OK, I'm proud of this one!!!! For me, this is what my decorating is all about!

Actually the day I found this forum, I was looking all over the internet for ideas and was on horchow.com and came across this little tree in a sleigh:

http://www.horchow.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=cprod46110006&parentId=cat7910771&masterId=cat7910767&index=0amp;cmCat=cat000000cat7910764cat7910767cat7910771

I went ding ding ding....I have a wooden sleigh I bought at Big Lots about ten years ago for about $10 and have been using it to hold some poinsettias, which was to the point of really needing redone. I have a 4' tree that was a patio tree in an urn and the urn fell completely apart....I've got to make a sleigh tree! So here is what I have invested in my new recycled sleigh tree:

Recycled Items:

Wooden Sleigh

4' patio tree

Curly gold spiky things on the top

Plaster of Paris (had for 15 years...think that counts as recycling)

Antique gold grass looking sprays

Things bought last year for my big tree (obviously they are not going on the big tree) on sale for 75% off:

8 gold spiral ornaments @ $1.50 each - $12

4 gold cross ornaments @ $2.00 each - $8

4 glitter gold leaf sprays @ $2.00 each - $8

6 gold sequin sprays @ $1.50 each - $9

Things bought this year at WalMart full price:

2 pks of 24 burgundy ornaments @ $5 each - $10

Grand total over the past 2 years on the recycled sleigh tree - $47

Horchow tree - $220

So there's my secret..... :) A lot of people think that I just spend tons and tons of money each year on my decorations, when in all actuallity, I'm pretty much a bargain basement kinda gal!