Las Vegas - One Thing Ticked Off My Bucket List – A Trip To Michaels

About 2 years ago now my very special “Blog Friend” Dianne in Florida sent me an amazing parcel containing lots of WONDERFUL bits and pieces from Michael’s AND a black Michaels shopper ……

I kept that shopper in a very special place ….. dreaming that one day I would actually be able to use it in “real life” on a shopping trip to a branch of Michaels, but in my heart of hearts, to be honest,  I never thought I would.

But as you know,  life has a nasty habit of biting you on the bum ….. and turning your world upside down …… but last September I decided that I had to keep Andy’s promise to Lu to go to Las Vegas for her 30th birthday, a year early, because life is now too short to wait,  on the proviso that there was a trip to Michaels and a Dollar Store on the itinerary!!!!  Let’s just say she didn’t put up a fight!

So,  on our fourth day in Vegas,  we booked a taxi, a day when the heat was just unbelievable …… just taking a few steps was exhausting and almost unbearable, like nothing we had ever experienced before …… and we thanked goodness for air con every time we entered a shop/hotel/building. ….. but I digress ……

I adored all the Industrial Chic jewellery findings (above) ….. but being “newly” sensible, just bought one glass locket!

Where do I start …….  except to say OMG!!  It could have been soooooooo easy to get carried away  ……., I got a trolley, but knew I had to be mahoooosively restrained, although Lu did helpfully suggest that if I did make too many considered purchases to fit in my suitcase,  I could always post a few parcels  back home !!!

My reasoning for buying anything was that I would only buy things I hadn't seen before and would probably not see in the UK or were silly money (too expensive for me) in the UK. They also had to be things that I could already envisage using on a project, that they were value for money if I was using them on things to sell (cards/sweetie bags etc.), and naturally, because I loved them!   BUT IT WAS SO, SO HARD, especially when comparing what you’d have to pay in UK compared to the US and where the ranges, like Smash Book were what we can only dream off at home!

It was only the beginning of August …. but Michaels already had their Halloween stuff out, aisles and aisles of it  ………… OMG …. I could have bought soooooooo much ….. but I reined in my passion and only bought two reels of spider and spider web ribbon, a pack of felt spider sticker and some skull cameos embellishments.  I can hardly look at the pictures above now for fear of being reminded of some of the other wonderful bits and pieces I left behind, things that we just don’t see here, and now have ideas for.

I must have been in the shop for over two hours (poor Lucy). I would say that I spent the longest time in the paper and embellishments/sticker aisles …..

…….. there were so many, many beautiful Jolees stickers, the stickers I cut my crafting teeth on all those years ago  …..but I had to be sensible …… and from the Christmas section I only purchased “all” the small penguin embellishments they had,  that you can just about see in the picture, working out that I could get 12 cards from each pack and that I could make the cutest cards with.

In all,  I spent about £86 ….. which was enough,  but doesn't look at lot when all laid out!!

I mainly bought embellishments ….. which included a lot of birds ….. the black metal ones in particular (above right and below left)…… were a “must have”, as were the Jolees crows in cages (above right) which were a steal for 99c (65p) a pack.

I treated myself to some Martha Stewart air dry clay and one of her moulds (the one with the small bird) after seeing them on Create and Craft for silly money and were one of the few things I purposely looked for.

My one HUGE indulgence was a large, black glittered crow from the Halloween decor range, (sorry, no picture) which now sits on my desk at work  ….. and has been much admired …… as he is very beautiful!

There were a few things I sadly had to leave behind, which I would have bought in bulk if I’d seen them in UK  ….. like these jars ….. I wanted them sooooooo much!  You all know I have a huge thing for jars …. and the jar aisles in Michaels, yes they have long aisles just for jars, ….. OMG ….. I could only bear to go down them once ….. as I knew I couldn’t buy any of them and that was just too painful!!!

And now I am home …… all my swag is put away safe in a separate "My Las Vegas box" ….