Juicyfruit, as much as I love magazines and HGTV, I think the talent on here has them all beat. LOL. We might have the best kept secret in the country with some of these folks. I subscribe to BHG and Country Living, and buy several others. This time of year is when I most look forward to magazine photos too. But its this Forum that blows me away instead.

hugs, Karen

Yes, I have noticed that they don't have anything different than last year. I get one and open it up and very disappointed this year. Usually you can get wonderful ideas. I have been getting lots of ideas here.

I've noticed the same thing and haven't bought even one. Like everyone else has said, all you have to do is get on this forum. ;o)

Ditto all of the above - I get Country Living and Southern Living monthly and nothing spectacular in either of them. Southern Living's dedicated Christmas magazine was 10.99 - no way was I going to spend that much. Like you'll have said much better ideas on here and a couple of other Christmas places I have been to. I am totally counting on you gals to keep me inspired and coming up with new ideas :).....

Lynne

I agree everyone. Good grief and they keep getting more expensive each year. Loads of tips and ideas just hanging out here at this place. Kudos to eveyone and keep the pics and ideas coming. They are MUCH appreciated.

Makes one think if those magazine gurus had a clue they'd contact members of this forum for their pics!

I've perused home decor magazines for over 50 years since I looked at my Mom's mags as a teen. I've thot for many years now that I've pretty much seen most ideas there are and they just recycle the same old ones year after year with minor changes. I often have to see the same idea more than once before I try it tho.

Just bot the December issue of CountryLiving yesterday and haven't read it yet altho I think the cover looks like it could be from the 70's colorwise.

I bought one of the BHG Christmas ideas. It was fun to look at but didn't really make me think "I need to make that!"

And the prices are just getting way too high for something mostly full of advertizing! Instead of spending $8 for a magazine, I could go to Dollar Tree and get new dishes!

Glad I've saved allot of my old Christmas mags and books--still get the pleasure of looking without the cost. (The sad part is I often don't remember having seen some of it before! Must be this "age" thing!) LOL

For you younger gals who are looking for updated colors--don't forget that you can use an old design and just switch out the colors for what you want now. Just a thought.

Luvs

I just received the Traditional Home mag and the only thing that inpressed me in there was a story of a woman with children who had to downsize and start new family traditions after divorce; great story and pics but I am at the point that if I don't get to the library to peruse magazines I do without . As all of you have said the inspiration is much better here . Thanks everyone .

It's funny how we all think the same.. I'm with you Luv's I'd rather spend the money on more pretties. I have Old Home Compainion mags and have pulled out all the Christmas issues and look for ideas I can use.
Hopefully.. the mags won't find out about us.

Luvs...you said "The sad part is I often don't remember having seen some of it before! Must be this "age" thing!" LOL
Gosh, what's sad about that? Everything is NEW again and you get more than your money's worth out of the magazines.
LOL. So what if we have Infantile Senility (we're not THAT old yet),

hugs, Karen
"The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time." --Nietzsche

They've been very meager in good decorating ideas this season, which is so disappointing! Thank goodness I save back issues, if they're good ones. I've been resorting to looking at them instead this year :~(
On the bright side, this forum makes up for the poor ones this year. I love the ideas and creativity that I've found here . . . not to mention the kindness and camaraderie.
Lynn

Karen, you're such a sweetie. No, we're NOT that old yet! LOL I love that saying about the advantage of a bad memory, I'll have to remember that--if I can! LOL

I actually think part of why parts of the old mags look "new" to me now is that my "tastes" have changed over the years, so now I may notice and like something that didn't appeal to me before.

Luvs

I love Christmas magazines and do save them from year to year. They really help get me in the mood and give me ideas of new things to try. But for what they cost, I think they should be *new*! I bought the BHG Christmas Ideas this weekend (Lowe's has 10% off magazines, at least that helps) and realized that one article was a duplicate of an article in Dec. 2007's regular BHG magazine! It caught my eye because the Christmas tree featured had a large jack-o-lantern face in it, something easy to remember. This wasn't the first time I've noticed them recycling stories.

Hi Lovesummer, welcome to the forum. I had them same experience when I used to buy Country Almanac and another Country magazine--started recognizing the pictures and when I checked the other magazine, there they were in that one too.

And for those that buy Romantic Homes, Romantic Country and some other similar ones--how many times have they done feature stories on The Cat's Meow store in Florida??? Yes, it's a fun store to see, but there must be other's to feature out there besides just that one! LOL

Luvs

There are two out of the 12 that I absolutely love - Martha Stewart and Victoria - both wonderful issues.