Target Has All Of The Things for Christmas Decor

November 11, 2021 littleshoeprincess

All of the photos here are from Target.

This time of year is when some of my most favorite things convene into a perfect storm of bliss: Christmas, decorating and Target.

Last year (also known as ‘The Year with No Rules’), I decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving because it makes me happy and last year sucked big time. Plus, I was spending so much extra time in my house, I wanted pretty things to look at 24/7.

This year, Mr. KK (sort of) put his foot down that I was to not decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Which I heard as, “You have extra time before you have to decorate, so you should buy more stuff!”

Personally, I can’t wait to start decorating because I am running out of ~~hiding spots~~ places to put my new decor purchases.

If you haven’t been to Target yet this season, prepare yourself. Their holiday offerings are on point.

The minute you walk in you will be greeted by Bullseye’s Playground (formerly known as the Dollar Spot). During the holidays, they have great items like gift bags, gift tags, little houses, greenery…all for $1, $3 and $5. I have a love/hate relationship with Bullseye’s Playground; I love how cheap and cute everything is, and I hate how fickle the inventory is. I stalk Instagram accounts that showcase holiday finds, and I am SO JEALOUS of how awesome Targets are in other areas of the country.

And now, for the good stuff. No matter what your holiday decor theme is (or even if you don’t have one!) there is something for your home at Target. I’m obsessed with little houses, red trucks and bottle brush trees. And Target does NOT disappoint.

My Favorite Target Holiday Decor Finds

Light Up Trees, $10+

These trees come in 2 sizes, and are a perfect way to light up your decor. I have a similar version of these trees that I put in a bookcase where I don’t have any lighting and it lights them up so nicely! (NOTE: I will also be purchasing these this year!)

4-Pack Bottle Brush Trees in Pink, $5

You can never have too many bottle brush trees, that’s my motto! And I love that there are a few different styles of trees! I can’t wait to add these to my collection.

Metal Truck with Tree, $10 (medium size)

I love, love, love the truck trend. In fact, I have an entire side table dedicated to red holiday trucks in our living room. And only $10 for the medium is a great price!

Metal Bus with Tree, $20 (large size)

If you get the metal truck, you have to get the metal bus to keep it company. How cute is this??

Ceramic Tree in Charcoal Gray, $5

If you have a more modern decor or a darker color palette, this little ceramic tree is perfectly understated! I would mix this with cream and gold decor items of different textures.

Pom Pom Wreath, $20

If you’re looking for an alternative to a traditional wreath, this is it! It’s so colorful it can go in almost any room, and would be especially amazing in a kid’s room or playroom!

Christmas Tree Colorful Tree Skirt, $30

If you get the colorful wreath, you need the colorful tree shirt! If you’re like me and you have more than one Christmas tree, this is a great skirt for the secondary tree, wherever it may be!

Tassel Tree in Teal, $10

Oh my goodness, I need these funky trees! They also come in red, purple and light blue. Going for glamorous, these are your trees!

Modern Wood Tree, $15 (small size)

These sleek, neutral trees will blend into any decor. They would be great on a mantel, mixed with other tree types in a cream and gold color palette.

Antique Table Top Tree in Gold, $20 (large size)

These three dimensional trees are the perfect accent, and would go beautifully with the modern wood tree above.

Ceramic Houses, Assorted prices and sizes

I mentioned my affinity for little houses – wood, metal, ceramic – and this little collection makes a cute little village. The glitter roofs add a special sparkle.

Paper Decorative House, $10

I can’t wait to add this sweet house to my paper house collection for the top of our living room built ins. Best part is they light up!

Trio of Winter Birds, $10

I have a few of these birds (the Fall version is out in my bookcase right now!) for Christmas but I love the red and pink outfits on these three. I’m sure I could fit a few more birdies into the decor…

Faux Fur Wreath, $15

Glam, glam, glam! Who doesn’t need a feather wreath in their lives??? Honestly, this could stay up year round!

Metal House Stocking Holders, $30 (4 pack)

How cute are these?? If you have a little house theme, these are the perfect addition to your mantel.

There you have it, all of my Target Christmas favorites. Stores have had limited stock, but everything is online! For your late night/early morning shopping!

Christmas, Decorating, Pandemic, shopping, Target

Today, I Busted Out of the House

November 14, 2020 littleshoeprincess

This year, I’d like to skip right over Thanksgiving and dive antlers first into Christmas. I mentioned this ~~constantly~~ casually to Mr. KK who replied, “It’s not even the middle of November.” Well, seems the Grinch came early this year at least!

It goes without saying that this year is unlike any other year we’ve experienced. I remember being on a neighborhood walk in April and a house was decked out in holiday decor, with 3 different Christmas trees in the windows. Everyone’s mantra is basically, “Because, 2020.” And I’m totally down with that.

As COVID cases continue to rise, schools move to remote learning and states threaten to shut down, I saw my opportunity for one last hurrah before the sh*t really hits the fan. I took the day off from work to run a few errands on a weekday to avoid the crowds. And, in true KK style, I made sure I was at the stores waiting for them to unlock their doors for the day.

After being the envy of the entire country all summer, this is what CT looks like now.

My agenda for the day included Target, Homegoods and TJ Maxx. I broke my Target hiatus in the summer, but I haven’t been to Homegoods or TJ Maxx since before last Christmas. I was looking forward to a day of me, wandering down empty aisles with a highly-sanitized cart.

Before I left the house this morning, Mr. KK lovingly said, ” Have a great day off today! Buy everything you want, but remember that we already don’t have any room for more Christmas stuff in the basement! Love you!”

Talk about a pep talk.

I spent the morning in my glory, wandering aisles and perfecting my anti-social behavior of avoiding all other humans (except for the cleaning aisle at Target, where they were restocking Clorox Wipes; you’d have though they were handing out winning lottery tickets). I wasn’t even there to Christmas shop – as a family we talked about not really going crazy with gifts this year (what do you get for the person who doesn’t leave the house?) – but instead to hoard bottle brush trees and wooden houses from Bullseye’s Playground. Mission accomplished!

You can’t have too many mini trees is my motto!

And, because Mr. KK has so wonderfully reminded me that we didn’t have any storage room for additional Christmas decor, I smartly purchased a nice red bin to store all of my new Christmas! Problem solved!

While it felt good to be out, between my hat, mask, glasses and Airpods, I’ve never been so decorated from the neck up. I got my fix of Christmas Inspo (and a few small gifts) and headed home. I spent the rest of my rainy day off on the couch with Mr. KK, Little Mister, Rocco and Bruno watching a movie. Which was better than any shopping trip.

Life, NaBloPoMo

Hello! Let me catch you up!

November 2, 2019 littleshoeprincess

It’s Day 1 of NaBloPoMo – and I’m back blogging after almost a year off since last year’s month-long blogfest.

I always like to start the month off with a little recap of what I’ve been doing for the last year, besides sneaking off to Target and single-handedly keeping Amazon in business.

A year in review.

December

As always, it was a busy holiday season. We decided that we would indeed introduce the Elf on a Shelf into our home (more on that guy in another post). As predicted, I thoroughly enjoyed finding new and interesting places for his shenanigans. I’m looking forward to ~~threatening my child with no presents~~ spreading that holiday magic again this year!

In true Little Mister fashion, he SLEPT IN on Christmas morning! Bright side: it gave Mr. KK and I a chance to make tea and coffee and sit in quiet for a few moments before the craziness began.

We have never been big fans of going out on New Year’s Eve; I think we’ve stayed in the last 10 years. Mr. KK will mix up some adult bevvies, I’ll cook up a tasty meal and we’ll play games and watch my all-time favorite reviews of all the people who died in the last year. Since Little Mister joined us, we’ve had the same plan, except our gourmet dinner includes pigs in a blanket and faux countdown at 9pm. But…we still have fun!

January

I jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon. Mr. KK bought me one for Christmas (unlike some women I LOVE getting kitchen stuff for Christmas! Bring on the appliances and gadgets!)

I’ve mostly made soups (split pea, chicken, tortilla), artichokes (revolutionary!) and buffalo chicken.

February

We tried swim lessons, again.

And, once again, our child took swim lessons from land:

That was about as close to the pool as he got. Each week he would sit there and watch the class. One week he dared to put his feet in the water (!) and the swim instructor pulled him in the pool. The parents around me started to cheer and clap (as they, too, watched him watch swim lessons for weeks). Little Mister, however, was NOT having it. He started to scream and cry and when she put him back on the tile he looked directly at me and yelled: “I am so ANGRY right now!” Then he stomped off to the women’s locker room, with as much dignity as possible while wearing a rubber tube around his midsection.

Bonus points for him being able to express his feelings?

March

Perhaps the biggest news of the year, was that we added to our family! Meet: Rocco!

Rocco is a shelter dog, and we rescued him when he was just 3 1/2 months old. I was home alone one Friday night, throwing back cabernet and scrolling through Petfinder (like all the cool kids) when I came across his face. I immediately texted the link to Mr. KK who distractedly responded, “He’s cute!” Which I translated into, “YOU MUST GET THIS DOG RIGHT NOW.”

Fast forward two weeks from that fateful night, and I picked up this little 7-pound fur baby. And we haven’t looked back since.

You can follow his antics on Instagram @therealroccomars

April

Milestone birthday for me.

Moving on.

We also discovered the Little Mister’s love of roller coasters! Who would’ve thought this shy child who wouldn’t participate in swim lessons would become a coaster junkie??

I think Mr. KK and I squeezed our adult-sized bodies into this rickety kiddie roller coaster 5 times that night. My back still hasn’t recovered.

May

It was a good year for beer. Lots of new, high-octane hoppy releases from some of our favorite breweries. Now that I’m up in Boston so often, it’s easy for me to pop over to one of our favorite breweries and grab whatever’s new.

This was a Quadruple IPA.

Not double.

Not triple.

QUADRUPLE.

And it was delicious. Smooth, hoppy, no bitter after taste. And not to sound pretentious, but it drank like a double IPA.

Summer

We took our usual family vacation to Maine, where Max fall in love (that’s a post in itself!) There is just something about the southern coast of Maine in the summer. Between the food and beer scene in Portland, and the beaches in Cape Elizabeth, and that laid-back summer state of mind, it must may be the most amazing place on earth.

September

If you know me at all, you know that if it involves a trip to Target, I’m down. And if it doesn’t have anything at all to do with Target, I will force fit that sh*t.

Because LM’s Grandmothers ruined Target for me, I now have to have “the toy talk” before we head to the Happiest Place on Earth. Armed with the understanding that we were only getting a backpack and a lunchbox for school, we strutted around the store show off our Toy Story stuff:

And see that yellow price sticker? That’s CLEARANCE, kids.

BOOM.

October

The Little Mister turned 5! I’m not sure how that’s possible, because it feels like just yesterday we were given the side-eye in a Virginia hotel when we stopped for the night with a 3-day old baby.

If the objective of the day was to keep a big smile on Little Mister’s face, then mission accomplished. We rented a bouncy house, and Little Mister jumped in that thing from the minute it was inflated at 8:45am until they came to take it away at 5:45pm.

I spent a little time jumping in this thing, too. And I’m embarrassed to say that I was WINDED after a minute of jumping.

And that my legs were sore the next day.

****

There you have it – the year in review.

Get ready, folks. In the next 29 days I’ll write about my latest food obsession, college before technology, getting old and being told you’re old, and Little Mister’s thoughts on where babies come from.

Happy reading!

Uncategorized

How the Grandmas ruined Target.

November 2, 2018November 2, 2018 littleshoeprincess

I’m sorry, Grandmas, but it’s true. My shopping oasis with my little buddy will never be the same.

If you’ve ever met me, read this blog or had a conversation about my favorite place on earth, you know that I LOVE Target.

My ideal morning looks like this: pulling into the Target parking lot at 7:58am – right before it opens – securing my self-designated parking spot, and watching them unlock those glorious doors to reveal a magical place that loves to take my money.

After the Little Mister (LM) was born, this tradition continued. Maternity leave was the perfect time to do my Target stroll during the week, when everyone else was at work! We had the whole store to ourselves.

Here is LM on his very first

Target run at 3 weeks old.

For three and a half years, LM and I would enjoy our mornings in Target. He’d have a snack while I sipped an iced coffee, we’d pick up new books to read, stock up on diapers and formula, and – of course – we’d buy outfits and home decor that we didn’t need.

Then one day, LM came home from his Grandma’s house with a new toy.

“Where did you get that?” I asked him.

“TARGET!” LM replied, excitement in his eyes. “Mommy, they have TOYS at Target!”

And that’s when my perfect little Target world came crumbling down.

You see, up until this very day, LM had no idea that Target sold toys. Why? BECAUSE I NEVER TOOK HIM TO THE TOY DEPARTMENT.

Free parenting advice: If you take a child to a toy department, he’s going to want a toy.

So to avoid having to have the “discussion” (read: tantrum) about why we’re not buying a toy every time we go to ‘the store with the red carts’ I just avoided the toy department completely.

And let me tell you something: it was wonderful.

A week later, LM’s other Grandmother took him to Target. And guess what? Another toy!

“I like Target,” LM told me, clutching his new toy as we drove home.

“Yeah,” I told him. “I used to like it, too.”

Thanks a LOT, Grandmas!