A diamond in the rough...

Many times after either telling a colleague I'm going shopping at Michael's or showing him/her my purchase, the reaction is very similar "what are you making" or "you put that together?" I know that Michael's marketing department even dubbed it "the arts and crafts store" but there is just so much more. Please believe me when I tell you how fabulous it is. Sure, when you first walk in the doors, you may be overwhelmed with the beads and craft glue and fake flower arrangements but don't walk out the door just yet. Continuing to the back of the story and the back corner is where you can find quality home decor products for way less than you'll find in the more up-scale stores.

Since there are no fancy displays - it's going to take some imagination. If you don't feel your home decorating creative juices flowing, fear not, my friend - that's what subscribing to the up-scale catalogs and window shopping is for. [Actually, rather than subscribing to magazines just to waste all that paper peruse the on-line catalog..the displays are mostly the same and sometimes they have interactive set-ups, where you can rearrange the room you'd like! Cool, huh?]

So here is my weekend challenge to you - buy a Sunday paper, clip out the Michael's 40% off coupon and venture on. Roll-up those sleeves and dig a little deeper, explore a little further and you too, may find a great deal and scratch off someone on your Christmas list!