STARSHINE CHIC decorating on a dime or even less

Winter Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:20:00 +0000

Winter has decided to visit us again this week in SoCal. Last week was Summer weather, this week Winter.

I love when it actually feels like Winter here. I'd much rather it be cold than hot.

Don't get me wrong. I like the warmer weather too. I just like it in the Summer, not the Winter. Since we only seem to get either Summer or Winter temps where I live, I want it to be at the specific time of year those temps were meant for.

Since the weather has turned colder, I decided to dress up my mantel in celebration.

I love the neutral colors.

This is the closest I'm getting to snowflakes here.

I reused my mason jars from the Anthropologie knock off snow globes I made for Christmas. I didn't glue my bottle brush trees to the lid. I just used some "sticky" stuff to keep them in place. So when I took them apart, I thought, why not just turn over the jars and put some candles in them. So I did.

This mantle cost me "nothing" as I already had everything on hand.

I've been collecting "snowflakes" for years.

Reused my "Winter" garland from last year.

The only new purchase this year are the battery operated votive candles. They came from Costco in the fall when they had their coupon for $4.00 off.

Time to turn on the candles.

I think real candles give a better ambiance. But then, you can't beat the safety of the battery operated ones. And since I've had a couple of close calls with real candles, I'm sticking with the battery operated ones.

I made this "Winter" garland last year. I have these fancy letters on my computer that I have no idea now where they came from. I printed them out, cut them out, punched some holes, strung some twine and wa la I have me a garland.

I'll probably only leave it this way for a week or so. Time to start thinking of this years Valentine mantel. Techinically, I should have had it up for a couple of weeks already. But I'm the procrastinator, remember. I just barely took down my Christmas mantel yesterday. Still need to put the boxes up in the attic though. Hopefully tonight.

But then, The Bachelor is on, and then there is the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills to watch.

I guess there is always tomorrow.

Is it just me? Or can you hear Little Orphan Annie singing as well.

Do you decorate for winter? Are you a procrastinator like me? And is it to soon to decorate for Valentine's Day? I don't procrastinate the dreaming, or planning part. Just the execution part.

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Winter?

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:09:00 +0000

The Calendar says it is January.

Last time I checked, January was smack dab in the middle of.....

I should be saying.....

And seeing.....

Not angels silly. Snowflakes.

But wait......

I live in southern California. We don't get snowflakes here. Well a couple of times we did.

But not this week. As Mother Nature has her calendar messed up, or at least her hemispheres.

As she is making the weather here seem more like....

As in 88 degrees.

The warm temps are making me long for the......

Or a.......

Don't get me wrong. I love Summer. I just don't like it in the middle of Winter.

Even if.....

Is a snowflake too much to ask for this time of year?

A look back at my China Hutch

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:05:00 +0000

Did you enjoy my year of mantels from yesterday? Well today I'll share my china hutch for the past year.

We will start off with my winter hutch.

I just started decorating strictly for winter in the past couple of years. It's a great transition from Christmas when it is still too early to decorate for Valentine's Day.

Speaking of Valentine's Day....

Here is my "Love & Cherubs" hutch.

In March you have to decorate for St Patrick's Day. Especially if you have Irish blood in your veins.

I'm feeling a wee bit Irish.

Then April rolled around and we all know that Easter is coming. But it came late in the month this year. Which gave me plenty of time to get ready.

Welcome to my Easter parade.

For the month of May and June my hutch was more neutral. With birdhouses and birds.

I called this one "The Birds". Luckily these birds don't attack like in that Hitchcock film from the 60's. That one still scares me.

In the middle of June I decided to get patriotic.

My "Red, White and Blue" hutch.

Seems by the time I decorated for Summer, it is more than half over. That is why I left it up for all of August and all of September.

School starts here in August, so I couldn't decide if I should decorate for "School or Summer". Looks like Summer won. But then, thinking of school gives me a stomach ache. So it wasn't a hard decision.

Next came October and Halloween.

And my "Trick or Treat" hutch. I usually start decorating for Halloween in September. But I didn't start until a week or so before Halloween. I really need to stop procrastinating.

Next came November and Thanksgiving. Each year I keep thinking that I'll go straight from Halloween decorating straight to Christmas. But I just love, love, love Thanksgiving.

"Be Thankful I still decorate for Thanksgiving".

And finally we have reached December.

I was so original in naming this hutch. I called it.......Are you ready?.........Are you sure?....

My "Christmas hutch". Aren't you amazed I can think up such fabulous titles?

I don't know what is up with me. I can't seem to get out of my funk. I thought for sure by Christmas I would get into the Christmas spirit. But no!

I did finally get a Christmas tree up. If you can call it that.

I just ran out of time to decorate it.

My family thought it was pretty funny.

The best part is that I don't have to take down a tree this year. More time to shop.

Linking to:

A Year of Mantels

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:10:00 +0000

Dear 2011,

Where in the heck did you go? You went by so quickly. I hardly even knew you were here.

But I know you were here for 12 months. I have the pictures to prove it.

Well, I can prove 11 of the 12 months from my mantel.

Exhibit 1: January

I actually had 2 different mantels in January. First was my New Years Mantel.

And then I did My Winter mantel. This is as close to winter as we get in SoCal. Brrrr! I can feel the cold.

Exhibit 2: February

My mantel full of LOVE. This was the month I was feeling the most "crafty". I had BHG.com contact me about showing my mantel on their website. But the procrastinator in me never responded to their email. So you aint gonna see my mantel there.

When I am ever going to learn not to procrastinate? Maybe in a few years. I have time.

Exhibit 3: March

It's good to be green aka: St Paddy's day mantel. At least I'm pretty sure it was since there is a lot of green.

Exhibit 4: April

Easter mantel. Easter came late in the month this year. I actually had a couple of different versions of this mantel. I had lots of time to keep tweaking it. This was my first attempt at growing wheat grass. It won't be my last.

And yes, there is still a lot of green on this mantel. But the rabbits and the word "Easter" kind of gave it away that it was indeed my Easter mantel and not St Paddy's day mantel.

Exhibit 5: May

My late Spring mantel. I only had this way for a couple of weeks. Since I decided to decorate for Memorial Day.

Hence....

Exhibit 6: Late May, Early June

Memorial Day mantel. The flag in the box belongs to my hubby. It was the flag that was presented to his mom at his dad's funeral. His dad is buried in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

Exhibit 7: June through middle of July

Old Glory. My 4th of July mantel. I only had to tweak it slightly from the Memorial Day mantel.

Exhibit 8: The end of July, August & September

Ode to Summer mantel. I was pretty "crafty" with this mantel as well. Love the "Summer" banner that I made with a road map. My rusty mermaid usually sits out by the pool. But she had to be on my Summer mantel.

Exhibit 9: Late September through October

Spooky Halloween Mantel! One of my most favorite holidays. And probably the one I decorated for most this year. I was really in a "Spooky" mood this year.

Exhibit 10:

"Give Thanks" Thanksgiving mantel. Yes, I decorate for Thanksgiving. I usually host Thanksgiving at my house.

And finally Exhibit 11: December

Bottle Brush Christmas mantel. I really wasn't feeling Christmas this year. At least you can't tell from my mantel. I really like how it turned out. And the fake snow globes were fun to make as well. I just didn't get any really great photos of the mantel. I'll have to try & take some more before I take it down this weekend.

So take that, 2011. I just proved you were here for 12 months. If only I had done a "fall" mantel in September. Then I would have had all 12 months. But I loved my "Summer" mantel so much, I couldn't bear to take it down. Plus, September is usually one of the hottest months of the year. So I wasn't feeling the "fall". Only "summer".

I just wish you had taken your time this year. Not be in such a rush. I wanted to enjoy you a little longer.

So now that 2012 is almost here. Can you please tell 2012 to slow down. She needs to stop and smell the roses. Plus, then I won't get old so fast. You know how we woman hate getting old.

Plus it is time to start the cycle all over and put up a "winter" mantel again. Hopefully I'll get some motivation to do it this weekend. But knowing me and my lack of motivation right now. I'll probably just go shopping instead. Or maybe I'll stop and smell the roses and try to turn back time.

P.S. Come back tomorrow & I'll share a years worth of my china hutch. That is, if I don't run out of time.

Linking to:

Merry Christmas Everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:50:00 +0000

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

And in case you forgot the reason for the season.

Enjoy a few photos of my nativity.

And normally I would give credit for the freebies I find. But since it is now 2am on Christmas morning, I am just too dang tired to do so right now. I may come back tomorrow & give proper credit for the above Subway art.

I hope you can take a little time today to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

My Christmas Glitter House Village

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:00:00 +0000

It is now officially Christmas Eve Day!

It is 1:25am in SoCal. I just returned from shopping at Walmart. Still lots of people. What kind of person goes Christmas shopping at 1am? ME, that's who. Still better than it would have been earlier today or tomorrow.

At least I am officially done. I now need to start wrapping. But I think I'll try and get a few hours of sleep first.

I did finally get photos of my Christmas glitter house village.

I purchased all my houses a couple of years ago on clearance from Grandin Road. They usually have great prices when clearing out their seasonal stuff.

I think I only paid about $5.00 for each house. They were originally like $20-25 a piece.

I just got the white picket fence from Kohl's online on clearance for $2.00 after my discount. I did most of my Christmas shopping this year online. Got free shipping from every store. And the best part about shopping online. You can do it in your Jammies. And even in the middle of the night (if you are so inclined to stay up late like me).

I added a bunch of bottle brush trees that I got on sale at Michael's the other day.

I added a bunch of angel hair I found at the thrift store. I love this stuff. Reminds me of when I was a child. It does say to be careful as it is spun glass.

I found this vintage angel a couple of weeks ago at the thrift store. She was in a box of vintage ornaments that I picked up for 75 cents. For the whole box. Most of the ornaments were trashed, but I found a few treasures. Like this angel. Isn't she so sweet?

Look, a cloche within a cloche.

This was actually an ornament I found a couple of years ago. I am a sucker for anything that looks vintage. I just don't like paying vintage prices. That is why I usually by vintage reproductions. Or vintage style.

Every village needs a church.

I added a couple of vintage wooden soldiers to guard the church entrance. They were found in the 75 cent box of ornaments from the thrift store.

And we must have a little red schoolhouse. The bottle brush tree on the left is vintage. I found it last year in Phoenix at an antique store. Got it for a dollar.

The "Merry Christmas" sign on the cloche is an ornament from Target (this year).

The last house in my village.

A vintage sled ornament (from my 75 cent box of ornaments)

And finally another group of bottle brush trees under a cloche. These trees were clearance items from Grandin Road a couple of years ago. I love the green color of these trees. I wish I had purchased another set. You can never have too many bottle brush trees.

A final look at my village. There are holes in the bottom of each house. I sometimes place a battery operated tea light candle in each one to light them up. But this year I was too lazy.

I finally got up a few strands of lights outside. I had found 3 sets of vintage C9 colored lights at the thrift store. All of them worked when I plugged them in while inside the house. I put up 2 of the 3 sets last night (all by myself). I just couldn't reach the peak on the garage. So I asked hubby to put up the last set today while I was at work. But tonight when I turned them on, the set hubby put up won't light up. Boo hoo. So the lights didn't turn out so well.

But you should see my Christmas tree!

That isn't my Christmas tree. Those are the trees from my Christmas village.

Here is my Christmas tree.

OK, you caught me in a lie. This is last years tree.

You will just have to wait for this years version . I still haven't put one up. And tomorrow is Christmas. I'm still debating on if it is worth the effort at this point. Probably not. This will be the first year in 53 years that I haven't had a tree. (I'm trying to guilt myself into putting up a tree).

The good angel (put the Christmas tree up) vs. the bad angel (too much effort) is waging war in my head. I'll let you know who wins.

Until then, Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

Linking to:

Christmas Joy

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:42:00 +0000

Joy to the World, Christmas is almost here. Still not ready.

Wow, the procrastinator in me is really waiting until the last minute this year. It's never been this bad.

I did decorate this shelf in my kitchen. Trying to bring myself a little Christmas JOY!

I found the wooden "O" at the thrift store last week. So I decided to spell out "JOY".

I made the "Y" from a broken branch off my willow tree. I was going to use a large cast iron hook that I have to make the "J". But because I am a closet hoarder, I had no idea where to find it. So I made a "J" from some pipe cleaner I found at Dollar Tree. What ever works.

I found lots of vintage Christmas prints from Google and Pinterest.

Printed them out onto card stock. Cut them out.

Pinned them to twine using mini clothes pins from Walmart. I had purchased some red bakers twine, which would have been perfect to use instead of the regular twine. But I have no idea where I put the stuff. My life story.

On top of the shelf I placed my new stash of Santa mugs and a couple of vintage eggnog mugs.

I found all these Santa mugs at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago. I got the large mug for $2.00 and the lady threw in the six smaller ones for FREE. I love free.

The vintage eggnog ones I found last year in Phoenix at a couple of different antique stores. The crystal glasses are thrift store finds as well. I just poured in some Epsom salt and placed a small bottle brush tree in each one.

This little shelf brings a smile to my face. And for some reason, I feel like singing "Joy to the World".

Luckily I still have tonight, tomorrow & Saturday to get my Christmas tree up. Who wants to bet it will be midnight Christmas Eve before it gets done?

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More Christmas Deer

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:50:00 +0000

The countdown to Christmas continues. Only 5 more days! Are you ready?

I'M NOT!!!!

Still no tree, still no lights. And at this point, not sure if I will even bother. I've really been a Christmas procrastinator this year.

But as I said, my house is decorated inside (except for the tree part).

I seem to be obsessed with deer and bottle brush trees this year. Here is another little vignette.

Placed cinnamon sticks in my ironstone pitcher. Made a snow scene in my apothecary jar. Added a snowflake ornie to my seltzer bottle and added a glittery star. Oh, and a glittery "JOY".

I normally fill my apothecary jar with jingle bells. But I've seen so many cute little snow scenes, that I decided to make some in all my apothecary jars this year. Add some fake snow, some bottle brush trees and a deer. Instant wintery snow scene. And the best part is that I can leave it this way all winter long.

I added some of my "new to me" eBay vintage deer to my cloche. Don't they have the most gorgeous eyes?

Don't you just love this print? I got it from Very Merry Vintage Style. I knew when I first spied it that I wanted to base my Christmas decorating around deer.

Hopefully I will share with you a couple of more vignettes before Christmas. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifI still have my nativity and my cardboard glitter house village to share. I just need to take photos. And make some final adjustments.

I need about another 30 days to get ready for Christmas. Yikes!

Linking to:

Christmas Hutch

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:55:00 +0000

Encore edition for Funky Junk's Christmas House Tour.

Less than 2 weeks till Christmas. Are you ready?

I am not.

Still no tree, still no lights. Still no Christmas spirit.

What's a girl to do?

Hubby said "You need to decorate". So I did.

Still no tree, still no lights, still no Christmas spirit.

At least my family room looks ready. Here is how I decorated my china hutch this year.

The vintage deer family came from eBay. There are actually six in the set. I just split them up in my decorating. The advent calendar box was one of my recent Tai Pan Trading purchases. However, I never did put any candy, treats or anything in the little boxes. It's a good thing I don't have little kids in my household. Or they would be feeling mighty cheated.

Here is how the entire hutch looks. Very traditional in color. And with a vintage feel.

Here is another set of vintage deer I won from eBay. This was a different set from the one I already showed you. I had forgotten that I put last minute snipe bids on 2 different sets. I won both.

The largest deer had a leg that came bent. That made it hard to balance the deer on 3 legs. But hubby fixed the mangled let for me. Now it is perfect.

The red glass bird votive holder was a "freebie" item from Tai Pan Trading on Black Friday.

The pedestal dish was a thrift store find a few years ago. The silver was in terrible shape, so I spray painted it black.

I love the vintage feel of this years hutch. The flash card garland is from October Afternoon paper products line. Love all their paper collections.

Flash cards, twine and clothespins make for an easy peasy garland.

I love collecting glitter or putz style houses. This one is actually an ornament from Walmart this year. The small birdy is an ornament as well. It came from Target a few years ago. I have 2 of them, but can only find one right now.

These Christmas/Winter theme tags came from Tai Pan Trading, this year. The felt snowflakes on the plates behind are ornaments from Target. They are a new purchase this year as well.

Last year at this time my family was on vacation in Phoenix. I was obsessed with finding vintage deer after spying these on Very Merry Vintage Style blog. Luckily, I found a salt & pepper deer set. So I was happy (until this year when I wanted more vintage deer). I put each deer under glass this year. My little glass cloches are a thrift store find. So are my ironstone plates.

This cardboard schoolhouse was an ornament I found at Mervyn's, many years ago. It's missing the ball that should be on the very top of the steeple. I need to make something to replace it.

I found a similar larger version of this school at Tai Pan Trading last month. You might have seen it on this years Christmas mantel.

Here is the other half of my S&P deer.

Here I have a cloche under a cloche. I picked up the vintage style cloche with the choir angel at an antique store in Riverside a couple of years ago. It was in a booth that had everything 40% off. I love those kind of deals. I placed it on a small thrift store urn & placed everything under another cloche that I made.

It's hard enough to take a photo of something in the cloche. But even harder when there is two.

I have a thing for bottle brush trees this year. Luckily I already had a bunch. I placed a few in a couple of my silver baby cups I collect. I placed a couple of small red cardinal ornaments from Target in front.

Another glitter house ornament that came from Mervyn's. The tin plates in the background came from Restoration Hardware many a moon ago. I'm pretty sure I got them on clearance. As I know I could never afford full price from that place.

And now we have reached the bottom layer.

I found this small vignette at a thrift store. I did add the snowman and a couple of more bottle brush trees. Placed it all under a cheese dome cloche.

I have lots of cloches and apothecary jars. This one is actually the glass cover to a light. You can make cloches out of a lot of different items.

Love this snowman ornament. It came from Walmart (this year). It looks so vintage.

While blog hopping I stumbled across some snow scenes in apothecary jars over at A Bit of Sunshine. I was instantly smitten. So I had to make some of my own.

She used Epsom salt for her snow. I didn't have any on hand when making mine. I just used the fake snow stuff I already had.

The Santa ornament was a thrift store find for 50 cents.

I found this vintage wooden ornament and the one in the next photo at my local thrift store a couple of months ago. Paid $1.00 for both. I just love these vintage wood ornaments.

The wooden gazebo is missing it's figurine. I have a stash of vintage wood ornaments up in the attic. I may try to find them to see if I have something that will fit.

Until then, I placed a deer lying in front of it.

I found this Santa at an antique store in Phoenix last year for a buck.

Crappy pic. But I placed a small wreath made out of vintage jingle bells from the thrift store under another cheese dome cloche. Added some bottle brush trees in the center along with another small deer.

I just found this mini bottle brush wreath ornament at the thrift store this weekend. I got a box full of vintage ornaments for 75 cents. Most were junk, but I did find a few that were worth having. Actually the ornaments were "free" to me. I had my punch card all filled, so I got $5.00 worth of stuff for free from the thrift store.

One final look at my hutch. Oh, I did forget to mention the mercury glass candle holders. The star shaped one was a new Tai Pan Trading purchase. The larger two in the back came from Big Lots a couple of years ago. And the two smaller ones came from Target awhile back. They have snowflakes etched into them.

And I forgot to mention the key hanging from the middle apothecary jar. It is to represent Santa's key to our house. We do have a chimney, but when I was growing up, my house did not. So we were told that Santa has a magical key to get inside. So the key reminds me of my childhood.

I still have more of my family room to share with you this week. So stay tuned. And hopefully I will get my tree up before Christmas. Anyone want to help?

Linking to:

Bottle Brush Christmas Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:15:00 +0000

Enjoy this encore presentation as part of Funky Junk's Christmas house tour.

It's December already? Where did the year go? I'm not ready for Christmas. And for some odd reason, I'm not in the Christmas mood.

I thought decorating would help. But NADA. NOTHING. I still feel all BAH HUMBUG.

At least my mantel is decorated.

I'm calling it my "Bottle Brush Christmas Mantel" as it is sporting lots of bottle brush Christmas trees. Including these knock off waterless snow globes that are the rage this Christmas.

I also decided to go with traditional Christmas colors this year. But I still wanted a vintage feel.

This putz style schoolhouse was a new purchase from Tai Pan Trading on Black Friday. I used my 25% off coupon on it. The mini white feather (at least that is what I am calling it) tree is a vintage find from an antique store in downtown Riverside a couple of years ago.

I have a smaller version of this schoolhouse that is an ornament that came from Mervyn's many a moon ago. I will show you later in the week when I share my china hutch.

And speaking of china hutches, hubby bought me another one for Christmas from the Habitat ReStore. So now I will have two. I am so excited. Somewhere else to display pretty dishes and holiday stuff. I just need to move furniture around to make room for it. And it needs to be painted. But I may just wait until after Christmas to paint. I'm itching to decorate it.

Don't you just love this tree? I actually found 2 of them. And they were quite inexpensive since they were in a booth that had everything 40% off.

I added more bottle brush trees.

The tall red one in the back was a new purchase from Tai Pan Trading. The white tree came from either Marshall's, TJ Maxx or Home Goods. The green tree came in a package of 21 trees that either came from Big Lots or Michaels (I purchased sets from both stores). You can't have too many bottle brush trees.

The bottle brush wreath hanging from the mirror was a thrift store find a few years back.

The "Merry Christmas" came from Walmart last year or the year before. At least I think it came from Walmart.

Here is my version of the knock off waterless snow globes. You can find lots of tutorials on the web or Pinterest. I just spray painted the lids. I stuck the trees to the bottom using some "Sticky Tack". I didn't want it to be permanent and the sticky tack is holding just dandy.

I then added some fake snow (that I already had on hand), screwed on lid. And called it done. And the best part is that I had pretty much everything on hand. I just had to pick up a few bottles at the thrift store for 75 cents a piece.

Since I didn't have room for candles on my mantel, I added these snowflake lights. I think I've had these lights for at least 15 years or more. And they still work (knocking on wood). And I've only broken one of the snowflakes.

And what did I do with the light that no longer has a snowflake cover?

I placed it in this putz style cardboard house. See the light coming through the window? I picked up this house and 5 others from Grandin Road two years ago. I got them on clearance for something like $5.00 each. A steal! Grandin Road can be affordable when they have a sale or clearance an item out. I'll show you the other houses later in the week. I still need to take photos.

My original mantel plan was to have all the putz style houses on the mantel. But most of them were too big. So they were banished to the sofa table instead. Only this one made the cut.

Besides, I needed room for my forest of bottle brush trees.

Did you notice the other mini feather tree on the left?

And that my friends, is this years Christmas mantel. I'm pretty happy on how it turned out. Except for the wreath in the middle. I need some different ribbon to hang it from. Or some other adornment. What do you think?

Linking to:

Santa's Reindeer

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Look who has shown up at my house?

Santa's reindeer. But then, they don't have antlers. So they can't be Santa's reindeer. Maybe reindeer babies?

They are my newest purchases from ebay. These 3 and the 3 above all came in one win.

And these 3 were a separate win. I had both on last minute snipe. I forgot to check after winning the first set. So I ended up winning both sets.

So far, this is the only Christmas decorating I have done. I'm really being lazy. Hopefully I'll get it done this weekend. But then, I am a procrastinator.

Is your Christmas decorating all done?

Linking to:

Christmas Inspiration from Tai Pan Trading

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:55:00 +0000

I made my seasonal trip to Tai Pan Trading on Black Friday. I usually try & take lots of photos of their fabulous displays. But this time I only took a few. Mostly I was too busy trying to decide what to buy.

They had a special from 6-9am that if you spent $50.00 or more, they gave you a $20.00 gift card to spend another time. They also gave you a free mixing bowl pitcher, in a color of your choice. I chose red. A free Christmas apron. And a free glass bird red candle holder.

And did I take any photos of my freebies? NO. What kind of blogger am I? Not a very good one. I can't seem to remember to take photos. I would take them now, but I am at work. And my freebie items are at home. I'll try & post photos of what I got from Tai Pan Trading later in the week.

For now, I'm sharing some of the displays they had at the Rancho Cucamonga Tai Pan Trading store.

They always have beautiful tablescapes. I think this one was my favorite.

I love the Christmas trees.

And the crowns. Now I am kicking myself for not buying a crown, or six. I since I didn't look at the price tag, I have no idea how much they were. I may have to go back & spend my $20.00 gift card on some.

I love how they tied a wreath to the back of each chair. Love the plaid ribbon.

This black, white & silver tablescape was fabulous. And would be perfect for my table. I should have taken a photo of the salad plates under the bowls. I almost bought the salad plates but they were $8.00 a pop. I little too rich for my cheap blood. I love everything about this tablescape as well.

Here is table decorated in traditional Christmas colors. I still have a thing for traditional. I like how they added a red sash to the chair and added some silver greenery and some red balls. Easy! And the snowflake pillows in the chair on the left. Love them! But didn't buy them. I think they would be pretty easy to knock off.

Look how festive this looks. And so easy. Just tie a napkin with a fat candy cane, come silver greenery and some red balls. I love how they have the white dishes sitting on a green wreath. I don't know how practical that would be eat on. But so pretty. Love it!

Another easy thing to decorate a chair. Just tie on a Christmas stocking with some pretty ribbon and add a few balls.

That is one of the things I love about visiting Tai Pan Trading. Lots of great tablescape ideas.

Now I'll show you the other things that I did get photos of.

Loved these "JOY" blocks. I'm thinking of knocking them off (but don't hold your breath). I am really into green and white for Christmas this year.

I thought these Christmas tree cones would be easy to knock off as well. But since I am into green this Christmas. I would make the snowflakes green instead of red. Or maybe even do them in white glitter. Ooh, now I want to make some.

Speaking of white and glitter. When you first enter the Rancho Cucamonga store, you are greeted with everything glittery & white.

I may just have to decorate some tabletop in glitter and white.

I love all the ornies hanging from the chandelier. Too much yumminess in this store.

If you happen to live in southern California or in Utah and have not visited a Tai Pan Trading store. You better gittyup and get yourself down to one. You will thank me.

I'm thinking I need to make another trip back there. SOON. That $20.00 gift card is eating a hole in my pocket. It's itchin' to be spent.

And can you believe that Christmas is in 25 days! YIKES! I better start buying stuff for others instead of buying for myself. But then, the men in my family wouldn't like anything from Tai Pan Trading.

Linking to:
Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Be Thankful I still decorate for Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:46:00 +0000

Do you decorate for Thanksgiving? Or do you go straight to Christmas?

I for one, love to decorate for Thanksgiving. Probably as it's too dang hot to do any "fall" decorating in September. And I love to decorate for Halloween, so I don't get to do any "fall" decorating unless I decorate for Thanksgiving.

I love this little vignette. Nothing really screams Thanksgiving or fall except for the white pumpkin under glass. Everything I had already except for the pom pom on the apothecary jar. I made it from a brown lunch sack. I learned how from 52 Mantels. I had planned on making a bunch to make a garland. But I only got 2 made.

Here I placed a bunch of pumpkins and candles. They came from thrift stores, Dollar Tree and Kohl's. The framed print was a free printable last year from Betty Crocker Wannabe. And the fake flowers came from Big Lots about 4 years ago. And yes, I still use fake flowers in my decor. I love real flowers better, just can't justify spending the money on something that will die in a few days.

These glass pumpkins came from Sam's Club a few years back. I just found the shredded raffia at the thrift store for a quarter.

Just stuff I had up in the attic. Can't remember where I got everything.

I printed out a bunch of Thanksgiving images I had & pinned them to twine.

My Thanksgiving hutch. I'm so grateful I have this hutch to decorate.

Filled this cloche up with some fallish mercury glass ornaments I've picked up over the years.

The Indian couple came from the thrift store a couple of months ago. The "Count your blessings" sign came from Deseret Book store a couple of years ago. I placed it on a Dollar Tree easel.

I used the same letters that I used for my Thanksgiving banner on my mantel to make this Grateful banner.

Well, not exactly the same letters. Obviously you spell grateful differently than Thanksgiving. But you know what I mean.

A funny looking turkey under glass.

I purchased some carved Thanksgiving pumpkins from Terry's Village a few years back. To remind me to always "be thankful".

And I am thankful that you aren't noticing the dust on top of the cloche. How many of you noticed it before I just now brought it to your attention? I'll bet not many. I should have kept my mouth shut.

To be joyful (I have a hard time with this one).

And to always give thanks. THANKS! Does that count?

I added some flameless votives to my hutch. I just picked up a bunch from Costco last month when they had a $4.00 off coupon. At least I think it was for $4.00 off. All I know, it was a good deal.

They also had big flameless candles too, but I already bought some last year.

I like having "flameless" candles. Much safer. The only down side, not quite the same ambiance as real candles, but close.

Here is where I added the second brown paper lunch bad pom pom I made. I also added some glass acorns to one of the apothecary jars.

Here is the hutch with all the fake candles aglow.

And finally this is how I decorated my chandelier. I just hung more Thanksgiving prints with some twine.

I made each card double sided. So no matter what part of the room you are in, you can see a print.

Well I hope you liked my Thanksgiving decor this year. If you missed my mantel that I posted yesterday, you can find it here. I was pretty lazy in my decorating this year. I only got down half of what I usually decorate with.

I can't find my turkey platter and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Luckily I have another white platter that will work. It just doesn't have a turkey on it. I just hope my turkey in the fridge is thawed. But I won't have to worry about that. Cooking the turkey is hubby's job. I just have to make everything else.

And now we are down 3 people for tomorrow. My sister just called and said that my mom isn't feeling well, so they aren't coming up. Looks like we will only have 11 people now. I think that is the smallest Thanksgiving we have ever had in my family. Oh well, more turkey for the rest of us.

I hope that each of you have a safe & yummy Thanksgiving tomorrow. I want to thank all of you for taking the time to visit my blog. I know there are a lot of other blogs out there (as I tend to spend time trying to visit them all). If I don't tell you enough, you all mean a lot to me.

Happy Thanksgiving! Now, let's eat!

Linking to:

Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

"Give Thanks" Thanksgiving Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:14:00 +0000

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is in 2 days! Less than 2 days.

I can already taste that turkey. YUM!

Fall is whizzing by. Christmas is going to be here before we know it. YIKES!

I guess I better start posting my Thanksgiving decor. So today I'll share my Thanksgiving mantel.

I call it "Give Thanks". I know, I'm so original.

I made, not one, not two, but three banners for this mantel (that is if you count GIVE and THANKS as two separate banners).

And please pardon the crappy photos. I only have the weekend to take photos, and this past weekend it was rainy here in SoCal. So the lighting was terrible. And I have no idea how to take photos anyhoo.

The golden mercury glass candle holders came from Kirkland years ago. I still like silver mercury glass better, but this gold color works for fall.

I printed out three different Thanksgiving/Pilgrim/Harvest sheet music images (I'm only showing you one up close) from The Graphics Fairy onto vellum paper. Here are the links: Thanksgiving and Praise , The Happy Pilgrim , Tis Harvest Time.

Then I taped the printed paper around the candle & tied some twine around it. My candles are flameless so I don't have to worry about starting a fire.

The Thanksgiving subway art was a free printable from eighteen 25. You know how I love FREE!

The turkey came from Joann's a few years back and the white pumpkin is from Dollar Tree.

Here is my "Thanksgiving" banner that I made.

Super easy. I printed out the letters from my computer. I have no idea where I originally found these letters. But I love them. They are the perfect colors for fall/Thanksgiving. I just pinned them with some Dollar Tree paper leaves to some twine using mini clothespins from Walmart.

Doesn't get much easier than that.

Hubby made me this wood plaque out of some junk wood he had laying around this past summer. He made me two of them to make signs. But so far, I have only made one sign. Remember my "Life is good at the beach" sign from my Ode to Summer mantel?

I still need to make something with this plain one. But it works as a back drop for my "Give Thanks" banners.

This giant lollie/medallion is from last Christmas. I just keep changing out the center piece for the different holidays. What says Thanksgiving more than a turkey? Nothing I tell ya.

I found these letters from AllSorts blog. She created a "Spooky" garland but luckily gives you all the letters of the alphabet. The letters are in black, I just made them sepia tone for my "Give" banner. Added some more Dollar Tree paper leaves & pinned them to a piece of twine.

For the "Thanks" part of the banner I used my own alphabet art. I originally had the letters in a black frame sitting in front, but I like the looks of hanging the letters from the twine better.

If you want to know how to make your own alphabet art, you can find the link here. Everything I used to make the letters came from my own house. Makes it more personal to me.

This is a terrible photo of the right side of my mantel. I had to crop it from a larger photo. I realized (a little too late), that my real orange pumpkin sitting on top of the books had started to rot. The original photo I had for showing you showed a huge rotting hole. I thought I would spare you, so I took it off and put this one up instead. Always thinking of my peeps.

For this photo, I strategically placed the rotting hole in the back where you can't see it. The pilgrim man was a thrift store find this year.

I have to make a confession. I just realized that the above Thanksgiving printable wasn't a freebie. It was actually some ones hard work they were selling on Etsy. I originally found it on Pinterest. But realized that it linked back to Be Different Act Normal. She posted it from Craftily Ever After who made a print that she sells on Etsy after seeing a post by Domestically Speaking where she made one out of real burlap. I just copied the print from Pinterest and didn't realize until just now that it wasn't a freebie printable and that I had actually stolen it. Do you think I can be forgiven since I have now followed back the genealogy line back to what seems the original source?

Let's move on, shall we? Here is the pilgrim girl that goes with the pilgrim guy I picked up from the thrift store. The white pumpkin came from Target a few years back.

And there you have my Thanksgiving mantel. I like that I used stuff I already had lying around the house, plus a printer, some paper and some ink.

Tomorrow I'll try and post the rest of my Thanksgiving decor. I still have so much to do before Thanksgiving. I am hosting this year. We expect to have 14 people. That is small compared to most years. But only part of my extended family can come this year.

Linking to:

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

Wednesday Bunny Hop @ Bunny Jeans Decor and More

My latest thrifty finds

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:49:00 +0000

I am itching to start decorating for Christmas. I just have to wait until after Thanksgiving.

I found lots of goodies this past week at various thrift stores to help me in my Christmas decorating.

Like I need anything else. I have about 15 bins up in the attic with Christmas stuff. But I can't pass up a good bargain.

Here is everything. Except for the grape vine garland that I forgot I have outside. I uncoiled it and strung it out trying to straighten it out some. We'll see if it works or not. I even purchased the white batting at the thrift store. I'm going to use it on my Christmas mantel. At least that is the plan. The batting was 50 cents.

I got these 8 vintage tin Christmas cookie cutters for $1.00. They were a 1/2 price item.

This ceramic snowflake candle holder was a steal for 75 cents. I already have 2 of them that I purchased in a set from Costco a few years back. I'm sure the original set of 2 was around $10.00. I think I might glitter the three of them up with some Epsom salt. I just have to find the two I already own. I did find Epsom salt at Dollar Tree.

This Spode Christmas tree plate was another steal at 75 cents. I collect this pattern.

These vintage snow globes were 50 cents each. I sense a new collection has started. I don't know why I bought them, they are kind of cheesy looking. But hey, they are vintage. And I love vintage.

My most favorite thrift store find of the week are these mini Santa mugs. I just started collecting Santa mugs a couple of years ago. And last year was the first year I started with the mini mugs. I got all 6 of these mini mugs for FREE. Yes you heard right, FREE. The woman at the thrift store threw them in for free when I purchased the larger Santa mug in the next photo.

Also in the back of the photo is a set of mini grape vine wreaths. I'll probably use them for napkin rings. Cost, 25 cents.

And here is the larger Santa mug that cost $2.00. Originally the woman at the thrift store said the mini Santa mugs would be 25 cents a piece. But since I was also buying the larger mug, she said I could have the whole lot for $2.00. Yipee!

The mini Santa mug in this photo came from a different thrift store and has a candle inside. It and the Snowman mini stack-able boxes were 50 cents each.

These 2 urns came from a thrift store down in San Diego county. We were down in San Diego last Thursday to attend my work Thanksgiving luncheon. We always hit up Amvets thrift store while in El Cajon. It was my favorite thrift store when I lived down there. How I miss that store.

I originally found them on a shelf and they were not priced. Now Amvets won't sell you anything that doesn't have a price tag. So I gave them to one of the workers. She took them in back and about 15 minutes later, I just happen to see them being brought back out, with price tags. They each were now marked $2.00, but miscellaneous was 1/2 off that day so that meant they were now $1.00 each. SOLD.

I really don't need anymore urns, but I can't seem to turn down a deal on something I love to collect. I think I will paint them Heirloom white. They may end up at Christmas topiaries of some sort.

And finally I found me some jingle bells. 2 small jingle bell wreaths and a bag of bells. They were $1.00 each. I love how they are tarnished. Hubby already snagged 2 of the bells from the bag to put on our new dog's collar.

What? I didn't tell you about our new dog? She is a golden retriever named Cookie.

I don't have any good photos yet. She doesn't sit still long enough for me to get a photo that isn't blurry.

She is a rescue dog from an elderly woman who could no longer care for her. We think she is about 5 years old. She is the perfect dog for our family. And the first dog I've owned since I was a teenager. And that was a bazillion years ago. My adult sons are beyond thrilled. This is their first dog.

Total cost of thrift store finds: $12.25 (not counting the grape vine garland I didn't show)
New dog: Priceless

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Adding bling to my spider web window

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:27:00 +0000

I know Halloween is over, BUT......

Just had to add a little bling to the spider web window that hubby made for me.

Hubby found this fabulous Swarovski crystal jeweled spider on eBay. Just had to have it.

It was actually a ring. But hubby removed the ring part & attached the spider to the window.

The perfect addition to my most favorite material possession in the whole world (at least for now).

I'm so lucky to have such a talented hubby. Can I leave a spider web window up all year?

He wants to make me another leaded or stained glass window for Christmas. I just have to think of something I want him to make me. Any ideas?

Christmas has come early

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:50:00 +0000

Just a quick note that I must have been a good girl as Santa has granted me my Christmas wish early.

We now have a Hobby Lobby in SoCal. And it is within 15 minutes of my house in Temecula. In the old Mervyn's store building to be exact.

And I couldn't be happier.

All is now right in the world. I don't have to be jealous anymore.

I just need to come up with some cash.

Happy Halloween!

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:20:00 +0000

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope that you all have a fun and safe one. Since it is Halloween, I thought I better share the rest of my Halloween decor for this year.

My most favorite thing in the whole world right now is this fabulous spider web leaded glass window my hubby made for me this week.

Isn't it fabulous?

I'm so lucky that I am married to someone who knows how to make beautiful windows.

It's hard to see the frame in most of the photos because of the light from the window. Here is a close up of part of the frame. It is black & gold. I found it a few years back at the thrift store for $5.00. It was the perfect frame for this window.

Love the Prism center piece.

He used 3 different types of glass for this window. I think he said he used antique glass, water glass and glue chip. Hubby said he spent about $40.00 to make this window.

After I posted about our trip to the Winchester Mystery House, I remembered the spider web windows I saw there. That was the inspiration for my window. I like my window better than the ones at the Winchester Mystery House.

I just placed the framed window on the window sill in my family room.

Here is how I decorated this side of the family room.

The "Witch is in" sign came from Tai Pan Trading last year. The raven & tree prints were free printables found on the web. The Raven came from Blooming Homestead. The tree, from V and Co.

This ghost figurine was a new purchase this year from Tai Pan Trading. I wrapped some of the orange tickets I had around the bottom.

BOO blocks I picked up on clearance last year from TJ Maxx.

I am not satisfied with this shelf vignette. As you can see, I didn't even take down the twine and mini clothes pins. But I just ran out of time. So this is how it will stay.

The hanging ghost "Happy Halloween" sign came from Dollar Tree. I made the framed "Happy Halloween" last year. I attached a couple of the black glittered ravens I made last year to the branches (one of the birds lost a leg in the process).

The urn was a thrift store purchase & was originally gold. I spray painted it, added the Spanish moss and added the Dollar Tree raven.

This is the sofa table behind my sofa. Imagine that?

My mini graveyard was made from tombstones and gargoyles found at Dollar Tree. Even the glittered trees, the black creepy cloth and the Spanish moss came from Dollar Tree.

I love gargoyles.

I was so lazy this year that I didn't put any spooky labels on my vintage bottles. I did manage to add some Spanish moss and a Dollar Tree skeleton.

I changed out the photos in this frame to vintage Halloween costumes. The photo on the right is actually me and my two brothers and one of my sisters (my youngest sister hadn't been born yet). I'm the Greek goddess.

The left photo is also my family. I'm the bride. My brothers kids got a kick out of seeing their dad dressed up for Halloween at such a young age (He is the one on the right).

Under this cloche I have my silver baby cup collection. I added some moss and another Dollar Tree raven. You can tell, I love Dollar Tree.

Here is how the entire wall looks. I added some Dollar Tree silhouettes, a spider web I made and some Graphics Fairy images that I spookified. Hanging from the lamp is a glittered skeleton (from Dollar Tree) and a new Halloween hat I got from Grandin Road on clearance for $10.00. And a "Spooky" garland I made last year.

On my coffee table trunk I added a lace runner I found on Amazon. I spray painted some thrift store candlesticks and some hobnail votive holders. The spider web votive holders I made last year. The white candles are actually "dripping blood" candles I found at Party City. I was all excited for them to drip blood, but the blood is more pink than red. I was highly disappointed in them.

And finally here is the one wall in my kitchen that I get to decorate. I added Halloween candy and cupcake wrappers to my apothecary jars. Taped Halloween paper plates on top of my white plates. And added "BOO" letters to 3 of my plates. Fast, easy & cheap. My kind of decorating.

The paper plates came from Target last year. The "EEK" banner was used from letters I found on the Internet. Since taking this photo, I did add some of my orange tickets in between each letter. But I was too lazy to take a new photo.

And now you have seen all the Halloween decorating that I did in my family room/kitchen. I already showed you my spooky mantel, my trick or treat hutch and my small cabinet in my kitchen.

We did have a Halloween party on Saturday night that was quite fun. I might post about it tomorrow and tonight is trick or treating time, so I will have to post my photos from that as well. So stay tuned. You still have one more day of Halloween from me. And then we can move on to Thanksgiving. YUM!

Happy Halloween!

Linking to:

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Halloween is almost here

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:30:00 +0000

Halloween is almost here! I'm kind of sad though. As much as I love my holidays, I love the build up to the holiday even more.

I love all the getting ready for a holiday, the shopping, the decorating and especially the eating. But when the holiday actually gets here, I find it a let down. As I know all the fun that lead up to that holiday is over for another 365 days. Or until the next holiday rolls around.

I've been behind in my Halloween decorating this year. It's probably as I have spent too much time "pinning" great ideas, which has left me little time to execute or knock off all the great ideas I've found online.

But I did manage to get my family room all decorated. Which is good since we are having our first ever Halloween party on Saturday.

I've shown you my Spooky Mantel and my Trick or Treat Hutch. Today I will show you one of my Halloween vignettes. And I can't seem to think up a name for this one.

I found this cute Mercury glass owl at Marshall's last month. It reminds me of the white owl that flies over our house every once in awhile, that scares the bejeezers out of me when it flies by.

I really didn't do much to "Halloween" the top of this cabinet. I added a "BOO" sign I picked up from Tai Pan Trading last year.

And a Dollar Tree skeleton sits on top of the door knob.

I added a large toe tag to the apothecary jar. I guess I did put one Pinterest Pin to good use. I found this free printable at Make Your Own Invitations.

I placed my favorite wreath on the chicken wire frame. I made this wreath last year using book pages from a Thesaurus I picked up at Dollar Tree. I used my scallop circle punch, inked the edges using Distress Ink and glued, glued, glued to a thrift store grape vine wreath. Cost me a $1.50 to make.

The skull face on the black ribbon came on something I purchased for Halloween last year. My mind isn't working today, so I can't remember what it was. I think it was black creepy cloth from Tai Pan Trading. The ribbon was wrapped around it with the skull attached. Makes the perfect accessory for making my wreath "Spooky".

It didn't take much to "Spookify" my cabinet. I still have a couple of more vignettes to share with you. But I didn't get photos taken last weekend when the lighting was good. Now I'll have to take the photos in the morning or the evening when there is basically no light.

Plus hubby is working on a special project for me that I can hardly wait for it to be done. Here is a little sneak peek.

I wanted one of these in the worst way after I finally posted about our trip last year to the Winchester Mystery house in San Jose, CA.

I'm hoping it's done in time for our Halloween party on Saturday night. But hubby just called and said he wasn't feeling good. So it might not get done in time.

And speaking of my party, I still have a bazillion things to do to get ready. But the procrastinator in me keeps putting it off. I guess I still have tonight, tomorrow night and most of the day Saturday. Knowing me, it will all get done on Saturday. Or not. At least my family room is all decorated.

Linking to:

SNS @ Funky Junk

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Trick or Treat Halloween Hutch

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:45:00 +0000

For the past two years I have been having a thing for black and white Halloween. I still sort of do this year too.

But you know how we are with decorating trends, something we think we can't live without today, is old news tomorrow.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm missing some color. And what color would that be? Why orange of course.

Normally I despise the color orange, but for Halloween, I can put my distaste of it away for a few weeks. In fact, I'm kind of liking the color orange in my Halloween hutch this year. But I would never admit that to anyone but you. And you aren't going to tell anyone. Are you?

Picked up this old lantern at an antique store down in Temecula at the beginning of Summer. It was 1/2 off. So less than $20 bucks. (The most expensive item I purchased for this years Halloween decor.) And the owner of this particular booth at the antique store was the son of one of the prior owners of Knotts Berry Farm. This lantern kind of reminds me of Knotts Berry Farm. Which by the way, becomes Knotts Scary Farm this time of year. I've never been when it's Knotts Scary Farm and now I am too old to really enjoy being scared. I might just pee my pants. And that isn't any fun.

What really sold me on this lantern is how rusty it is. I just love rusty stuff. I added this glitter jingle bell spider. I picked up a package of the spiders at TJ Maxx a month or two back.

I added a glittered spider web that I made last year to plate on the wall. The clock is hubby's. It was his mom's clock, so it is quite sentimental to him. The only problem I have with the clock is that if you move it ever so slightly it stops working and starts making a buzzing sound. Hubby them comes all unglued that it will burn up the motor. And don't I know how old that thing is? Yes, hunny, you remind me every time I move the clock and it starts buzzing.

I really love this clock, but I don't let hubby know. I just wish it chimed. Then it would remind me of my Grandmother's clock. But then again, chiming clocks can be a pain in the you know what.

I won this one hour broom parking sign from someones blog last Halloween. Sorry that I can't remember from whom it was. I never did post about my win. Should have, then I could go back and find out from whenst (spelling?) it came.

I love this little print. I just printed it off the Internet in black & white. I added the mini broom. In case I need to make a quick getaway. But then, my butt would be too big for this tiny broom. I really should go on a diet. NOT! No, I should, I just won't. You see, DIET is a four letter word to me. Really, it is.

Anyhoo, all this talk of food if making me hungry. And I need to distract myself from food, so I better get back to talking about my hutch.

The pumpkin plates are just paper plates I picked up from Target last year. I just taped them to my white ironstone plates. I found the pumpkin pails at Target as well, in their Dollar Spot. The skeletons and the black silhouette cut outs on the plates on the top row came from Dollar Tree this year.

The ceramic pumpkins came from Target last year. They had them again this year as well.

I have found a lot of my cloches from the thrift store. All of my ironstone has come from thrift stores as well. The orange spiders and Spanish moss are from Dollar Tree.

Another Target pumpkin. I love the vintage look of these pumpkins.

This white pumpkin started out looking mighty ugly. I really should have taken a "before" pic. But I get so excited to paint, that I usually forget. It was orange and green to start with. I found it at the thrift store for a buck. I still need to antique it, but I got so excited to see if it would fit under this cloche (it did). I then added this Dollar Tree skeleton and a TJ Maxx jingle bell spider (you can't really see it in this photo).

Since I am a known tweaker, I will probably mess with this one a little more before Halloween. Depends how lazy I decide to be between now and then.

The "Trick or Treat" garland/banner was a freebie from the Internet at MyGrafico Digital Arts and Crafts store.

They have a whole slew of party printables that match this garland.

I did shrink it down some in order to make it fit my hutch.

I wish I had the patience to learn how to create my own.

Until that time, I will just have to beg, borrow & steal all of the great ones out there in blogland for the taking.

Arrr!!! I feel like such a pirate. But since I only print out "free" ones. I'm not stealing, I'm doing it with the owners blessing. And I am forever grateful that there are creative people out there that can make me look like I am as well.

Sounds like a win/win situation to me.

This bottom corner of my hutch doesn't get a lot of light, so my photos rarely turn out. But under the cheese dome is a bunch of old metal wheels we found at the thrift store. Everything in this photo (except for the Target ceramic pumpkin and the reproduction skeleton keys in the glass jar), came from a thrift store.

I love the witches hat on this pumpkin. And the smile on her face (aren't witches female?).

My skull salt & pepper shakers are new this year. I found them at Tai Pan Trading in Rancho Cucamonga last month.

I have two cheese dome cloches on my hutch. They are sort of a pain to decorate as they aren't very tall, and the glass usually distorts the view to what is under the glass.

I was trying to think of something different to put under this one when "low and behold", the heavens parted and these orange tickets came floating down as manna from the sky.

I actually found them out in the garage. Hubby said he picked them up from a thrift store awhile back. Obviously my hubby is cheating on me. How dare he go to a thrift store without me.

But I'm glad he did. As these are perfect for this cloche. And the bonus is they are ORANGE! Plus we are having our first ever Halloween party and they will be perfect for handing out to everyone for party games.

This trick or treat sign was another Tai Pan Trading purchase, but from last year.

And finally we have my three apothecary jars. I really should have filled them with treats. But for some reason we have ghosts at our house, who love treats. Everytime I fill a jar with treats, it mysteriously disappears. And all the men in my household swear it wasn't them. So it must be ghosts.

I did print out a toe tag I found from Make Your Own Invitations. I did shrink it down to make a tag since these are actually suppose to be party invitations.

And that is this years Halloween china hutch.

In case you missed last years version. Here it is again.

My black & white version from 2010.

My more colorful version for 2011.

Which one do you like best?

Linking to:

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello

Spooky Halloween Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:50:00 +0000

So Halloween is in a few short weeks. And it is about time I started posting some Halloween decor.

I usually can't wait to decorate for Halloween. I normally skip the fall decorating & go straight to Halloween in September. But here it is the middle of October and I'm just now decorating for Halloween.

I have no excuse for being late except that I am a chronic procrastinator. And lazy on top of that. Double whammy.

But I got off my lazy butt this past weekend and did some decorating. Today we will start with my Halloween mantel.

It's pretty black. But I like it.

I started with this bat lace mantel scarf. I got mine from Amazon. Here is the link, but they are currently unavailable. I can't remember exactly what I paid, but it was under $15.00.

Next I added my "Spooky" letter art. I made this a couple of years ago. I still love it. If you want to see how I made it, click here.

I just love making this letter art.

If you want to see more samples of my letter art, you can click here.

I added some creepy cloth from the Dollar Tree to the mirror. Not sure I am completely happy with it. We'll see if it stays.

I added this paper medallion to the top of the mirror that I had left over from last Christmas. And then I added a smaller Halloween one on top that I had left over from a wreath from last Halloween. I had to throw out the wreath after last Halloween as all the split peas kept falling off. But I did salvage the medallion.

I think my most favorite thing on this year's mantel are the black vinyl trees. They came from Walmart and were only $5.00 for the set of two. Love them!

The spider candle holder was a new purchase from Michael's this year. But I did get it for 50% off. So it was like only $4.00. The crows are from last year and came from Tai Pan Trading.

The black lanterns were clearance items from Lowe's earlier this summer. They were $3.00 each. And the white mini pumpkins came from the grocery store. Everything else I already had.

And in case you were wondering what my mantel looked like last Halloween.....

Here you go. I thought this was going to be my all time favorite Halloween mantel.

But I was wrong. I love this year's version even more.

And that my friends, is my Halloween mantel for 2011. Who knows if it will look the same by Halloween. You know how us tweakers are, we can't stop tweaking.

Linking to:

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

Winchester Mystery House

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:15:00 +0000

I'm back in the world of living. Well I've always been alive, I've just been acting like a zombie lately. Haven't had the "itch" to blog.

I thought that I'd have my Halloween decorating all done by now to share with you. But I've been too lazy. I just started decorating on Sunday, but all I've seem to accomplish is to make a huge mess in my family room. Ugh!

Hopefully I'll get it finished up this week so I can share photos. But since it's still kind of dark when I leave for work in the morning & kind of dark when I return home at the end of the day, taking decent photos is going to be a big hurdle. But we will give it the old college try. Even if I never did go to college.

Until then, I thought I would share photos of my trip to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA.

I actually went last year in October.

But I was too lazy to post them then, so you are getting them now.

We happen to be in San Jose for my cousins wedding last October. Went with my hubby (guy in the blue jeans and brown jacket with his back to the camera), my brother (tall guy in the shorts and short sleeves) and my sister in law (the woman closest & with her back to the camera).

While in San Jose, we decided we must see the Winchester Mystery House.

They don't let you take photos inside the house (might spook the ghosts). But you can take all the photos you want outside. Which of course I did.

Warning, lots of photos to follow.

38 years

160 rooms

1 mystery

The gun that won the West made the Winchester family a fortune.

Was it blood money?

Sarah Winchesters family died.

Was she next?

Why did she move West to build the world's oddest mansion?

Why did carpenters work around the clock?

To whom was she speaking each night at midnight?

From what was she running?

You decide. Visit.

That is the promo you will find on the home page at Winchester Mystery House website.

If you have never been, I highly recommend it. Who doesn't like a good mystery? Or a haunted house? Especially this time of year.

There are lots of things to see not only in the house, but on the property grounds as well.

Including fountains.

And statues.

I especially love this statue of Hebe. Brings back fond memories of when I was a kid. You see, we had a smaller version of this same statue that sat on our front porch for many years. My brother (the same one who went on this trip) used to tell a boy up the street that every time he came to our house, he would need to put money in Hebe's hand. If not, she would surely cast a curse on him. Then my brother would hide in the bathroom & speak through the window pretending to be the statue talking. It was hilarious. At least it seemed so at that time. Don't worry, my brother did finally come clean to the boy. They both had a good laugh. And the boy was happy to know that he wasn't going to be cursed.

I just love, love, love the Victorian architecture of this house.

And all the fabulous windows.

I just love, love, love these spider web windows.

Maybe I can get my hubby to make me some. Or at least one.

And speaking of hubby. Here are the two of us posing in front (OK, off to the side) of the Winchester Mystery House.

There are lots of fabulous stained & leaded glass windows throughout the house. These photos are actually from windows inside the Winchester gun museum on the property grounds.

Everyone knows that stained glass looks so much more fabulous with the light shining through them. You can only get that effect from inside the window. And as I told you, they don't allow photos while you are inside the house.

And if I remember correctly, all the windows are from Tiffany. Yes, that Tiffany. As in Tiffany stained glass and Tiffany jewelers aka: EXPENSIVE!

But then Sarah Winchester was a millionaire and had to spend her so called "blood money" on something to appease the spirits.

There are lots of out buildings on the property. This one is filled with junk.

My kind of junk!

Do you think they would notice a couple of missing corbels? Don't worry, I didn't take anything. I'm too honest. Plus they have cameras everywhere watching you. At least I'm pretty sure they do. I was too busy looking at all the fabulous junk.

Can you imagine having a storage room filled with all of this yummyness? My kind of hoarding for sure.

Loved this garden conservatory.

Love, love, love!

Inside the gift shop they have this small museum area. I can't remember if these are actual items from the house, or just from the same time period. I do remember that they said all the furniture in the house (the few rooms that have furniture) aren't actually from the house, but the era.

Sorry about the reflection in this photo. I had to use my flash as it was in a dark room. But it gives you an overhead view of the house & property. The house looks so much bigger from the sky. When you are next to it, it's hard to grasp the grandness of it.

Well I hope that you have enjoyed my little tour of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA. If you are ever in the area of San Jose or San Francisco, you definitely need to stop by & check this house out for yourself. You might even spot yourself a ghost or two. Wish I had.

And don't forget to shut the gate on your way out.

Love this gate!!!! I need this gate!!!

Halloween Bling

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:51:00 +0000

Jen over at Tatortots and Jello is having a linky party and a giveaway for Krylon Glitter Blast. It's a glitter spray paint!

Anyhoo, she has asked everyone to link up something we made sparkle and shine for a chance to win 6 cans of Glitter Blast spray paint. Plus (yes there is more), a $50.00 gift card to a choice of Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Walmart or Jo-Ann.

I need to win. So the chance of winning has gotten me off my lazy butt to post the following projects from last Halloween.

First I made some glitter spider web votives.

I started out with plain Jane votives. Well they didn't start out so plain, they actually had a sticker on them with my parents 50th wedding anniversary info on it. I just peeled off the sticker to make them plain. And don't worry, I did save a few of the ones with their wedding info on it for keepsake. I just didn't need 30 of them.

Next I used a toothpick dipped in school glue and drew a spider web.

Then I sprinkled Martha's black glitter over the glue. Let it dry & then brushed off the extra glitter.

Looked fabulous on my table after adding tea light candle.

Next I glittered up a bunch of spider rings from Dollar Tree.

These spider rings would be the perfect candidate for the Krylon Glitter Blast spray paint.

I placed some glitterfied spider rings on my candelabra.

And added a few to the base of each goblet.

Next I made a bat mobile. Sans Batman.

I cut out bat shapes from black & white scrapbook paper. Most of my paper wasn't double sided, so I glued 2 together. I then traced glue around the outside & covered in black glitter.

And finally I wanted some small black crows. I found some white doves at Dollar Tree (sorry, no before photo). I first spray painted them black, then covered them in school glue & gave them a shower of black glitter.

This project would have been so much faster & easier with the Glitter Blast spray paint.

So you can see, that I love glitter. I just don't like it when it gets in your eyes. I'm thinking the Krylon Glitter Blast spray paint would take care of that problem.

If I win, I'll be sure to let you know. I'm itchin' to get started on this years Halloween decor. Do you think it's too early to start decorating for Halloween?

I thought so.

Linking to:

Tatertots and Jello

Favorite Things in My Town Link Party

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 04:45:00 +0000

Did someone say party? I love to party and Centsational Girl is hosting a "Favorite Things in My Town" link party. So you know I have to party along.

Problem is, I totally forgot about Kate's party. Plus you already know how I procrastinate stuff. So don't tell anyone, but I'm regifting my post so that I can party too.

I call this, the tale of 3 cities. Let me do some explaining. I live in southern California in the City of Menifee. When we first moved here 6 years ago & bought our house, the tax records show that we live in Romoland, CA. But our mailing address was Sun City, CA (and still is). But now this area officially became a city called Menifee on 10/01/08. So technically I can say that I live in 3 cities.

Now for some boring information on where I live:

The City of Menifee is located in southwestern Riverside County approximately 30 miles southeast of the City of Riverside. We are about 90 miles north of San Diego & about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Within an hour or so I can be at the beach, the mountains or the desert.

The city of Menifee encompasses approximately 50 square miles with an overall population of approximately 60,000. But has the look and feel of a small town.

If you haven't fallen asleep already, it's time for the photo part of our tour. First we have a photo of one of the churches in our city. Along with a huge American flag that flies over the local KFC/Taco Bell. And a C-17 airplane. March Air Reserve Base is located about 15 miles north of us. So we get these airplanes flying over our city every day.

You can click on any photo to enlarge

Next I will take you to what used to be down town Sun City. Now to live down town you have to be 55 or older. Those of us under the age of 55 have to live on the outskirts of town.

Here is the price of gas 6/30/09 at the local Chevron station, $2.99 a gallon. Right now, gas at this same station is $3.78. And here is the local thrift store that I love to shop at. I love a thrift store where you can still find things for less than a buck. My favorite grocery store-Stater Brothers and finally the shopping area down town. Up until last November 2008 this was the only place we could shop locally. If we wanted to go to Walmart or a Home Depot, we had to drive about 15 minutes in any direction to find one.

More photos of down town Sun City. I love how the local seniors keep active at the local country club playing either shuffleboard or lawn bowling. Next we have a funny swan shaped boat sitting in someones driveway. Since this is a senior community, there must be some golf courses. I wish I could have gotten a photo of one of the many golf carts that drive around town.

If we move south & east of down town Sun City we are in the area that was originally Menifee. The high school is called Paloma Valley High School. This is where my son graduated back in 2009. We also have a Junior College in town. The original Mt San Jacinto College campus is in San Jacinto, CA near Hemet. But the 2nd campus is located here in Menifee. It is small, but cute. The 2 buildings shown are at the Jr College.
Do you like to shop? Well I do. And we finally have a local shopping center. It's called Countryside Marketplace. Opened up a couple of years ago. And the best part? It's only 2 miles from my house!!! I don't have to drive to another city to shop. I love this shopping center. It has a TJ Maxx, Michael's, Super Target, Kohl's & Lowe's. Now if only we could get a Walmart closer than 20 minutes away, I would be in heaven. Only a couple of more years and I will have a Walmart within 4 miles of my house. Can't wait.

And we finally have some good places to eat. And what is the number one place you want to eat if you come to California? Why In-N-Out of course. They have the best hamburgers. If you ever come to California, you must eat there. Another good place to eat is Red Robin restaurant. I love their fries!!! I just got back from eating my free birthday burger from Red Robin. I didn't like Chipotle which really surprised me since I love Mexican food. But I love Panda Express. Subway is always good too, but we already had a Subway in down town Sun City. I still haven't tried the Breakfast Club of Menifee but I hear it is really good.

We can't forget our local heroes, the hunky firemen and police. We got our own police once we officially became a city. And we do have a local hospital. But there are rumors that you don't want to go there in an emergency. You might end up sicker or worse yet, dead.

How about seeing some of the houses in our area. We have different types here depending on the area of town you live in & how old the house is. Here we have a new house in my area, a farm house & a typical California Ranch house in the countryside complete with horses (not pictured) and the typical 60's style house in down town Sun City. Did you notice no grass in the last house? Seniors don't like having to mow a lawn, so most of them have rocks instead of lawn. Which I guess is great now since we have a water shortage.

We do have a couple of apartment complexes in town & they are building a few more. I hope they don't build too many. The town I grew up in San Diego county was great until they built it up with apartments in the 70's & then everything went downhill. I don't want that to happen here. Next we have a typical California Mediterranean home, some manufactured homes and homes on the golf course. So you can see we have quite the variety of different style homes in our city.

And you can't visit southern California without seeing some palm trees.

Some more landscape photos. There are some man made lakes here in the city of Menifee. And there used to be orange groves everywhere. Now there is only a small area near the hospital. Lots of hills around us but not much grows there. So if we were to have a wild fire I'm not too worried as there isn't much to burn. And we do have some wild life. Saw this bunny tonight just up the street. And once we had a snake in our yard. We had a lovely sunset tonight.

And finally I will leave you with photos of my house. I have to warn you that our front yard needs lots of work. We have this huge willow tree that takes up most of our yard & hides the house. It grows so fast. Plus my son needs to mow the grass. We live in a Mediterranean style house. I wouldn't call it my dream home. I'd much rather live in a farm house or Victorian house. But not many of those here in southern California. So this one will do for now.

My back yard is much better. We spend all of our time back here. You can't live here without a pool as it gets hot, hot, hot in the summer. It's been in the triple digits for the past week. At least we don't get much humidity.

Well I hope that you enjoyed the tour of my current home town. If you ever get over this way, stop by & say "Hi". I'll even let you take a dip in my pool. Just bring your own towel.

Linking to:

Favorite Things in my Home Town @ Centsational Girl

Summer or School?

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:59:00 +0000

Can you believe that August is halfway over? I sure can't. And school has already started in our neck of the woods. But I don't have to worry about school since my kids are all grown and my grandson is only four. But he is going to attend Preschool for the first time after Labor Day. So I will have to think about him attending school. But not for a few weeks.

Besides, what would you rather look at, or think about now? Summer or School?

I'm picking Summer, as thinking of school just gives me an upset stomach. And why does thinking of "school" give me a tummy ache? Probably as I hated school when I was a kid. Even to this day, when I pass by the "school supplies" at the store, my stomach gets all queasy on me. I hate it, a 50 something year old woman shouldn't still have such a reaction to school supplies.

Since I have chosen to think about Summer instead of the dreaded word "school". I thought I would finally get around to showing you my Summer china hutch. I've had it this way for about a month, but I've been too lazy to post about it.

I started a collection of blue canning jars last year or the year before. I only have 5 of them. I placed 3 of them on top of the hutch. At first I filled them with shells, but then I decided I liked the look of them empty.

On the right side I placed this framed print of children at the sea. Don't you just love this? I stole the image off the Internet. But don't tell the Internet police. The frame is a cheap plastic one I picked up from Dollar Tree a few years back. I painted it white & distressed it.

I think my favorite thing on my hutch is this fun bunting, banner, garland or what ever you want to call it. What do you call it?

Flash cards with beachy, summer words.

The flashcards are actually part of a scrap booking paper collection from October Afternoon from their Seaside collection .

I sure wish I was at the ocean today. It's about 100 degrees here in the Inland Empire in SoCal. But thankfully, nothing like those of you in the South and Midwest have had to bear this summer.

We've actually had a cooler than normal summer thus far. So I'm not really complaining. At least not too much. Plus we don't get a lot of humidity here.

I picked up a set of 4 of these "Shell gas" shells from an antique store in Arizona a couple of summer's ago. The pencil starfish came from Walmart about the same time. I didn't see any pencil starfish at Walmart this year.

Speaking of Walmart, I hate how they have downsized their fabric and craft department. It sucks! There, I said it. I don't go to Walmart much anymore because of it. Take that, Walmart!

But I do miss seeing all the interestingly dressed clientele that frequent there.

Sorry to get off on a tangent. I'll get back to my hutch. All of my white ironstone came from thrift stores. My cloches did too.

The blue glass candle holders came from Tai Pan Trading last summer. I'm itching to make a trip to the Tai Pan Trading store in Rancho Cucamonga. I feel for those of you who don't live in Utah or SoCal, as you are missing a fabulous store.

But then, pay back is a biotch since there isn't a Hobby Lobby store in SoCal. There is one in northern California, but it is hours away from me. Probably closer to drive to Phoenix to shop. And Phoenix is a 5-6 hour drive.

To the owners of Hobby Lobby,

You need to put a store in the Inland Empire in SoCal. We need one here, real bad. Like real, real, real bad.

Thanks in advance.

Your friend,

Kim aka: Starshine Chic.

My mind keeps getting off track.

It's got to be the heat.

How long can I leave my summer hutch like this? I'm thinking at least a couple of more weeks.

I'm feeling cooler just looking at this old photo of the beach.

I guess my Summer hutch is helping me feel more relaxed and cooler.

I Just keep thinking about the beach and it's cool 68 degree, maybe 70 degree if we are real lucky water. You guys or gals who live on the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf are real lucky with how warm your water is. I am so jealous.

But then, not so much when you get a hurricane. Then I'm glad our water here in the Pacific ocean is too cold for a hurricane. So we don't have that worry. Earthquakes are enough worry.

Thanks alot! Now you have me worrying about "The Big One", earthquake, that is. And when that happens, all my pretty glassware will break into millions of little pieces. And I will be soooooo sad.

At least I'm not thinking of school.

After taking all my photos of my Summer hutch, I decided my glass Mason jars needed some sprucing up. I decided to make a number tag for each and a map tag. I guess I could have put a number on each map tag. I may just do that and take off the plain ones.

But now I realized that numbers remind me of school. Dang it!!! I didn't want to think about school. Now I need to go and take a Pepto Bismo for my tummy ache. I think I'll take a nap too, so I can forget all about school.

Wake me up when Halloween decorating time gets here. Is it too early to think of Halloween?

Linking to:

VIP Party @ Designer Garden

Wow us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style