Board Games (Vol. 2)

How to “Win” board games

Hello chaps and chappesses! Today we will go over the basics of board game etiquette. Mainly, how to win! Now there are a variety of different ways to go about competitively playing board games. Obviously for skill games, practice is the best way to become an expert. However, what if it is a new game you haven’t tried before? Or one you don’t own and only play when someone else brings it to a game night? Here are a few methods to do better with games you aren’t an expert at. J Enjoy:

Method 1:

Copycat – Pick out the best player in the room. Hint, it’s usually the person who brought the game. Watch carefully the way they play, and as best as you can, copy their moves and playing style. You may not beat them, but you have a pretty good shot at getting 2nd place, which is close enough. J

Method 2:

Stick to your guns – If playing board games has taught me anything, it’s that some strategies are better than others. But, any strategy is better than no strategy, or worse, switching strategies halfway through the game. Adjusting your strategy can be helpful, but don’t turn the whole boat around in the middle of the game. You are much better off sticking to your strategy through the game. And who knows? Your plan may pay off near the end of the game!

Method 3:

Pick the winner – In a lot of board games, by the 4^th quarter, it can be pretty clear who is in the lead and who is trailing behind. If you are trailing, and are confidant you won’t be in first, you still have the option of “road blocking” the leader, or helping someone go from 2^nd place to 1^st. If you opt for this method, be sneaky about it. If done right, you can have the fun of knowing you had a hand in the outcome, and no one will be the wiser.

Method 4:

Play for the evening – You may not get 1^st place every game, but if you consistently get 2^nd or 3^rd place each game, you may very well be seen as the best player of the night overall! Especially when playing a wide variety of games, no one will always be 1^st place, but it’s possible to be always in 2^nd place!

Remember, at the end of the night, it’s all about the fun. Keep a smile on your face, even if you were thrown into a few games you have no idea how to play. No one will remember who won and who lost, just that they had a fun night playing games with their friends.

Lastly, here are some additional tips for specific (popular) board games in the bunny’s circles:

Dominion:

Dominion is a deck-building game where you buy cards that you use over and over. In this game, there is always one strategy that prevails; the gold rush.

Gold Rush:

Turn 1: buy a silver

Turn 2: buy a silver

Turn 3- buy cards that work well together.

Turn ???: as soon as you can afford it, buy a Gold. This allows you to begin buying more expensive cards as you build your deck.

Ticket to Ride:

Ticket to Ride is a train game where your goal is to connect different cities across the board to complete “route” cards to score points. Strategies differ, but in general, go for long routes that score 10 or more points each. Then, try to find short routes in between your long routes that will be easy for you to complete.

Settlers of Catan:

Settlers of Catan is a city building game where your goal is to be the first to collect 10 points total. Each settlement is worth 1 point, and each city is worth 2. There are other ways to collect points, but the best overall strategy is to upgrade all settlements to cities. This way, you collect more resources quicker (as cities double your resources).

Any Dice Game:

10,000, Lowman, Zombie Dice, Liars Dice, Yahtzee… Most (if not all) dice games are pretty much just chance or luck. Here’s what you do. Pick an item either on your person, or a random item in the room. Claim this is your good luck charm. If you start winning, compliment yourself on your good taste for finding a good luck charm. If you begin losing, try to pawn off your “charm” onto another player. Maybe it will make them lose!

Have a charming Wednesday!

-woof-

Puppy problems - Shopping

Ack! Somewhere in the last 4 years, I grew from a puppy into a grown dog. How did this happen? How do I make it stop?? Well little big lost puppy, I have good news and bad news for you: The good news is most adult dogs aren't adult at all, just puppies pretending, so you're not alone. The bad news is, short of a fountain of youth for dogs (they have one for cats, but cats don't use it) you're stuck like the rest of us. Ah well, *blows hair out of eyes* may as well make the best of it. Today's lesson in pretending to be an adult is....*drumroll*.... grocery shopping!

Listing:

Make a list, and as best as you can, stick to it. Impulse grocery shopping can really take a toll on your budget. Your list should start by including any staples you may be out of (include food and household items). Then, make up a menu for the next week or two. Write down meal ideas, any side courses, and a few “quick” meals for nights you run out of time to cook. Then, make a list based off any ingredients you need. I typically try to make a few menu ideas based on things already in my kitchen, then go from there. Count up about what the trip may cost (see list below) and make any adjustments based on your budget. I try to blend a variety of similar meals that use the same ingredients with a few different meals. I pick 1-2 kinds of meat (chicken, beef, or pork) that way I’m not buying too much meat at the same time. Then, I create 2-4 different meals off the same kind of meat; chicken quesadilla’s, baked chicken, and chicken strips for example.

Shopping:

Ah, the dreaded shopping trip. How to make shopping more fun? Well, I bet you didn’t know you can drift shopping carts around corners. Or that shopping can be a contact sport. Or, you can make up stories about other shoppers based on what is in their cart. Carry a notebook and write down ideas for future meals. I’ve found quite a list of meal ideas for future trips just by taking notes. Be sure to run a quick estimate on what your list will cost. You can keep a running total while you are shopping. This way, you have an idea what to expect when they ring up your groceries. After doing this for about 10 years, I’ve gotten pretty decent at figuring numbers while shopping (my all-time best was 3 cents off). However, all you really need is to be in the ballpark. Here is a rough list I use for rounding figures at Winco:

All canned goods about 1$

Fruit about 2-4$ per bag

Veggies about 2$ per bag (except asparagus which is 4$)

Cheese 6-8$ for 2lb block

Meat (3-4$ per lb)

Eggs/dairy products 2$ each (this works pretty well for yogurt, milk, eggs, etc)

Butter 4$ for a package of baking butter

Frozen veggies 2$ per bag

Bread items 3$ (sometimes 4$ for specialty loaf)

Spices 4$ per jar

Obviously, this is not an all-inclusive list, but it may help to get you started. If I’m in a hurry and forget to count until I’m at the register, I have an even quicker method to count:

Cheese 8$

Meats 4$ per pound

All other food items 2$

Add 10$ at the end

This is even rougher, but generally works unless you have a lot of high priced items in your cart. Why do I go to all this trouble? First, as I mentioned, I like to have an idea of how much I’m spending, so I’m not shell shocked at the register. I also know whether or not I can get additional items that aren’t on my list. Some weeks, I need to stay under a certain amount so I don’t risk overdrawing my account. However, I mainly do it because I like numbers and math. J

WinCo Shopping Tips:

If you tend to shop at Winco, there two sections in the store very different from most stores. The first is the bulk foods section. This is perhaps my favorite part of the store for two reasons. The first is you can get exactly however much of something that you need without having to buy 3 pounds of it. Baking supplies, brown sugar, flour, noodles, candy, even trail-mix, and oatmeal! It is also usually cheaper than a brand-name bag of something. The second reason is you can try new things in small amounts, or get just enough spice to make something new!

The next section is the deli. Lots of grocery stores have a deli, but Winco’s deli prices are much lower than other stores. Fish, lunchmeat, they even pack their own cheese and raw meats. Look around for their green sale signs. You can get items for 20-40% off if it is in season. J

Last Minute Thoughts:

Lastly, be sure to pick up something small to snack on during the drive home. After all, you’ve spent close to an hour on your list, and probably another hour at the grocery store. All this adulating is hard work. You deserve a treat! As a young puppy, I would be taken to the grocery store, and left in the car (dogs aren’t allowed in stores you know). If I was a good little puppy and didn’t honk the horn too much or drift around the parking lot then my masters would bring me a treat. Now, as a grown dog, I see no reason to give up this tradition. If anything, us adults (kids really, pretending to be grown up and responsible) have it even harder than the puppies. Pick up a candy bar, or small bag of gummy bears. You’ve earned it!

New Year's Resolutions ....Eh, maybe not

Good Morning Chaps, 

I don't know about you, but every year I feel the stress of writing up a list of New Year's Resolutions. These come from all directions: media, friends, co-workers, etc. That's a lot of pressure for a simple sheepdog! Most year's I opt out of this American tradition, in favor of a single resolution: Do not make any resolutions you can't keep. Resolutions can be tricky to keep, and often only last for 2-5 weeks before fizzling out. Why is this? Why are they so hard to keep? I believe it's because we are asking ourselves start a new habit, (or end an old habit) cold turkey, for a whole year. Furthermore, people (especially humans) tend to insist on doing this themselves, with no buddy or accountability partner. After a few weeks, they miss a day. Then another and another. They end up feeling bad, and getting depressed over the whole issue. Then, they don't want to start back up again. On the whole, I find my life to be simpler by not making these resolutions. Oh sure, I set some goals along the road here and there (fix car, read bible more, etc) but these are short term goals, spread out over the entire year, not a life-changing list I make up once a year in January. If you still insist on writing up New Year's Resolutions, here are a few tips:

Gym Memberships:

Don’t buy a gym membership. There are lots of reasons for this. Statistically, about 12% of people who resolve to get a new gym card in January actually use it. Besides, memberships run for a premium in January. If you really want one, wait until late spring. Plus, it’s an extra expense. There are much better and cheaper ways to exercise. Want to learn kickboxing? Get a kangaroo. Want to run/jog more? Help a cheetah chase down its meal. Swimming lessons? Seals, Dolphins and Dewgongs are excellent teachers! Tree/Rock climbing? Koala’s and Goats! Parkour in the kitchen is also a great alternative. If you can do this and flip pancakes at the same time I'll be really impressed!

Diet for the New Year:

Arguably one of the top 3 most popular New Year’s resolutions (right next to winning a hot dog eating contest and turning the moon into a death star). The truth is, you don’t really want to start a year-long diet plan. First, it’s no fun. Cutting out cinnamon rolls, sweet buttered crescents, chocolate chip cookies, and birthday cake? What a way to ruin a perfectly good year! Second, there is a better way. What kind of shape do you want to be in? Thor is a chiseled Asgardian character, who lives on feasts and Shawarma. If you’ve been wanting to brush up on your wizarding skills like Ron and Harry, eat nothing but pumpkin pasties and chocolate frogs. Or, if you have a hobbity sort of build and are vertically challenged, there is nothing like a Hagrid diet to bulk up a little. Hagrid eats chicken, rock cakes, and tends to cry when dragons bite his leg.

Find A New Hobby:

Also titled how to set your house on fire. Everybody loves a new hobbit hobby! Unfortunately, people tend to pick difficult hobbies to start, then give up too easily. Guys will try to "pick up" a new sport, usually an expensive one (Golfing, Tennis, Podracing). They put a ton of money into all the necessary equipment, then realize around August they haven't gone out more than about 3 times, and sell all their stuff on Craigslist. Gals are guilty of this too (Sewing, Scrapbooking, Jedi Training). Pets tend to have a more realistic approach: spend more time fetching the paper than eating it, dig a hole large enough to escape from, bark at neighbors cat more, get a new painting for the doghouse. You find that usually once a pet sets his/her mind to do something, they go through with it. Also, most of these hobbies involve time, and not so much expense. There are lots of hobbies out there that don't require a mitt, club or power source to do. Before picking a hobby, ask yourself this: why haven't you picked it up before? Expense? Lack of time? Not really interested? Don't pick up a hobby just to fulfill a resolution. Think of something that interests you. Something you want to spend your time (and possibly $$) on.

Learn to cook:

Also titled how to set your friend’s house on fire. I'm actually in favor of cooking as a New Year's Resolution. Cooking is more or less a required skill once you are out on your own. Oh sure, you can live on rice-a-roni and mac and cheese, but what about soft gooey cookies? And pie? And crumble? *mouth starts watering*. Okay, you don't need to be a gourmet chief who lights candles at every meal, but a basic brush-up on cookies erm, cooking never hurts! See blog post below for a full tour of kitchen prep and setup:

http://sheepdogrants.blogspot.com/2015/11/bonus-post-cooking.html 

If all else fails, learn to make Ooblek and diet coke and mentos. *Sidenote* these are good recipes to make at a friends house. 

Get Organized:

Lastly, lots of humans like to "get organized" for the new year. Clean the house. Reduce clutter. And all those colloquial terms. Here's how most people arrive at this resolution. *Put's down "If you give a mouse a cookie" book*. First, the human household begins to throw the wrapping paper away from Christmas. Then, they continue eating cookies and Christmas leftovers until the fridge is empty. Once the kitchen is empty, the decide it needs to be cleaned as long as it's empty. So they clean it out. After a few days of living off leftovers and who hash, they make a run to the grocery store and buy everything but the kitchen sink. Then it's time to put away the Christmas Decorations. To do that they will need boxes to store them. When they see the state of their shelves, they will want to clean/organize the shelves. While they are at it, they will proceed to give the whole house a scouring. Next, they begin assessing any gifts they may have received that replace older items (kitchen utensils, cords and tech misc., clothing, etc). So they swap that out and begin a nice small pile by the kitchen door to haul to the dump (or goodwill). And the spiral continues. This isn't a bad thing, but then they botch it up by creating a New Year's Resolution about it. "Let's keep the house this clean all year!" It's a great thought, but often not entirely realistic. That's why we have Spring Cleaning, Summer Garage Sales, and fall clear out. In summary, it's great to clean/muck out, but don't resolve to make this your Friday Night tradition. Besides, the only truly clean house is one that hasn't been built yet. 

Hope you enjoyed! 

~Sheepdog~

Welcome to 2016!!! ...Erm...?

Good Morrow Everyone!

After taking a good long break over the holidays (great stretch of the paws and all that), I'm not entirely sure what topic to write on! So my devoted readers, what should my next blog post be about? I'll take any/all suggestions. :)

Happy Snow Day!

-Sheepdog-

Is It Christmas Yet? Part VI - Party Etiquette

Happy (just past) Tuesday everyone, and Merry Christmas! You're going to a party! Or invited others to your party. ;) The more I began thinking about Christmas parties, the more I began wondering... Should I bring a white elephant gift? Food? Cookies? How to dress? Furthermore, what sort of activities to expect? Should I eat before the party? Accck! Before you know it, your in the car with a half wrapped hammer, a plate of stale apple slices, a green shirt, and a coat.
....Okay, deep breath! Christmas parties are meant to be fun, not overwhelming! First, we'll deal with going to someone else's party, then tackle the host part.

Christmas Party number 1!!!!
As the Bunnies pointed out, often more than one Christmas party happens over the holidays. I have created a quick check-list to go over before leaving the house. Ideally, check this list about 1 day prior to the party.
1. Who will be there? Is this family, estranged relatives, or a work party?
2. Will they be serving dinner, hors devours, snacks?
3. Politely ask the host (or invitee) if they would like you to bring anything. They may say no, but they will appreciate the gesture.
4. Check for any expected group activity like a gift exchange or Caroling. Be thoughtful, but don't go overboard on a white elephant gift. Most of the time, this can be something laying around the house. Just don't pull a Humphry the Elephant). If Caroling is on the menu, bring a warm jacket.
5. Dress appropriately. Is this a family gathering? Black tie formal work party? In most cases, a comfortable pair of jeans and nice shirt will suffice just fine. :) You're "artfully" ripped jeans (or Tripp Pants) in the bottom drawer may not be quite up to par though.
6. Think about a small easy-to-learn game you may want to bring with you. If I think ahead, I usually bring some dice or a deck of cards. This way I can play easy quick group games if the party lags (or if there are bored kids there). Some of these games can include:
Cards:
War (2 player)
13, or Liar Liar
Poker (2-8 player, usually needs chips though)
Go Fish (2-5 player)
Dice:
10,000 (2-8 player) (my personal favorite)
Low man
Yahtzee
Zombie Dice (you actually have to buy this one, but it's great, fun and easy to learn! about 12$ at target).
**Feel free to ask about rules for any of the above, and I can write up a quick rule sheet!!

Christmas Party number 2!!!!
Okay, you've survived your trip to your Aunt's, or relatives. Uh oh! Now they are all coming to your place! What to do? Don't panic. :)
a. Is this a dinner party, or just a games party? Either one is fun and enjoyable, but make sure your guests know ahead of time so they can plan accordingly.
1. Feel free to ask each guest to bring a side (potluck style) or dessert or drink to your party. By making this a request not a demand, guests can feel free to just bring themselves, or bring along something. Even if only half your guests bring things, it can save you quite a lot of time and effort.
2. Decide on your main course, and any side dishes you may want to have out for guests. Plan around a meal that is not too messy, easy to cook and clean, and easy to make more in case extra guests arrive. Common ideas include Ham, (or main dish of meat) hot dogs and hamburgers, spaghetti, etc.
3. Clean up before hand if possible. Empty all your trash cans, wash all your dishes, have an empty dishwasher available for guests to rinse and stack their plates.*
4. Have some decorations, and maybe some calm instrumental background music for guests to enjoy.
5. Pick up plastic cups for larger groups. Have a sharpie handy for guests to label their cups. Otherwise, I often have around 10-20 glasses all over the house because people (including me) forget which glass is mine, and just grab a new one.
6. Have some game/movie/activity planned. Around the holidays I recommend white elephant, or a Christmas movie, or games, or light looking/walking.

*My guests are usually family and close friends, so I have no problem asking them to "bus" their own dishes. However, if you'd rather not worry about that, just have them place them in the sink, and move them to the dishwasher later.

Christmas Party number ...!!!!!
You never know how many parties there may be! I've stashed some of my holiday baking away to take to a party here or there, and generally try to stay caught up with household chores that way I can be ready for the un-expected. ;)

Enjoy!
-Sheepdog-

Only 2-3 posts until Christmas. :) Feel free to leave any thoughts for topic ideas!!

Is It Christmas Yet? Part V

Merry Christmas eve^16 Everybody! What with the wet Pacific weather, our holiday celebrating has moved indoors. The lights are twinkling, presents are being wrapped, and lists are being finished. There's just one thing missing. The bunnies brought me a signed petition stating they would go on strike if I didn't start making Holiday treats. :P Here's a copy of their petition:

We Want Treats!

Also titled:

Our blood sugar is getting low, and we demand holiday treats of every shape, smell and kind!

We, the undersigned bunnies of apartment 7 do hereby petition Sheepdog to allow us into the kitchen and begin holiday baking. There are insufficient snack-ables to tide us over until Christmas* and we propose at least 3 batches of holiday treats. We have enclosed a list of our preference of treats, along with a list of acceptable alternatives.

We demand at least one baked batch by midnight tonight, and a minimum of 2 batches by the weekend. If these demands are not met, or a suitable compromise not reached, we propose to go on strike for 2-5 days. A bunny strike includes but is not limited to: 1) we will no longer throw crazy dance parties, 2) we will refuse to babysit Gizmo and the mice, 3) we will no longer “fetch” the remote for Pegasus, 4) we will stop making coffee in the morning, and 5) we will stop jumping on the bed in the morning to wake you up for your morning walk.

List of preferable Treats:

Fudge

Candy Cane Cookies

Peanut Butter Balls

Russian Teacakes

List of Acceptable Treats:

Snickerdoodles

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Fudge (with walnuts)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pie

Signatures:

Blue Bunny     Blue Bunny

Gray Bunny      Gray Bunny

Brown Bunny  Brown Bunny

Hmm, well their demands seem quite *snicker* umm, *chortle* serious indeed! We shall have to get baking this evening! I know I have all the ingredients for fudge, and I believe we can make the Russian Teacakes as well. What's that? Recipes? Ah, great question! Baking treats is actually quite fun, and petition aside, I am excited! Of course my fur gets a little sticky making the fudge, but it's still fun! So straight to it! I shall list 3 recipes, Candy Cane cookies, Peanut butter balls, and Russian Teacakes. The fudge recipe I usually use is printed on the back of those jars of marshmallow cream. You can thank Otter for these. :D

Candy Cane Cookies

½ c. soft butter
½ c. shortening
1 c. powdered sugar
1 egg
½ tsp. red food coloring
1 ½ tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ c. flour
1 tsp. salt

Directions

Mix butter, shortening, sugar, egg and flavorings. Blend in flour and salt. Divide dough in half, blend food coloring into one half. Shape 1 tsp. dough from each half into a 4” rope, one rope of each color. Hold side by side and twist. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, curve top of cookie down to form candy cane. Bake at 375 for 9 min. until set and very light brown.

Peanut Bon Bons

2 cups peanut butter

½ cup butter

4 ½ cup powdered sugar (1 #)

3 cups crisp rice cereal

12 oz. chocolate chips

12 oz. butterscotch chips

Directions

In saucepan, melt peanut butter and butter. In bowl, combine powdered sugar and cereal, pour peanut butter mixture over cereal. Blend together with hands. Form into 1/2” balls and chill until firm. Melt chips. Dip half the candies in each type of melted chips. Place on wax paper lined baking sheet. Chill. Makes 100. (really!) I tend to cut the whole recipe in half, and only use 1 bag (either chocolate or butterscotch to make things easier). 

Russian Teacakes

Hmm, the recipe seems to have gone missing, I will update this when I can find it. *sheepish grin*

Well, that's all for now! Enjoy cooking! 

Is It Christmas Yet? Part IV - Christmas Activities

Good Evening All,
*Looks Around* Well, things around here are starting to to feel very Christmasy! We have the decorations up, put up our Christmas Tree, have a small pile of presents from shopping and crafting! Is it Christmas yet? No. Hmm, well it's time for all those activities that there never seems to be time for. :D This is why I wanted to start early, so the season didn't feel as rushed. We have a special guest today to list all of her favorite Christmas Activities. Give a hearty paw-clap to Scurry the Mouse!

Thank you, Sheepdog. Well, as I am normally an anti-social creature, I like to do as much of my Chirstmasing from my humble hole in the wall as possible. This year, however, my many relatives have decided that going out in the throng of other animal-kind would be fun! Most of my presents this year have been purchased. I am always in favor of creating my own presents though. Two such presents will be paintings, though I will not mention which family members they are for, since they may be reading.
I have had very few Christmases that haven't had some sort of party. Normally we like to have white elephant exchanges, which is quite amusing when you are a mouse, because elephants are always white when they see you! Why is it called a white elephant anyway, Sheepdog?

Ah, yes, harumph! The tradition began with an old white elephant with the name of Humphrey. He was a clutter collector, he collected it from anyplace he could get his trunk into. Humorously enough, most of the places he collected these items from were from car trunks. Most of it was useless but often had one redeeming feature, it might be useful to someone with hands. He was invited to the king of Siam's palace for a lavish Christmas party one year. It is a custom to present the king with a gift, unfortunately he had forgotten to bring a gift, so he went to the lot and rummaged through the trunks of the guests automobiles. Finally he retrieved a porcelain elephant and a bike horn. The king passed these gifts off to his wife, who had them stolen from her by her visiting nephew. The king and his guests were so amused by this, that they decided that it must become a tradition from that point on.

Oh... Well, thank you for that enlightening explanation. So, yes, we have gift exchanges, and have some sort of delicious dessert. I love desserts! We have things like candy cane cookies, pies...

Excuse me, Scurry, but I will be featuring a baking post sometime in the future, so no need to go into detail.

Sorry. One year we had a gingerbread house contest! Which, if you think about it, is both a Christmas craft, and dessert. I lived in mine until I ate it. When I was a young mouse I gathered with the church mice and we sang carols for the mice who could no longer poke their noses out of their holes. After we would have hot drinks to warm ourselves: hot apple cider, hot cocoa, and some even had eggnog, which is actually a cold drink. Ah, to be a young mouse again... curling up in the Christmas tree on Christmas night with my siblings and cousins, with the lights twinkling around us! Nibbling holes in the boxes to find out what the humans had gotten each other. Ice skating with the church mice and my family! I can't wait for Christmas! I must scurry off and do some of these things Hurry, hurry Sheepdog! Let's go find some crafts to do! Oh, Alvin and the Chipmunks!



Thank you Scurry! Well, there you have it! Feel free to add your own favorite Christmas Activity below. I for one, would love to visit the Zoo lights this year. Last year, I made a pilgrimage to the Grotto, a catholic church estate filled with Christmas decorations, and lit up with over 10,000 lights! Until next time!

Always,

-Sheepdog-

Is It Christmas Yet? Part III - Holiday Decorating

Holiday Decorating
I love decorating. There is no way around it. Every year, the bunnies and I end up decorating our modest apartment, and typically at least 1 other dwelling (Otter's cabin). Last night we pulled the boxes out of our storage shed and began setting things up. I like to think about decorating in 3 stages: the inside, the outside, and of course, the Christmas Tree. Here are some notes I've made on each of these:

The Inside:
Decorations can be anything really. Wrapped boxes, picture frames, pot-holders, tablecloth, Christmas blankets, you get the idea. Our first tree in college was decorated with pipe cleaner ornaments and candy canes with 1 strand of lights adorning it. We even tried to make popcorn strings but found that was much harder than it looks! I've kept an eye out for small decorations, and lights at garage sales over the years. We now have a few tins, more strands of lights, some Christmas books, and a wreath. Aside from garage sales, I like to peruse thrift stores, Goodwill, and the dollar tree. Or, try asking any relatives for Christmas decorations.
This year we tried something new, a snow scene. We used a piece of snow cloth, and added some fake trees and a few stuffed animals to create a Narnia-like snowscape. We even added a lamppost to the center! On our desk, we set out a checkered red and green cloth (Old tablecloth I think) and set up a clock, a nutcracker and some wrapped boxes. Tada! instant Nutcracker scene. Some well-placed garland from the dollar tree went up above the kitchen, along with a strand of lights and a few tins.

The Outside:
I was lucky enough one year to come across an entire box of lights at a garage sale for a quarter. Often people buy new lights each year and don't want to fix/store their old ones. Pick these up, spend some time fixing the lights and bobs your uncle! You also don't need enough lights for the martians to see  your house (unless your Calvin that is). Decorate the front porch, or a railing, and hook your lights up to the porch light with a doohickey. http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-1403-Outlet-Socket-Adapter/dp/B001F71O70/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449015735&sr=8-1&keywords=light+socket+to+plug+adapter
This way, you can turn on your porch light to light up the outside! Remember, in general you only want 4 or so sets of Christmas lights daisy-chained together before breaking out another extension cord.
*Pro-tip: Anytime I see an extension cord, either 2-prong or 3-prong at a garage sale for a couple dollars I pick it up. You can never really have too many extension cords.

The Tree:
One tradition I really like is picking up a couple of new ornaments each year to add to the tree. This way there is a nice blend of older and newer ornaments. Some folks prefer a tree to have a theme (all gold ornaments or only globes). This is fine, but for some reason I like having all sorts of ornaments on the tree. It's also easier to pick up or make new ornaments as I don't have a theme I have to match. Quilling and oragami ornaments can be really beautiful! As for lights, I typically run one strand of white lights up and down the trunk, and 2-3 strands around the tree. The trunk lights help illuminate the ornaments, and give the tree more depth. Oh! And we have an angel adorning the tip top. :)
Tree's can be expensive. If you live out in the woods, or close to tree farms, see if there is a grower nearby where you can pick out your tree directly. They are usually cheaper this way, and you get a much nicer selection. It can also be worth asking a tree lot or tree farm for a "charlie brown tree". You know the one, the sad little tree who just didn't hit his growth spurt or has some missing branches on one side. They may just drop the price on it or give it away free!
*Pro-tip: Bring a long a pocket knife and some gloves. Often times tree places have plenty of twine, but not enough knives to go around. Having your own can be a huge help!

Well, that's all for now. See you all later, and enjoy your decorating!
Woof,
Sheepdog