome! I’m completely addicted to the holiday decor! That’s my favorite. I did find a few other steals like a vanilla lemon candle for $4 and an 11″ x 17″ beachy style picture frame for $8. Here are my steals:
I didn’t know what I was going to do with the picture frame but did know I loved it and would figure it out. Once I got it home, it hit me like a ton of bricks: Colby’s old Ted Williams Life Magazine Cover DESPERATELY needed a new frame. It lives on top of our CD shelf:
Here’s the closeup:
I know, I know, we are WAY too old to have a CD shelf like this. I’m totally embarrassed about it. But I swear I’m going to grow up soon (probably next summer) and relocate all these guys into storage boxes in the new built-ins we will be installing during the big living room renovation of 2012. And who listens to CDs these days anyway?! So embarrassing! But back to the picture frame switcheroo. The old picture frame was a total Monet. It looked fine from far away but once you got up close it was a total mess. Check it out:
Yes, my blog-o-sphere friends that is red plaid duct tape holding together a frame. This is why men need women in their lives. So I peeled the duct tape away to reveal a completely busted frame:
Then I removed the magazine from the frame and reframed it in my new Christmas Tree Shop find. This is what picture frame backs should look like:
Before I give you the big reveal, the story gets better. As I was tossing the old piece of cardboard backing into the recycling bin, it flipped over to reveal this:
That’s a 2004 Boston Red Sox World Champions photo that Colby had duct taped to his old frame to help hold it all together. In the poetic words of Homer Simpson… “Doh”. Thank goodness the cardboard flipped over or this baby would have been gone for good! Nice save situation right there. Papelbon better watch out or they may be calling me up to replace him! So now with Teddy all framed out I put him into his rightful place:
I wasn’t a big fan of the light yellow frame with the gray magazine cover. It felt washed out. Besides, I was ready for a big shakeup and had a new picture that I could incorporate into the display. The verdict: I ran back to Christmas Tree Shop to get a turquoise frame to move Teddy into, put the Red Sox 2004 Championship photo in the yellow frame, and completely rearranged. I ended up with this:
I moved a few items from the bookcase onto this shelf and some things from this shelf to the bookcase. We played a little game of knick-knack roulette. I really like the switch up. It helped make the living room feel a little fresher. Here’s the head to toe shot…the full monty:
And a few closeups because I’m feeling a little artsy with a camera this evening:
Pssst…Anyone else out there crazily obsessed with the Christmas Tree Shop? Or almost, accidentally throw something important out that didn’t belong to you?
