STARSHINE CHIC

Cinco de Mayo party ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 05 May 2015 07:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone! And Happy Cinco de Mayo! Or better yet, Happy Cinco de Miracle Whip! We like Miracle Whip better than Mayo in our house. How about in yours?

Just wanted you to know I was still alive. It's been so long since I last wrote a post that I completely forgot how to do so.

Do you have a party to celebrate? We usually do, but not this year. So I'll share photos of the last 2 Cinco de Mayo parties that we've had.

I always do everything as cheaply and easy as possible. But hopefully you will see that everything can still look great when being cheap & lazy like me.

Everyone knows they have arrived at the right place when greeted by a "Party!" banner. I got this one a couple of years ago from Target's Dollar Spot.

I love to change up my mantel for every occasion. The "Fiesta" banner was another Target Dollar Spot find a few years back.

I love to collect lanterns, candle holders and bright colored bottles whenever I can find them for cheap. This year I picked up a few colored bottles at Dollar Tree. I just use them out in my yard the rest of the year. I actually found this red one in my backyard when we moved in about 10 years ago.

The brightly colored plates came from Michaels about 3 years ago. I got them on clearance after Cinco de Mayo, I just used them the following year.

I made this wreath from dollar store flowers.

I don't usually decorate with bright colors. So it's a nice change to do so for Cinco de Mayo.

Next I decided the outside needed to be decorated. I have an arbor that I love to decorate to use as a backdrop for a photo booth.

Crepe paper is a cheap way to decorate. I gathered different colors & made ruffles.

And some I just cut. I have used them for a couple of years.

And here it is all decorated

I added this Mexican star lantern that I found in Old Town San Diego. We got it on clearance at 90% off. My husband had to fix something on it. But he is pretty handy so now it looks good as new.

I even made my own crepe paper flowers. I remember going to Tijuana as a kid & seeing them on almost every street corner.

You need a few props for the photo booth. I found all of the Sombreros at Dollar Tree about 3 years ago.

And you must have mustaches!

My neighbors even had Mexican ponchos. And a serape that we put on the bench.

Isn't Zeke the cutest?

We always have nachos with homemade salsa for almost every party at our house. Yum! For dinner we had tacos, rice & beans. Just didn't get any photos. We don't drink alcohol in our family. But it is always fun to have non spiked punch in margarita glasses.

After eating, It was warm enough for everyone to swim in the pool. Then it was time for the pinata.

My neighbor made this pinata. I think it was her first or second one. I was pretty impressed.

The kids took turns trying to break the pinata.

Finally the deed was done & everyone scrambled to get their share of the candy & goodies.

Even our dog Cooky wanted to party.

This year we will most likely have chicken tacos to celebrate. Might even break out the margarita glasses to have my Pepsi in. I like to live dangerously.

Hoppy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 07:22:00 +0000

Spring Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:15:00 +0000

Hello! It's been awhile since I have posted. Did you miss me?

Spring has officially sprung in my neck of the woods. Even though I don't live anywhere close to the woods. I finally got the itch to decorate. Maybe it is just my allergies.

I've been extremely lazy this year. So what else is new?

You might have noticed that I never did a Valentine's mantel. Nor did I do a St. Patrick's Day mantel. I did get down the stuff to decorate, just didn't feel the urge.

But I decided it was time to come out of hibernation. So far all I have managed to decorate is my mantel.

Even though Easter is in 2 weeks, I decided to go with a "Springy" theme and not a full fledge Easter them. I can always add a couple of bunnies once I decide to climb up into the attic to retrieve some.

Since I've had my hours cut back at work. I had to do this on the cheap. Like as in, no money. Luckily I have lots of stuff to decorate with. The only recent purchase was this ironstone pitcher. I found it at Savers thrift store for $2.99, plus I had a 20% off coupon. And I purchased it before I got my hours cut and could no longer afford to spend money.

Most of the items that I decorate with come from the thrift store, the dollar store or any place that I can find stuff cheap. As you know, I'm cheap.

The double topiaries on either side of the mantel were found at an antique store of all places. I only buy stuff at antique stores when they are cheap. Is $5.00 a piece cheap enough? Well, $5.00 a pair would have been better. But I still felt like I was getting a deal at $5.00 a piece. I've had them for quite a few years. But still haven't tired of them.

Here is another thrift store ironstone pitcher. I'm sure I picked it up for a couple of dollars. And the faux boxwood wreaths were a thrift store find last year. All of my frames come from thrift stores too.

I got this wreath some years ago at Michaels. Or was it Joann's? I can't remember as it was so long ago. But I still love this wreath. I'm sure I used a 40 or 50% off coupon to purchase it. I never pay full price at these stores.

I love the birds nest and eggs.

Love the birdie too. I really like that it doesn't make any noise. Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of birds. As long as it isn't a mocking bird and not in the middle of the night.

I made a few garlands with a couple of different sized paper doilies. I've had them in my stash since I got married back in 2006.

The best part about this spring mantel is that it still worked for St Patrick's day yesterday since it has a lot of green. Even if there wasn't a leprechaun in sight.

And it will still work for Easter. We'll see if any bunnies make it up on the mantel prior to Easter. But don't hold your breath. I might just got back into hibernation. You know how I love a good nap.

Linking to:

Valentine Flashback

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 02:03:00 +0000

Valentine's Day is in a week and I have yet to decorate for it this year. I just can't seem to get in the decorating mood. I'd much rather be looking for inspiration on Pinterest. I am more of a dreamer than a doer. That is a fancy way of saying that I am a lazy procrastinator.

I did start decorating my mantel. But I am not quite happy enough to share it yet. Hopefully I will get it done before Valentine's Day.

So until then, I thought I would share some of my past Valentine decorating.

We will start off with 2012

"Silhouette Valentine Mantel".

 "Love is all you need".

"Love and Cherubs"

"Be Mine Cutie Pie"

"Love Birds and Cherubs"

The "Cherubs are taking over"

"Call me Sweetheart"

"A Valentine Vignette"

"My Mantel Full of Love"

2010

"It's time for another cloche party"

"Pink Valentine Decorating"

"Love Mantel"

"Hugs and Kisses"

"Valentine Tablescape"

"Love Notes"

If you made it to the end of this post, I applaud you. That was a lot of pictures.

I had fun going down memory lane putting this post together.

I can see that I was really into blogging and decorating in 2010 & 2011. Slowed down in 2012. And 2013 I've almost become extinct.

As you can see, I like decorating for Valentine's Day. And I like a vintage feel to all my decorating. Vintage Valentine decorating is my favorite.

What was your favorite post?

I may even go back further. If I do, I will need to go to my family blog since I started this blog in the summer of 2009.

New Year's Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 05:22:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

Not quite at my house. I still have 3 1/2 hours left of 2012.

What are you doing this New Years Eve? I'm sitting at home writing my blog post and watching New Year's Rockin' Eve Celebrates Dick Clark on TV. So exciting. I don't know if I can handle so much excitement at my age.

I'd rather be at a fun party, or having a fun party at my house. But lack of funds means I get to stay home and play on the computer.

But having all this time on my hands gave me time to change up my mantel for New Year's.

I went with a chalkboard and clock theme.

I'm having to take photos with my cell phone camera so they are not the best. I really need to figure out how to use my SLR in manual. I can take great photos outside during the day. But inside I suck at taking photos with it.

I decided to make a couple of party hats for the occasion. I actually bought some cheapo ones from Dollar Tree. I took one apart & used it as a template for making my own. I just found some music online and printed it out on card stock. The music is actually Auld Lang Syne.

I hot glued some silver tinsel along the bottom and balled some tinsel up for the top. The tinsel came from Dollar Tree in the gift wrapping department. I've had it for a year or so.

I found the clock print at The Graphics Fairy.   I was going to glitter the edges, but couldn't find my gold glitter. Or any glitter. So I left it plain.

Here is the 2nd party hat I hade. This one I used a French letter I found online.

I love this chalkboard print. It is a free printable from The 36th Avenue. I love how it looks like a real chalkboard, without all the work.

All of my clock prints came from The Graphics Fairy. I did add "Happy New Year" to a few of them.

I made the "Welcome" banner with free printable letters from Allsorts.

I did make a chalkboard out of a Dollar Tree cheapo silver tray. I sprayed the entire front with chalkboard paint. I used chalk to highlight the raised edges. I wrote "2013" on the tray. I used a small command hook (another Dollar Tree find) on the back to hang it on the chicken wire on my frame.

I also made this chalkboard. But I made it from black foam core from Dollar Tree. I cut it out to fit my thrift store frame & placed the cut foam core in the frame. I hand wrote the "Happy New Year, etc". I copied a free printable you can get over at Sweet C's Designs. Normally I would just print out the free printable but I needed a much larger copy. So I had to free hand it. I could have enlarged & copied it, but that involved too much work. I decided just to free hand it. Turned out pretty good.

The countdown numbers are from The 36th Avenue as well.

The last thing I made was this "Happy New Year" banner. I used another version of "Auld Lang Syne" sheet music for the background & added the typewriter letters in Picasa. Cut everything out & pinned each letter to some twine.

And there you have my New Year's mantel for 2013. I hope you enjoyed.

Now I better get back to watching TV. I still have 3 hours before the ball drops and I can have my glass of Martinelli's sparkling cider with my family.

Happy New Year's Everyone! I hope 2013 is much better than 2012. But since we are falling off the fiscal cliff, I highly doubt it. Yikes!

Kim

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas. White Christmas decor that is.

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:42:00 +0000

Can you believe that Christmas is almost here?

Where did the month go? Heck, where did the year go?

Are you ready for Christmas? I'm not.

I finally got my Christmas tree up. But I haven't had the chance to get decent photos of it yet. So you will have to wait on seeing my tree.

But I thought I better share the rest of my Christmas decor.

I decided to go with a "White Christmas" theme this year.

I live in southern California and it never snows where I live. So there isn't a snowballs chance in Hades that we will ever have a White Christmas. I guess I should never say never. It did snow once a few years back. But not enough to stick. But enough to get everyone excited that it was snowing.

If we want a white Christmas, we either have to drive up to the mountains, go on a trip out of state to where it does snow, or make our own. So here is my version of a white Christmas:

We will start with my china hutch. And don't look at the snowflakes that are not sticking to the plates. Geez! You'd think that they could cooperate while I'm taking photos. I guess it is just to warm here in SoCal for the snowflakes to stick. Ha ha!

I used a lot of snowflakes and trees in my Christmas decorating this year. I love these snowflakes from Dollar Tree. I have like a gazillion of them. But only used a few. I was planning on putting them everywhere, just got too lazy.

I love anything under glass. I found the mercury glass tree cloche at an antique store in Arizona a few years back. The small ornament cloche with the snowman came from TJ Maxx a few years back as well. I love the bottle brush tree in the urn. That was an accidental pleasure. I thought the tree would look better higher up, so I plopped it in the urn. And ta dah! Perfect match. Plus I didn't want to have to find a spot to store the urn during Christmas.

More trees and snowflakes.

I am obsessed with little bottle brush trees under glass this year.

The silver ball ornaments were a thrift store find last week for 50 cents. They look fabulous in my ironstone dish (another thrift store find).

Did you notice the snowflakes in the back? Another Dollar Tree find. I just added some sparkly iridescent glitter to them.

The snowball & ice garland came from Tai Pan Trading a couple of years ago.

Some more thrift store finds. The wooden tree was bare when I found it at the thrift store for a quarter. I painted it white and added some iridescent glitter. The rhinestone necklace at the beaded wire necklace around the bottom of the cloche came from the thrift store as well.

Thrift stores are another obsession of mine. I seem to have a lot of them. Obsessions, not thrift stores. But then again.

I still can't buy clothes from the thrift store. At least not for me. It's a I hate "hand me down" clothing phobia I've had since childhood. But I love to buy decor stuff and dishes from the thrift store.

Hubby made the candle holder for me out of a glass light cover we picked up at the thrift store. He made about 4 of them for me.

The felt snowflake on the plate came from Tai Pan Trading some time ago. I added the iridescent glitter to make it sparkly.

The small mercury glass votive holder came from a cool store in Temecula called the Western Eagle Bargain Store. You never know what you will find at that store.

I have an obsession for glitter houses, Putz houses, cardboard houses, or whatever you want to call them. Surprised that I have another obsession?

I only used two of them this year. My white ones.

The bottle brush trees are falling off of my house and church. Every year I tell myself I need to hot glue them back on. And every year I don't do it. As long as no one bumps them, they are fine for another year.

I have a couple of tiny feather trees under glass. I picked them up a an antique store a few years ago. I just need one that is about 1-2 feet tall and I would be happy. But I'm too cheap to buy a bigger one. Remember, I'm a dollar store type of girl.

If you look in the first picture of my hutch you will see I originally had ivory colored domino's in the middle apothecary jar. I changed them out for these ivory bottle brush trees. I bleached these ones myself. I am so proud that I finally did something I have been wanting to do for the last 3 years.

Anyone that really knows me, knows what an accomplishment that really is. I tend to not complete projects.

The snowballs in the other two apothecary jars came from Hobby Lobby this year.

The glittery snowflakes hanging from the jars are a thrift store find.

Now we will move on to the shelf in my family room.

The goldish mercury glass tree in the middle came from Target years ago. The gold and silver trees on either side are Dollar Tree finds over the past few years.

Did you notice the gold bead garland? I found it at the thrift store for a quarter. I knew I wanted to use more gold in my decor this year. I guess I am drifting away from my White Christmas theme.

Here is something white. I hung more Dollar Tree snowflakes from the willow tree branches that I've had in a bottle on this shelf for a few years now.

The spiders in my house love these branches. Great for hanging their webs on. I kicked the spiders out and opted for hanging snowflakes instead.

I just love this wire snowflake tree. I think I found it at TJ Maxx a few years back. It would be really easy to knock off. I know I originally had planned on doing so, but the lazy girl in me said "It ain't never going to happen. So go ahead & buy the darn thing". So I did.

I made this paper lollie a couple of years ago. I just change out the middle part for each season.

Below the shelf I have an old trunk full of who knows what. I found an old wood tray last year at the thrift store to sit on top. It was so hard before to place anything on the trunk because it was so uneven. The tray makes it easier to decorate.

I added some mercury glass candle holders, a mercury glass candle that I picked up at Kohls this year and a Christmas cloche under a cloche. The candles on the holders are FAKE! I LOVE real candles, just have a greater fear of burning down my house. So I use fake. I found this set at the Western Eagle Bargain Store for $3.50 for the set of 3. It was on one of their half price days. Fabulous! And they smell like real vanilla candles. Even better!

The tin sign in the background says: Wisemen still seek him. I guess I really should have put it with my nativity, but there wasn't room.

And speaking of my nativity. I put it behind my couch this year.

I did have a bit of green in this display. I purchased the biggest 3 green bottle brush trees from Grandin Road on clearance about 4-5 years ago. The smaller two green trees are from this year. As I was bleaching my bottle brush trees, I loved when a couple of them got this lighter green. So I took them out of the bleach mixture before they were completely bleached & added them to my forest of green trees.

The smaller cloche in the front was made from turning over a small glass candle holder I found at the thrift store. You can find these exact same ones at Dollar Tree. A dollar is a good price, but when you can get the same thing for 50 cents. Even better. Just like Christmas to a ~~cheapskate~~ savvy bargain shopper like me.

My nativity holds a special place in my heart. My mom painted & antiqued this set for my Grandma when I was a teenager back in the 70's. It was all the rage back then to paint ceramic pieces and antique them. Actually it was the rage to paint everything and antique everything back then. I think my mom painted and antiqued every piece of furniture we had in our house at the time. And then stripped off all the paint a few years later when painted furniture was no longer in vogue.

Guess what girls? You are going to be stripping off the paint off your painted furniture in a few. You heard it here first!

I guess I got a little off track. Back to the subject at hand. My mom had done a similar nativity set for herself and my Grandma loved it. So of course my mom made a set for Grandma. When my Grandma passed away back in the late 80's or early 90's the nativity set went back to my mom.

Now my mom knew how much I loved both nativities, so she gave me this one that had been my Grandma's for Christmas one year. It has been one of my most favorite Christmas gifts of all time.

My nativity brings me much "JOY". And so does this little cloche. The white bottle brush trees are from the Dollar Tree. I love the "Brrr" rocks I added. I can leave this out all winter.

Here is the little cabinet in my kitchen.

I love the "Nutcraker" ballet and all the music. Have you been watching the battle of the Nutcrakers on Ovation?

I purchased this swan from Pottery Barn on clearance last year. Or maybe it was the year before. This is the first year I've used it in my decor. It is actually an ornament. But isn't she "purty" sitting under glass instead of being hidden on the tree? Such a DIVA!

I'll let you in on another little secret. I have a swan obsession as well. It's not as bad of most of my obsessions, but still something I collect.

This bottle brush tree is also suppose to be an ornament. I found it at Kohls. It gets to have it's time in the spotlight for this year. Next year, who knows. It may be shipped off to the Christmas tree.

Another ornament that I found at Kohls this year. Since I have a gazillion ornaments, I have to find other places for them, other than the tree. This "JOY" one found a spot hanging from the apothecary jar. This would be another ornament that would be easy to knock off.

Well I hope you have enjoyed my White Christmas decor this year. I really enjoyed using white, cream, gold and silver in my decor this year. And I still managed to have a vintage feel. You know how I'm obsessed with anything that looks or feels vintage. I seem to gravitate to a vintage Christmas look.

It seems like each year that I get older, the less I decorate. I only decorated my family room and part of my kitchen.

Maybe age has nothing to do with it. And maybe it has everything to do with the fact that I'm lazy and a procrastinator. Can you imagine what I could do if I weren't? Maybe in my next life I'll get to find out.

In case I don't post again before Christmas (I do plan on posting about my tree, but in case I procrastinate it) I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Or if you prefer, Happy Holidays! Heaven knows, I don't want to offend anyone.

And in case you missed my Snowflakes and Silver Trees vintage style mantel, you can check it out here.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Snowflakes and Silver Trees-Christmas Mantel 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:58:00 +0000

I've decided it's finally time to decorate for Christmas.

Christmas is only 2 weeks away. Yikes!

Are you ready? I am not.

I did finally get my mantel and china hutch decorated this weekend. But I've only take photos of my mantel. And it was this morning before I left for work. So the light wasn't the greatest. But hey, it's done. Yipee!

I decided to go with a neutral color scheme this year. As much as I love traditional Christmas colors, I think I love neutral colors even more.

My theme this year is snowflakes and silver trees. I only had to purchase a few things this year. And not because I needed them, but because I wanted them. Heaven knows, I don't need another Christmas item. But I'm a Christmas junkie. So I just keep on buying.

The giant snowflakes are a new purchase this year. Found them at Hobby Lobby at 50% off. I have been so happy to finally have a Hobby Lobby in California. And one that is only 20 minutes from my house. Hubby, he is not too happy. But I am. The glittery snowflake on the pickle jar is also new this year. It was an ornament from Target.

I'm still in love with my chenille snowflake. I purchased a couple of them online a few years back. I'm now wishing I had purchased about 10 of them.

The silver mercury glass tree on the right was a new purchase from Kohl's. I stood in line for 2 hours on Black Friday to purchase it. That and quite a few other items. I told you that shopping for Christmas decor is a sickness I have. I'm willing to wait in line for 2 hours and something I don't even need. Tell me that I'm not the only one with this sickness. PLEASE!

I love my snowflake lights. I've had them for almost 20 years. And they are still going strong. Well, they are now after hubby fixed them. I had them all arranged, plugged them in and..... nothing. They wouldn't work! UGH! But lucky for me, I have a handy, dandy hubby who can fix almost anything.

I had planned on making a fabulous banner for my mantel this year. I have the same plan every year. And every year, it never gets done. Being a procrastinator and a lazy one at that sure puts a cramp in my plans. But I did have this JOY banner in my stash. I'm happy with it. At least for now.

The larger mercury glass votive candle holders came from Target a few years ago. The smaller two in front I found at a fabulous store in Temecula called the Western Eagle Bargain Store. I love that store. You never know what treasures you will find there. And for cheap! My kind of store.

I can't remember where I got the tree on the right as I've had it so long. But the tree on the left came from Dollar Tree about 2-4 years ago. It was a disco mirror tree. Much to bright for my taste. So I used some watered down brown craft paint on it & wiped it off. Made it look more like mercury glass. Much better.

I put some Epsom salt in a couple of large pickle jars (the kind you get at Costco or Sam's Club). Placed a battery operated candle inside. Tied some jute twine at the top to hold my new glittery snowflake ornament from Target. I love it!

I love real candles more than battery operated ones. But I've almost burnt my house down a couple of times using real candles. So fake it is!

I'm so glad that mercury glass is still in fashion. Can you ever have too much mercury glass?

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed this years Christmas mantel. Hopefully I'll get photos of my china hutch soon. The lighting in my family room isn't the best. I might have to wait until the weekend when I will be home during daylight hours.

I'm hoping to get my Christmas tree decorated by this weekend as well. I just need someone to help me take down 6 boxes that are in the way up in my attic. Hopefully this year, I'll actually get it done. Last year was the first time in my 50 something years that I didn't have a Christmas tree.

Linking to:

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Happy Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 21:05:00 +0000

Halloween is finally here. So I thought I better show you the rest of my Halloween decor. So go ahead & look at my photos while I sit here eating Halloween candy. Mini Snickers to be exact. I love Snickers.

I remembered that I had these number plates that I got from Target last year or the year before. So I decided to use the "3" and the "1" to make "31. The skeletons and headstone came from Dollar Tree. The milk glass urns came from the thrift store. The tin cup and the wire basket came from an antique store.

I found the black & silver bottle brush trees from Hobby Lobby. They were in the Christmas section. But I thought they were the perfect color for Halloween. The spooky gate with crow & skeleton came from Dollar Tree. I love that it looks like you will be walking into a graveyard.

This shelf is in my kitchen. The skeleton plates came from Target last year or the year before. The smaller subway art plate is actually a paper plate that I got at Target a few years ago.

The only thing I purchased new this year are the skull mugs up top. They came from Tai Pan Trading.

I made a garland by printing out Halloweeny images that I found on Google images and/or Pinterest.

I really like vintage and/or Victorian Halloween stuff. Just can't afford to buy the real thing. So printing out a free image is the next best thing.

This is the cabinet that sits at the end of my kitchen cabinets. The orange in these photos is quite bright. Not really that bright in person.

I won the "One Hour Broom Parking" sign from a blog a few years back. It fits perfectly inside my white frame that lives on this cabinet.

The skull & crow is a new purchase this year from Tai Pan Trading. The skull lights up and flashes multi colors. The orange boa is from the 99 Cent Only store.

I added a Dollar Tree skeleton on my thrift store door knob. The orange tickets I draped over my apothecary jars that hold my number balls that I still enjoy. The witch pumpkin came from Target a couple of years ago.

I wasn't as excited with this vignette, but it will do.

Next we will move out to my backyard. I draped cheese cloth over my metal gazebo. I used this area for our photo booth.

I wanted a Halloween chandelier to hang in the middle. So I hit up the thrift stores, etc and finally found an old brass chandelier at my local Habitat ReStore. And luckily it was on sale for $5.00.

I had hubby paint it black (I was too busy, I mean lazy, to do it myself). We used el cheapo Walmart brand spray paint in gloss black. Used one can for 97 cents. I changed out the regular bulbs for these flickering ones. I had a sting of flickering lights from years ago. Just took them out of the string of lights & put them in my Halloween chandelier.

I then hang black skeletons from twine to the bottom of each arm. I found the black skeletons at the 99 Cent Only store.

I had planned on adding some black beads, but never got around to spray painting some Mardi Gras beads that I picked up from Dollar Tree. Maybe next year.

I have moved the chandelier to my front porch for tonight.

Do you recognize this feller?

Why it's Cousin It from the Addams Family.

He is made from a grass umbrella. When we went to put away the umbrella at the end of summer, I thought it looked like Cousin It. The hat was found at the thrift store and the sun glasses belong to hubby.

I'm going to move Cousin It to the front porch for tonight as well.

The only other decorating I will do for the front porch is place a lot of candles and lanterns. That will give it the right amount of spookiness. I will try & post photos of my front porch once I get it all done. But it won't get done until about 6pm since I won't be home from work until then. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.

What are you plans for Halloween tonight? Are you staying home and handing out candy like me? Or are you talking kids out trick or treating? Or do you stay home & turn off all the lights and ignore Halloween all together? Or are you back East where you won't be able to do anything for Halloween because of the destruction of Sandy? Do tell.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Kim

Spooky Halloween Hutch

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:39:00 +0000

I am on a roll this week. I've posted more times in one week than I think I did all Summer. Probably as I finally have something to blog about.

Today I'm sharing my Halloween hutch. Seems all I ever blog about is my mantel or my hutch. But they are my two favorite things to decorate.

I'm calling this years version: My Spooky Halloween Hutch.

Oooooh, so original.

I decided to go with a black, white & silver color scheme this year.

I am again using my "Happy Halloween" sign that I made a couple of years ago.

I picked up a few magnifying glasses from Dollar Tree and the 99 Cent Only Store to make my Spooky Magnifying glasses. This one has a "31". I got the print outs and the idea from Family Circle website.

The mercury glass pumpkin was found at the Western Eagle Bargain Store in Temecula. I think I paid $3.00 for it. It was the only one they had. So I had to get it.

Hubby & I found this antique rusty lantern at Granny's Attic antique store in Old Town Temecula a few years back. I only use it at Halloween. I put it out in my graveyard in my front yard on Halloween night with a battery operated candle inside.

The mercury glass votive holder was another Western Eagle Bargain store find. It was a buck.

The jingle bell spiders came from TJ Maxx a couple of years ago.

The white vegetable/gourd thing was a freebie from a friend of my son. I have no idea what kind of vegetable/gourd thingy it is. But I thought it would make a cool Halloween decoration. If you know what it is called, let me know. I need to be enlightened.

I made this "Spooky" garland a few years back. I pieced together a couple of different free printables I found on the Internet. I think this is the first time I've displayed it on my hutch.

The black & cream striped plates came from Target this year. I thought they were too plain. So I taped some Halloween coasters that I also found at Target this year.

If you have followed my blog for very long, you know I love my cloches. I love to find glass items at the thrift store that can be used as a cloche. I have a skull sitting under this one. There is an almost identical one on the right side of this shelf as well. The skulls are actually salt & pepper shakers that I picked up at Tai Pan Trading last year. All of my ironstone came from thrift stores.

The larger black plates with the cream pumpkins came from Target this year. I love anything that has a vintage look to it. I was afraid these wouldn't look good up against the black background. But I think they still stand out.

The cream pumpkins also came from Target this year.

Another spooky magnifying glass.

The owl came from Dollar Tree. I got 2 different versions (one for the left side, and one for the right) I wasn't digging the orange, green and purple color they originally came in. So I spray painted them Heirloom white. Much better.

I found these stacking skulls at the 99 Cent Only store.

Here is the other owl I made over and another spooky magnifying glass.

We have finally reached the bottom. I used another of those vegetable/gourd thingies. This time I put it under glass. I think everyone has made a cloche out of a cheese dome.

The other cloche is made from a light cover. Another thrift store find.

The mercury glass owl came from Marshall's last year or the year before. I still love mercury glass stuff. How about you?

I used a vintage image I had. I just printed it out in sepia tone. I use an old flower frog to hold the print.

I've had these apothecary jars for years. Didn't change anything out for Halloween. I still love the items I have displayed in these jars. Which translates to, I was too lazy to change them out.

And the right side. The cheese dome up top is filled with vintage casters/wheels. I found all of them either at the thrift store or at the Habitat ReStore.

I love this little pumpkin. It came from Target this year. I wish they would have had more in different shapes and sizes like they did the past few years when they had the orange ones. There is just something about a cream pumpkin that I can't pass up.

I found this little glass jar a couple of weeks ago at the thrift store for like 50 cents. I thought it would make the perfect little cloche. And I was right.

The Witch is In sign came from Tai Pan Trading a few years back.

This grave stone actually has candy inside. It came in a set of three at Dollar Tree. It was just the right size to fit under this cloche.

A complete shot of the bottom.

And one final shot of the hutch.

I hope that you enjoyed this years Halloween hutch.

Before I let you go I have to tell you a little story.

I just love Halloween. I already have way too much Halloween stuff. But does that stop me from buying more? Heck no. So while I was at Target shopping for new Halloween stuff, I ran into this woman. No I did not literally run into her. I do know how to drive a shopping cart. But she was shopping and I was shopping. And I just happen to mention that I don't know why I am buying more stuff when I already have too much. She said she does the same thing. Imagine that? Anyhoo, she says about 15 or more years ago she said to her hubby that she would like to open a Halloween store. And sell nothing but Halloween stuff. But her husband talked her out of it. He said, "Who would buy Halloween stuff besides you?" She thought he was probably right, so she let her dream die. And now she is kicking herself.

Do you have a dream that you have let someone talk you out of? Do you like Halloween as much as me and this woman I met? And are you a Halloween hoarder like me? Do tell.

Linking to:

SNS-Funky Junk Interiors

Weekend Wrap Up Party-Tatertots and Jello

Last years Halloween party

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:46:00 +0000

I'm having a Halloween bash this coming Saturday. So in preparation I decided I would post photos of last years party. It was my first ever Halloween party. Well, the first one I've hosted. I have always wanted to throw one, but just never have until last year.

Now don't get too excited. I'm not one of these super organized, plan everything months in advance and everything has to be perfect kind of gal. I'm a last minute, do it easy, do it cheap kind of gal. So my party was pretty basic.

For my punch I just used Shasta Tiki punch, straight from the bottle. I like to live dangerous like that. I did add this skull shaped ice. I purchased the skull mold from Walmart. Everyone loved it. The ladle came from Party City. The glass punch bowl was a thrift store find from about 6 years ago.

This is my attempt at a cool seven layer Mexican dip. Click on this link to see the inspiration photo. You basically just layer beans, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce & olives. I just left off the olives as I think they are yucky. So mine is actually a six layer dip.

I then cut out a tree, some tombstones and some fence posts from flour tortillas. I did use a cookie cutter for the tombstones, but the tree, I just winged it. I then baked the tortillas in the oven until they got crisp. Turned out pretty good for my first try. It would have been better if I would have used a darker brown tortilla for the tree like in the inspiration pic, but I am too cheap to buy a different kind of tortilla just for one stinkin' tree.

I did buy Halloween shaped tortilla chips and had nacho cheese as well. Just not showing you a photo.

This was a pot luck party. I just told everyone to bring something Halloweeny.

My neighbor brought the chicken from KFC. I was calling them bat wings.

The same neighbor made these spiders on a log. Aren't they cute? It's peanut butter piped onto celery. Not sure what she made the spiders with.

I made the bone breadsticks. They were pretty easy. Just buy ready made breadstick dough, cut the ends & turn them under and bake. Easy, peasy. The wrapped hotdogs were suppose to be mummy dogs. But I had too many things going on so they got wrapped like normal, not like a mummy. My niece made the funeral potatoes (at my request). I just love funeral potatoes.

My husband cooked pork riblets. It was fun to serve them from this cast iron witches cauldron.

We also had some desserts that I forgot to take photos of. The most favorite dessert was my fossil cookies. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart. Click on the link to see what fossil cookies look like. They were a hit. I actually used some pre packaged sugar cookie dough mix from Costco. I got my plastic insects from Dollar Tree. You really have to press the insect into the dough pretty deep. When they cook, the imprint lightens up.

We ate, sat around the fire pit, relaxed in the jacuzzi and watched a Halloween movie by the pool.

We also had a photo booth set up. I had asked everyone to come in costumes. Not everyone did. But that was OK, I had props to use for those who did not dress up.

My hubby dressed as a cowboy. He is holding our friends little boy who was also dressed like a cowboy.

Some of my neighbors. They even brought a mystery guest.

This is my brother and my niece. My brother stole part of the costume from his son. My niece Danica dressed up as Danica Patrick, the race car driver.

My other niece (on the right) and her good friend. They did not dress up so they used some props I picked up from Dollar Tree. Who doesn't love a good fake mustache, nose and glasses?

My niece again, this time with her hubby. My niece was pregnant last year, so her hubby tried to make it look like he was preggo as well.

Some friends. We had to drag their oldest son out of the pool for this photo. This photo had a combination of costumes and props. I got all of my props from Dollar Tree.

My nephews.

Hubby and me. I ran out of time so I did not get my costume done. So I just put on some props.

Some more friends. They are actually friends of my niece and her hubby. But they are more than welcome at my house anytime.

My neighbor. Everyone thought he looked so scary. Took him most of the night to get ready. Better late than never.

My neighbor's son as Freddy. Another scary costume.

Afterwards we just hung out in my family room talking. I did buy glow necklaces for all the kids at Dollar Tree.

Now I am finally getting excited for my second annual Halloween party this Saturday. I think this year I am going to do Halloween theme pizzas. And who knows what everyone else will bring.

We will again sit around the fire pit, relax in the jacuzzi and watch a Halloween movie at the pool. And of course we will have the photo booth again. That to me, is the funnest part.

I'll be sure to post photos next week.

Are you planning a Halloween party this year? What will you be eating or doing at yours? Do you go all out, or do you keep it pretty basic like me? Do tell.

My Vintage Victorian Halloween Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Can you believe that Halloween is in 2 weeks? I can't either. Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays. I'm usually chomping at the bit to decorate. Now here it is the middle of October and I'm just now decorating for Halloween. That is how lazy I've been this year.

I have been working on my Halloween decor for two weeks, but I just was never happy with anything I put together. I decided this past weekend that I better "get 'er done" as I am having a Halloween party at my house this coming weekend. So I "got 'er done".

I had visions of making my own garland this year. But then I remembered this one I purchased from TJ Maxx a couple of years ago. It originally was hung on silver tinsel, but it was too long for my mantel. So I cut off and pulled off the tinsel and strung the letters on some good old cheap twine.

I love how this garland has a "vintage" feel to it.

I decided to go with a spooky vintage photo theme this year. Maybe even a bit Victorian. Here is the right side of my mantel.

I had a couple of these wooden frames that I picked up from the thrift store at least 10 years ago. The only problem is that the opening is for a 9" x 12" photo. My printer will only hold 8 1/2" x 11" paper.

I found this Victorian looking skeleton photo on Gorey Details. Cut it out in an oval shape and placed it on top of some Halloween paper. The little "boo" garland is actually some cupcake toppers that I found at Michael's last year.

The little pumpkin is actually from my garden. The crow from Dollar Tree. The magnifying glass is from either Dollar Tree or the 99 Cent Only store. I bought them at both places. I decided to make some spooky magnifying glasses like the ones I saw on Family Circle website.

What really started me on my Vintage/Victorian photo path were these lenticular photos I found at Dollar Tree. They actually came attached to a butt ugly plastic frame. I just cut off the ugly frame part and put them in my own frames.

See the next photo to see how he changes from a good looking young man, to a creepy skeleton.

This frame is actually a plastic one as well that I found at Dollar Tree a few years ago. I painted it black and then used chalk to highlight it. Loved how it turned out.

I made this paper lollie a few years back. I just change out the middle part for different seasons.

I found this skeleton necklace at the 99 Cent Only store. It came in a "two pack".

The thing I have found about the dollar stores, they will have different stuff at the beginning that they never seem to get back in. I went in last month (when they first put out their Halloween items) and found stuff that they no longer have. And they now have stuff that they didn't have when I first went.

I hung my old book page wreath to my chicken wire frame. The skeleton face is actually attached to the ribbon. I purchased some creepy cloth from Tai Pan Trading a few years back and it was tied up with this ribon with the skeleton face. I still like having the chicken wire frame propped up against my antique mirror.

I decided this area needed a little garland. I found these images on The Graphics Fairy website.

I then used a website called Photofunia to make the images look more vintage. They have lots of cool effects on this website. I went to the "Lab" section and used the "Vintage Photo" effect.

I then added the orange tickets to the garland as I thought it needed some color. I have no clue where I got the orange tickets. I somehow ended up with a huge roll of them. Probably got them from a thrift store or a garage sale. They are fun to decorate with at Halloween.

Here is a close up of the wreath with the "scream" face skeleton. I still love the look of my book page wreath.

Here is the left side of the mantel.

Here is another of the lenticular photos from Dollar Tree that I cut out and put in a different frame. The only problem with using chalk to highlight the raised parts is that it easily rubs off.

Here he is all "spooky". Since there is glass in this frame, I couldn't seem to get a good picture without getting a lot of reflection. You have to stand in just the right spot to see the "spooky" image.

I think that this is my favorite of all the photos. I found this on Pinterest. It was taken from someone's Tumblr. It doesn't have an original source. Here is the link to it on my Pinterest.

I did the same thing as the skeleton print on the right side of my mantel. I made a small garland that spells "Eek" using some Tim Holtz mini flash cards. I found mine at Hobby Lobby.

The spider web came from Dollar Tree this year. It is sort of like those spring action window covers for your car. It came all compact & it springs open to this size. You can twist and fold it smaller to store it when Halloween is over.

I found the spider at Target over the weekend. I thought my web needed a spider. So off to Target I went. This smaller one was $5.00. They have a larger one for $10.00. I love how the spiders legs can be rolled up to make him smaller to pack away as well.

The burlap pumpkin came from Hobby Lobby. It would be pretty easy to knock off. I'm just too lazy. I have it on a thrift store urn that I painted. And another spooky magnifying glass. I think this eye one is my favorite.

And a few final shots

I hope that you liked my spooky vintage Victorian Halloween mantel.

Linking to:

SNS-Funky Junk Interiors

Weekend Wrap Up Party-Tatertots and Jello

Halloween Mantel Party-Home Stories A2Z

Vintage Inspiration-Common Ground

Wow Us Wednesday-Savvy Southern Style

Halloween linky party-Craftberry Bush

Fall Nesting Party: Mantels & Porches-The Inspired Room

Spider Web Window

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:13:00 +0000

Where has the year gone? Here we are in the middle of October. Christmas is in a little over two months. Yikes!

And where have I been? I'd love to say that I've been laying on a beach in a tropical climate. But no, I've just had a serious case of laziness. Like really bad. Almost fatal.

I need to do something, and fast. Halloween is in less than 3 weeks and I haven't even decorated. Well I have, just not finished enough to post about it.

I'm hoping to get motivated this weekend. Only because I am having a Halloween party on the 20th. So I need to get going.

Maybe if I post about something Halloweeny from last year that will get me in the mood.

Something Gothic and Victorian and Halloweeny.

Last year my hubby made me this fabulous spider web leaded glass window. I barely mentioned it last year. So I thought this year I would post more about it.

It was inspired by these spider web windows we saw at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA

Once I saw these windows, I knew I needed one of my own.

Here is a closer look at a couple of the spider web windows in the Winchester Mystery House.

If you have never been to see this house, you must put it on your bucket list. It is beautiful and spooky all in one. It's a fabulous Victorian house.

Lucky for me, my hubby knows how to do stained and/or leaded glass windows. So I asked if he could make me one and he said "Anything for you babe as you are the best wife in the whole wide world". Well, he may not have said it exactly like that, but that is what I heard.

First hubby started out by drawing a pattern on some kraft paper. Then he purchased some glass from the local stained glass store. We are lucky to have one in the town we live in. He spent a day cutting out each section of glass and fitting it on the pattern.

Next he put copper foil around the edge of each piece of glass.

Then comes the flux & soldering. He kept moving the soldering gun so I never got a good picture. He didn't want to take the time to stop & model. Just wanted to get it done.

I know there is another step that turns all the copper and soldering black, just can't remember exactly what he did.

Finally he put the window into an old frame I had picked up at the thrift store. I paid $5.00 for the frame many years ago. I love how this frame is black and gold.

Here is a closeup of the detailing on the corners of the frame.

It's really hard to take a photo of something sitting in the window. I had to really lighten up the two photos of the frame so you could see it.

I love the prism circle in the middle.

Here you can see that he used different types of glass.

I was so happy with how the window turned out. It is my most favorite Halloween decoration. But after a week or so we decided that it needed something else. But what?

How about a spider?

My hubby found a spider ring on ebay that had a purple crystal for it's body. He cut off the ring part & glued the spider to the window.

And now the window is perfect. The spider was just the right touch.

The window ended up costing about $40.00 to make. But can you imagine how much you would have to pay to buy one in a store? And have you ever seen a spider web window in a store?

I just love how my spider web window turned out. So much so, that it's been sitting on my window sill all year.

My hubby is definitely a keeper.

Now hopefully I will be more motivated to finish up my Halloween decorating. How about you? Do you have all your Halloween decorating done?

Kim

Linking to:

Weekend Wrap Up Party-Tatortots and Jello

Pinterest Challenge Party-Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:59:00 +0000

Boy is it hot! Sure wishing I were at the beach.

I guess it is time to take down my 4th of July/Patriotic mantel and put up a Summer one.

I plan on using a few of the same elements from last years Summer mantel. My favorite three items to be exact. And since they were all knockoffs of stuff I had pinned to Pinterest. I thought I would join in on the Pinterest Challenge, summer edition.

What? You say that I am a day late for the party? Well, better late than never I always say.

My first entry into the Pinterest challenge is my "Life is good at the beach" sign. Here is the original I found online last year that I pinned.

I found it at Dean Miller. The original is actually a metal sign that they sell for $19.99. I loved the colors and it was exactly what I wanted for my summer mantel. That is, except for the price.

I like FREE better! Hubby had 3 cedar fence boards sitting on the side of the house. I asked him "pretty please" if he would cut them down for me to make this sign.

He was so excited that he jumped up and down for joy and clapped his hands. Just kidding. But he did say "yes". In fact, he made me 2 wood plank signs. The other one I still haven't done anything with.

Here he is putting all the pieces together for me.

Next I painted the board with some white craft paint. I didn't want it to completely cover the board. Then I used some aqua paint and painted 3 areas. I pretty much copied the inspiration sign.

I did more of a whitewash effect with the paint. I wanted some of the original board to show through. The best part about using cedar fence planks is the roughness of the wood. Adds great texture.

I was then going to use a stencil for writing the words. But you know how lazy I am. I decided to just wing it and live dangerously, by free handing my words. Scary! But it all worked out. Lucky for me.

I used a pencil to sketch my letters. Then I used some grey paint to paint "Life is Good". White paint for "at the" and red paint for "BEACH". I then used a black sharpie to outline "BEACH". I then lightly sanded it and called it done.

My next project was inspired by this image I found on Pinterest at Obee Designs.

Aren't you crushing over these vintage SeaSide beach pails? I know I have been ever since laying eyes on this image.

I had to have one of these pails.

I found one on eBay last year. Yipee! But wait, I'm el cheapo. I'm not going to pay $100 for a vintage beach pail. No matter how much I wanted it. I guess I will have to make my own.

Plus, I wanted an aqua blue stripe, not a royal blue stripe in mine. And I wanted it to be FREE.

Luckily, I had a plain tin pail in my stash that came from either the Dollar Spot at Target or from Michael's dollar bins a few years back. So I painted the bucket with some red, some white and some aqua blue.

Next I took my handy dandy Sharpie pen and lived dangerously again. And wrote "Seaside", free hand. The adrenaline was a pumping. I girl can only take so much danger in one day. I was fast becoming an adrenaline junky. (OK, you can stop laughing now.)

Problem was, it wasn't looking very vintage. So I shabbied it up a bit with some sandpaper. And then used some watered down burnt umber paint and slathered it on. Then wiped it off. Much better.

Still doesn't look like it's 100 years old. But for free, I'm estatic.

And if you must have your own vintage Seaside beach pail. I found you one on ebay. It's only at $49.00 currently and closes in 2 days. But if you are cheap like me. You can make your own. Just like me.

My final Pinterest inspiration project is bunting made from a map. Here is my inspiration pin from Five Brothers One Sister.

I really liked this one. But I wanted mine to say "Summer". And to be in a slightly different shape.

Now I'm not that handy with making computer graphics. In fact, I down right stink at it. I have not a clue how it's done. So I had to make mine the good old fashion way.

I got my neighbor to give me some of her old maps (again a free project). Remember when AAA used to give you free road maps? Do they still do that?

I drew me up a template for the shape I wanted on some card stock. Used my template to cut out the map.

Now I just needed me some red letters that spell out "SUMMER".

I then remembered I had these vintage letters saved on my computer. I have no idea where they originally came from. I cut and pasted the letters I needed to spell "SUMMER". Printed them out onto cardstock.

Then I painstakingly cut out each letter & glued on top of my map bunting pieces.

I then punched a hole at the top on each side and strung them on a piece of twine.

And WALA! I had the "SUMMER" map bunting of my dreams.

I really like the "S" section of the map since I grew up in San Diego county.

And just because I am nice, and some of you may be every bit as cheap as me, I scanned my Summer map bunting just for you.

I don't know how to make a fancy shmancy download. But you can right click on the images below and save to your computer. You know, the "I have not a clue how to use a computer much" kind of way.

And there you have my 3 Pinterest challenge projects. Now go check out all the rest and get crackin' on making your Pinterest inspiration dreams come true.

Hopefully I will get my Summer mantel completed this weekend. And even though I am reusing 3 items from last years mantel, it will look a little different. Shall I dare say, even better than last years? At least that is what I am hoping. But the laziness monster is still possessing my body, so who knows what will actually happen.

It's still hot. I still would rather be at the beach. But I guess my pool will just have to do.

Linking to:

Centsational Girl: The Pinterest Challenge

Finally! My 4th of July Patriotic Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:34:00 +0000

Hello! Is anyone still out there? It's me.

Yes, I am still alive. I've just been lazy. It is what I do best.

Next to being a procrastinator.

Since the 4th of July is tomorrow, and I am having a BBQ/pool party, I better get to decorating. So far, all I have done is my mantel.

I think it turned out pretty good considering all my Patriotic decor stuff is still up in the attic. I just used what I had around the house (without having to climb up in the attic). As well as some free printables from the internet. And we can't forget some flags from the dollar bin at Target and the thrift store.

Most of my frames originally came from thrift stores. I just painted them and added chicken wire to some. The frame on the left I got from the Western Eagle Bargain Store in Temecula. I bought it on one of their half price days. I think it cost me $2.50.

Love this "My Country 'tis of Thee" free printable from HMH Designs. I cut it down and clipped it to my chicken wire frame with mini clothespins. I just found the star molds at the thrift store. I got 6 of them for a buck.

I made the book page medallion last year. I just change out the center for each holiday. I found some cute 4th of July tags at My Sisters Suitcase blog.

This "America" printable came from Moglea. I am not sure this was a free printable or not. So now I am feeling quite guilty for using this. But not guilty enough to not use it.

These flags are from the dollar spot at Target. I have a bunch up in the attic, but since I am so lazy, and they are so cheap, I had to get more. And I know that is a run on sentence. But I don't care. That is how I talk. If you are the grammar police, you can just go elsewhere. I will write like I talk. May not be pretty, but it's the truth.

The glass beakers in the wood frame came from Lillian Vernon last year or the year before. And of course, I got them on clearance. You know I am too cheap to pay full price.

Here is the left side of the mantel. The chalkboard was made from an old cabinet door I picked up for a couple of dollars at the Habitat ReStore. It is suppose to be hanging on the door that goes from my kitchen to my laundry room. But again, that laziness thing, or maybe it's that procrastination thing. Anyhoo, either excuse has kept me from hanging it up where it belongs. So I get to use it in this mantelscape.

This "Star Spangled Banner" free printable came from HMH Designs as well as the "My Country 'Tis of Thee" print I showed you earlier.

The pinspinner was another free printable from Allsorts.

This Stars + Stripes banner was found at Paging Supermom. I just love super easy projects. And I love those who provide us with free printables to make these super easy projects even more. Thanks to all of you out there who are super talented. Which, I am not, but you make me look like I am.

And one final look at my 4th of July Patriotic Mantel.

I'm still toying with the idea of climbing up in the attic to get down my Patriotic stuff so I can decorate the rest of my house. But then again, that might take too much effort. You know how I hate working up a sweat.

What are your plans for the 4th?

Linking to:

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Patriotic Inspiration from my Summer Staycation

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:59:00 +0000

Last week I was on a stay-cation. And what is a stay-cation? Why it is a vacation where you stay at home and do stuff in your own house or neighborhood. In other words, it means you are too broke to go on a real vacation.

Originally I was going to do all kinds of projects around my house. Such as, redo our master bedroom (which really means, clean it up), redo the boys bathroom (which really means, get them to clean it up so I can redo it), and paint my china hutch (which really means, work, which I am apposed to doing while on vacation).

What I really did is, sleep, eat, go shopping, eat and sleep some more. And did I mention shopping?

It was the most relaxing vacation I've been on in a long time. I highly recommend it. But unfortunately, nothing got done around my house. Oh well.

One of my stay-cation days was spent down in Old Town Temecula. My favorite store in Old Town Temecula is Serendipity Antiques.

The front of the store was all decorated in a Patriotic theme. I just love this Uncle Sam. Wouldn't he be fun to have on your front porch?

Love this flag made from part of a picket fence. Hmmm, I have part of an old picket fence sitting on the side of my house. Maybe I should make me a flag like this. But don't hold your breath.

Love this vignette.

Not the sharpest photo, but I love this coffee filter wreath. I need to make me one. I like how you can add seasonal items to dress it up.

I love these patriotic ornaments and paper lanterns hanging from tree branches. This would be easy to recreate.

Not a lot of "Patriotic" items in this area, but having lots of red items still gives it that Patriotic feel.

I totally need to make me one of these baskets. This would look great on my front porch. That is, until the heat of summer scorches it and it dies.

I did not buy anything on my day trip to Old Town Temecula. Only because I couldn't find anything I couldn't live without that I could afford. But I had fun looking.

All in all, I had a great time on my stay-cation. I'll probably do it again towards the end of August around my birthday. But secretly I'm hoping to win the Lottery so I can go on an actual vacation.

What are you doing for vacation this summer? Are you going somewhere? Or doing a stay-cation like me? Do tell.

Memorial Day Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:21:00 +0000

Can you believe that Summer is almost here? Hard to believe when today's weather here in SoCal has been more like winter. Cold and windy. But it is suppose to get back up to 86 degrees for Memorial Day.

Doesn't Summer start on Memorial Day? At least we are start getting in the Summer frame of mind come Memorial Day.

I wasn't going to have a party this year, but my extended family decided for me that I would. So I guess I better get my act together and get things ready. That means throwing together a Memorial Day mantel.

Do I have one ready yet? Those of you who have been following my blog very long know that I am a procrastinator. So I don't have anything ready yet. Hopefully by Monday I will.

But until then, I thought you might enjoy seeing last years Memorial Day mantel. I'm sure this years will probably look almost exactly like it. I have updated my thoughts, just the pictures are from last year.

The best part of Patriotic decorating is that it can go from Memorial Day to the 4th of July.   Nothing says Summer to me more than Patriotic decor.

I'm not the greatest fan of Summer. Only because it is simply tooooooo hot. I don't do hot very well. Here in the Inland Empire of SoCal it gets upwards of 110 degrees at my house in the Summer. Luckily we have a pool.    And air conditioning. Just wish I could afford to run the AC all Summer long.

I'm just thankful that we don't get much humidity here. I've been to the South and the East in the Summer. I don't know how all of you can stand it.

What I do like about Summer is VACATION!!!!! And I am getting my first Summer vacation in a week. I can hardly wait. I so need a vacation. The only bummer is that I am not going anywhere this time. I'm too poor.   Can you hear those tiny violins? And gas prices are just too high. I know they have come down some, but gas is still $4.35 a gallon in my neck of the woods. Ouch!

I seem to have an obsession for lanterns this past year. This one came from Ikea.

I made the fan medallions last year. I just keep changing out the middle part. I picked up the patriotic stickers from Joann's last year as well. I seem to have misplaced them this year. Hopefully they will turn up in one of my holiday boxes. Just not sure which holiday I last used them. I guess I could look back through my blog to figure it out. But that is too much work. And you know how I hate work.

The vintage white ironstone pitcher was a thrift store find. The flags were from Target's dollar spot last year. I haven't even been to Target in a couple of months. Can you believe it? Me neither.

I'm still loving the chicken wire frames that I did last year. You can read all about it here.

The blue lantern I've had for probably 20 years. It normally sits on the window sill in the boys bathroom. It's getting pretty rusty now from years of being in a wet climate. Speaking of the boys bathroom, I so need to redo it. Maybe I will get it done while I'm on my staycation. But don't hold your breath.

I didn't feel too bad when I skinned the books as I only had to pay 10 cents a piece for them.

Here is another fan medallion that I spruced up with a patriotic sticker.

Since the mantel is in honor of Memorial Day, I thought it appropriate to place this flag case on the mantel.

The flag is my hubby's. It is from his Father's funeral. His dad was a veteran and is buried at Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. It's a beautiful cemetery. And it has a fabulous view of the ocean as well.

When we lived down in San Diego we used to visit the cemetery every Memorial Day to place flowers on his father's grave. I love how the Boy Scouts place flags on each of the graves for Memorial Day. I really should refold the flag so that the stars are straight, but again, too much work.

I placed larger flags from Michael's in this thrift store vase.

Here is another of my chicken wire frames. It's great for changing out prints for the different holidays or themes of my mantel.

And another fan medallion with a patriotic sticker.

I printed out this Memorial Day image I found on the Internet. I just googled vintage Memorial Day and clicked on images and wall-la, I found it. Pinned it on with a small clothes pin I found at Walmart in the office supply area. I found even tinier ones in the craft/fabric section.

Last year when I did my mantel I had not heard of Pinterest. Not even sure if it was around then. Now you can find lots more Memorial Day images on Pinterest.

I got this lantern last year from Big Lots. It was $5.00. Such a deal. They also had it in blue. But I knew that I already had a smaller blue lantern to use.

I think having a banner makes the mantel look more complete. But I'm too lazy to design my own. Luckily for me, there are those of you out there that like to and are even willing to share with us that don't. And for FREE! How I love you.

I found this freebie at Cakes likes a party blog.

Plus she even gives you a second one for 4th of July. And it's free as well. A 2fer.

Don't you just love free? And don't you just love this banner?

So there you have my Memorial Day mantel from last year.

This years mantel will most likely be almost exactly the same. I may change up a few things. I'll try to get it down this weekend & post photos. But since I'm a last minute person, you probably won't get to see any photos until after Memorial Day.

Besides, I have to clean and get ready for my Memorial Day pool party and BBQ. The down side of having a party. The upside is that I get to see my grand niece again.

What are your plans for Memorial Day?

Linking to:

Happy Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:05:00 +0000

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope that all of you are having a Happy Mother's Day. The above photo is of me and my mom at the beach back in the 50's. Yes, I am that old.

Some of my fondest memories of my mom are at the beach. I'm lucky to still have my Mom and to have had such a wonderful relationship with her my whole life. Not that it has been all perfect, no relationship is, but I have been so blessed that God gave me such a wonderful Mom.

I love you Mom!

And Happy Mother's Day to the rest of you. Now go do something for your mom, or for yourself.

Here is a video that I thought you might enjoy. It is geared towards Father's, but the greatest thing a Father can do in raising his children (especially daughters), is to love their Mother.

Kim

Cinco de Mayo Party

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Sat, 12 May 2012 01:11:00 +0000

I can't believe how fast time is flying this year. It's already almost been a week since I had my Cinco de Mayo party.

This was the first time I have ever hosted one. Not a party, but a Cinco de Mayo party. And we had it on the 5th of May. Go figure.

Here are some of the tissue paper flowers I made. I kept putting off making them until the morning of the party. And wouldn't you know that I forgot to take photos of the small single color ones I made for my outside tables. In fact, I didn't take any photos of my outside tables. Can you believe that I am a blogger that forgets to take photos?

I also don't style my photos. Keeping it real folks, keeping it real.

Nachos was round one of our Fiesta. The Fiesta plates & napkins came from Dollar Tree. The bright colored cups came from Sam's Club. All the plastic silverware came from Walmart. All my brightly colored plastic bowls came from Dollar Tree or the 99 Cent Only store.

The beverage dispenser was a new purchase from Sam's Club for $19.99. I really liked this one as it has a tube for ice to keep the beverage cold without watering it down.

The plastic margarita glasses are from Party City.

The blue tin pitcher that the tissue paper flowers are in came from Michael's. Purchased with a coupon of course.

I did make the colorful table runner. Well, it isn't actually a runner. I was going to make a runner, but got too lazy. I had purchased a yard of fabric from Hobby Lobby on sale. I ended up just turning under each edge & placing in the center of my table. Hey, it works for me.

Remember last week when I posted about making the punched tin napkin rings. Here is how they look when done. My sister in law was the one who wrapped the silverware in the napkins & then she just wrapped the punched tin strips around everything.

If I had more time, I would have made them more round and perfect. Who am I kidding? I would have done the same thing since I am a procrastinator and I wouldn't have had time to make them perfect. Obviously!

And another thing while I'm thinking about it. Why do I even bother buying napkins. No one but me seems to use them. I found most of the napkins still wrapped in the napkin rings once the party was over. Oh well, at least I try to be a nice hostess.

You can tell, I didn't style this photo either. Picture taking was my after thought. I was too busy trying to get everything ready and food on the table. You are lucky there are any photos.

Now we will move outside. I had wanted to hang those paper banners that they have hanging in Mexican restaurants. I forget what they call them. But the real deal is expensive. I did find this cheaper version at Party City. I wanted them hanging all over my backyard. Problem is, even though this is the cheap version, it was still out of my budget to get more than one. Plus I had no idea who I was going to string them across my yard. And lack of time always gets in the way. So I had to settle for just this one. I clipped it to the edge of my retractable awning. It is actually brighter than the photo. I guess it was the time of day and the angle when I took the photo.

Here is where all my time went decorating. This area was our "Photo Booth" for the party. I spent a couple of days making the crepe paper garlands. All of my crepe paper came from Dollar Tree and 99 Cent Only store. The 99 Cent Only store had the more vibrant colors.

One day was spent making the fringey ones (single colored ones). I pretty much just followed the tutorial over at Oh Happy Day blog. I had a lot more of the fringey garlands that I didn't have time to hang. I guess there is always next year.

I took the day before the party off so I could complete all my unfinished craft projects (which was everything needed to decorate). But all I got accomplished was sewing the ruffled garlands (multi colored). Took me most of the day to sew. I fell in love with the ones I found at MADE. I just knew I needed to make some for my party. However, mine didn't turn out quite as fabulous. I used my friends sewing machine, but it was having issues that day. I was too lazy to dig out my machine, and my friend lives right next door and has a room dedicated to sewing (lucky girl).

My ruffles started coming undone by the end of the day (dang wind). But they did brighten up the joint.

And again you can tell I didn't style my photo since the serape hanging on the back of the bench looks a mess.

I have this 3 tier planter that was void of real flowers. So the morning of the party I whipped up these tissue paper flowers. They remind me of going to Tijuana when I was a child. Too bad I didn't have a burro to go with the flowers. That would have made my photo booth fabulous. Smelly, but fabulous.

I think this is my favorite photo from the party. You get a better look at my ruffled and fringey garlands.

We actually ate food all afternoon. We started with round one which was nachos. Then we moved on to round two which was homemade chicken & pork tamales my hubby made. They were pretty yummy. I usually don't like tamales, but these were pretty good. Plus my sister in law made a killer green sauce.

Round three was taco bar. We had carnitas, carne asada and chicken fajitas with all the trimmings. Plus beans and rice.

Final round was dessert. Hubby made some dessert tamales with chocolate inside. They were OK. I personally only like milk chocolate or white chocolate. These were made with semi sweet chocolate. I'm not really a fan of semi sweet. But I gave it the old college try.

And then there was some strawberry covered cake that someone brought that was a hit.

Luckily it was warm enough to go swimming (for the adventurous). Everyone else who wanted to get wet, went in the jacuzzi. And no, I don't have any photos.

People started to leave and I almost forgot about my photo booth. I did get some of my guests to venture in for some photos.

The first ones in my photo booth were my niece (on the right) and her best friend and best friend's baby.

I was obsessed with finding Sombrero's for my party. You can't have a Mexican Fiesta without Sombrero's.

I first found some at Hobby Lobby for $3.00 each. But then when I went to Dollar Tree, I scored them for a buck a piece. $1.00 each!!! And they were more colorful. Of course, I took back the ones to Hobby Lobby.

The old men (my brother and hubby) at the party weren't afraid to get their photos taken half naked. Chippendale dancers they are not. That is the only thing great about being old. You don't care what people think of you anymore. At least most of the time.

My hubby is trying to get our dog Cookie to wear a Sombrero. She was having none of it.

My son did a better job at getting her to wear the Sombrero. Bread always does the trick with Cookie. Bread is like Catnip to her.

I never did get a photo of me, or my other son in the photo booth. My plan was to do so after everyone left. But my hubby and his friend decided they would help me by taking down the garlands before I was ready for them to come down. Plus they ripped them as they were taking them down.

MEN! Why do they help when you don't want their help. And not help when you do. MEN!

This is my niece's husband. My niece didn't come as she had just had a baby.

My neighbor & good friends chillin's. I love that they wore their ponchos and let others use them for photos as well. They also provided the serape on the bench as well. I did take a photo of them with their mom and dad, but my friend doesn't like everyone seeing her photo. So I was a good friend and didn't post it here.

We had about 26 people total at our party.

The neighbor girls from across the street getting into the spirit of Cinco de Mayo. I had cut out a bunch of mustaches to use for the photo booth. I was going to glue them to sticks, but all but one mysteriously disappeared. Everyone just kept taping the one mustache I had to their face.

More friends. You can tell we had to pull a couple of the kids from the pool to take their photos. The Dad was getting into character so much that his youngest son didn't know who he was and wouldn't go to him until he took the mustache and poncho off.

Isn't he the cutest? Love the crooked mustache.

Do any of you remember Hobo Kelley from the 60's? When ever I see these huge sun glasses, that is who I think of. So when I found some at Dollar Tree, I had to get them for my photo booth.

Finally it was time to do the pinata (I have no idea what key to push to get the squiggly line above the "n" in pinata). My friend who lives next door made the pinata from a Mylar balloon left over from her son's birthday party and some party hats I had on hand. She already had all the tissue paper. So this pinata was basically free. Isn't it fabulous? Better than any pinata you can buy at the store.

And was it ever sturdy. Most pinatas break after the 2nd kid whacks it. But this one lasted for all 6 kids that stuck around. In fact, the last kid (the 12 year old), had to smack it a bunch of times to get it to break.

It was filled with candy (most of which was left over from Easter), streamers and some cheap toys as well as some glow bracelets. I bought a bag of candy and toys from Walmart for $6.00. I thought that was pretty cheap. The glow bracelets were left overs from last Halloween from Dollar Tree (yes they still worked) and some I got at Michael's for a buck.

I gave each kid a paper bag to put their loot in. Each kid's bad was half full.

Afterwards, everyone used the broken up pinata as party hats. I can't believe Cookie is actually wearing a hat without having to be bribed with bread.

All in all it was a fun party. I didn't get everything done that I had planned. But then, I never get everything done. But what we had was more than enough. Everyone had a good time and a full tummy. And best of all, no one got Montezuma's revenge the next day.

I hope you have enjoyed my first Cinco de Mayo party. I just wish I had taken photos of the tables outside and of the rest of the food. I was just too busy cooking, eating and visiting. But then, that is the most important part of a party. Having fun!

Cinco de Mayo Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:04:00 +0000

I know that it is now Ocho de Mayo. But I never got the chance to share my Cinco de Mayo mantel prior to Cinco de Mayo. So I am doing so now.

I've never decorated for Cinco de Mayo prior to this year.

And I have never had this much color at one time in my house. I'm more of a black and white kind of girl. I'm on color overload. I love it!

I first found some old frames in my frame stash and spray painted them blue or orange. The green lanterns came from Target. The plates & this mask came from Hobby Lobby. The red & green bottles were originally found at a foreclosed house my hubby was cleaning out. He put them in the backyard where I found them covered with dirt and grime. Hubby cleaned them out for me using soapy water and some BB's.

This mask came from Dollar Tree. I don't know why I thought masks had anything to do with Cinco de Mayo. Maybe it's the feathers. The blue candle holders came from Tai Pan Trading last year or the year before. The small red bottle was found in the backyard.

The Cinco de Mayo banner was a free printable from Cakes likes a Party blog.

I need to learn how to make my own. But why should I when there are so many fabulous free printables out there in blog land?

These candle holders came from Target's dollar spot. Love the colors.

I did make the colorful flower wreath. All by myself. And no, I did not take photos while making it. Pretty easy as far as wreaths go. I just spray painted a Dollar Tree wreath blue. I already had a couple of the wreaths from Dollar Tree sitting in my garage. I then hot glued on different colored flowers and some Dollar Tree ribbon on the back to hang from.

All my flowers came from Dollar Tree and/or Michaels (on clearance). I paid $5.00 total for all the different flowers. I probably spent $10.00 total including the spray paint. And I had enough of everything to make a 2nd wreath (larger) for my front door. Which I haven't taken a photo of. So 2 wreaths for $10 bucks. Fast, easy and cheap. My 3 favorite words when it comes to doing a craft project.

And that my friends is my first Cinco de Mayo mantel. Now I just need to buy a new plastic storage bin to store all my Cinco de Mayo stuff in. And then find room in my attic for the box. Not an easy task I'm afraid. I might just have to purge something in order to make room. Hard to do for a hoarder like me.

Tomorrow I will share photos of my first ever Cinco de Mayo party. Lots more color to come.

Preparing for Cinco de Mayo

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:05:00 +0000

I know, I know, I've been gone like forever. But I have a good excuse.

(Crickets)

Don't rush me, I'm trying to think of one.

Oh well, I guess I don't have a good excuse after all.

I've just been lazy as usual.

Not completely. I have been busy getting ready to host my first Cinco de Mayo party.

I have all kinds of plans. I've been busy searching Google and Pinterest for inspiration. And I've been busy shopping for supplies. I've had tons of fun planning and shopping. However, the execution part, I haven't done so well with. And now I only have 5 days to get ready.

So far, this is all I have done:

I did get one of my "Fiesta" garland ideas completed. I just love all the bright colors. I don't have a tutorial, but that's OK, Oh Happy Day does. Except that I used crepe paper streamers and she used sheets of crepe paper. I got all my crepe paper from either Dollar Tree or from the 99 Cent Only store.

I cut a strip of the streamer about 8 feet long. Then I kept folding it in half (lengthwise) until my piece was about 4 inches. Then I cut the little fringes on both sides. I didn't cut all the way to each folded edge as I was afraid I might cut off at one of the folds. So when I unfurled it, I did have to go back & snip a few more snips in the areas that were missing.

I'll show you next week how they looked as decoration after I set up for the party on Saturday.

Next I decided to make some punched tin napkin rings. I always find it easier if all the utensils are placed inside a napkin at a party. That way you only have to grab I thing instead of 4 different things. Makes it easier to hold onto while getting your party food.

I don't have a tutorial for the napkin rings either. Nor a final photo on how they will look as actual napkin rings. But I do have photos of what they look like right now. Besides, Martha has a tutorial on how to make these.

I started out with 2 flat aluminum trays from Dollar Tree (2 for a dollar). I trimmed off the outside edges so all I had left was the flat shiny part in the middle. Then I used a ruler & scored the width of the ruler with a pen. Then I used my exacto knife to cut where I had scored. I got a total of 24 strips out of the 2 trays.

After I was done, my hubby came out to see what I was doing and asked why I didn't just use the paper cutter (we have one of those old fashioned ones with the machete looking blade). Duh!!! Why didn't I think of that?

Once I had cut out all the pieces. I used my ruler and pen and scored the long side of each strip and folded over the aluminum so that there wouldn't be a sharp edge. I then cut 12 of them in half. So I have 24. I left the other 12 long as I might use them to go around some candles. And I only need 24 napkin rings for my party.

I used a pen to draw designs. I guess this really isn't punched tin. It's more like embossed aluminum. I did use my screwdriver to make some punches as well. Sorry that I don't have any photos of the punching or drawing process, but I was by myself while making these and I didn't have enough hands to make and take photos at the same time.

Here are my first attempts. Not the greatest, but not bad either. I was mostly doing flowers as I started off just using the screw driver, but then decided it needed something else, so I used the pen to draw things.

My second set turned out much better.

My favorite one is the 2nd one down (the Chevron looking one). Now I just have to bend them in a circle around my napkin with the utensils inside and tape them. I'm hoping that tape will hold them shut. I guess I better check with Martha to see what she did.

And I did get a couple of picture frames spray painted aqua and orange for my photo booth. My husband thinks the colors are hideous. But they will work out perfect for my photo booth.

Now all I need to do is make my tissue paper flowers, make some more tissue paper garlands by sewing crepe paper streamers together & making them ruffly, make another tissue paper garland, make a wreath, make some mustaches for the photo booth and make most of the food. Easy, peasy.

Luckily, my neighbor is making the pinata.

If you want to see all my ideas, you can check out my Pinterest Cinco de Mayo page.

Are you having a Cinco de Mayo party this year? What are your plans? I'll be sure to post photos of the party next week so you can see how it turned out. Hopefully not disastrous.

Spring Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:46:00 +0000

I usually don't do a "Spring" mantel. I usually just do my St Patrick's Day one and then move on to Easter.

But this year I decided to just change up my St Patrick's mantel a little bit and make it a "Spring Mantel".

I just had to remove the leprechauns, the clover and the St Paddy's day prints. I also changed out the urns.

I found 2 matching urns at the thrift store a few months ago. I spray painted them Heirloom white. I still want to glaze them. But you know how lazy I am, besides being a procrastinator. So maybe I'll finish them by next spring.

I accidentally left this urn outside and it got wet in this weekends rain. But I love the result. It made the paint all chippy. Now I need to leave the one on the other side outside next time it rains.

The spring wreath in the middle came from Michael's about 5 years ago. I still love it.

The spring banner was a free printable from at Second Street. I didn't embellish it. Again, it's that laziness/procrastination thing I have going on. Besides, I'll probably change it this weekend for Easter.

I've had the topiaries for a few years now. I got them for $5.00 each at an antique store.

The terra cota birds came from ABC Distributing. I've had them about 5 years now too. The one on the left is actually broken. The bottom half broke off from being outside 11 months of the year. But you can't really tell since it was the bottom 1/4 of him that broke off. He just sits lower.

I didn't buy anything new for my spring mantel. Just used what I had.

Only the "Spring" banner was new this year. And that was a free printable. Plus I already had the printer ink and the paper.

So this mantel cost me "not one stinking penny". And that puts a smile on my face.

I'll enjoy this mantel for probably a week. Time to start thinking about Easter.

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St Patrick's Day hutch

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 00:36:00 +0000

Happy St Patrick's Day! Even though the day is almost over. I thought I better share my St Patrick's Day hutch before the day is done.

This was a free printable from Living Locurto. I placed it in a spray painted thrift store frame.

I haven't seemed to tire of my white plates. I just added some green to make my hutch ready for St Paddy's day.

This free printable can be found at Eighteen 25. And another spray painted thrift store frame. I placed it on a black wood easel that came from Dollar Tree a few years back.

The banner was made from free printables from Living Locurto.

They are actually cupcake toppers that I cut in a flag shape to make a banner.

Used my mini clothespins to hang them on some twine.

I had these glitter shamrocks already. Just placed them under this small cloche.

And stacked some glittered leprechaun hats under this cloche.

Last year I picked up these green balls from Tai Pan Trading. I just love the texture of them.

Under this cheese dome I placed a green & white ball that came from Dollar Tree a few years ago. Threw in some gold coins, some Dollar Tree shamrock necklaces and some rocks that I wrote the words "Kiss me I'm Irish".

The lighter green ball came from Michael's last year or the year before.

I covered some mason jars with these free printables from Living Locurto. They are actually wrappers for water bottles. But I thought they would work as wrappers for the jars. I placed some battery operated votives inside.

Some more stacked leprechaun hats.

The cheese dome in the back is where I keep my collection of old caster wheels.

I didn't green up these apothecary jars. I like them the way they are. Besides, St Paddy's day is almost over.

Time to decorate for Easter now.

Happy St Paddy's Day (or night) everyone. I hope that you didn't get pinched.

My St Patrick's Day Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:10:00 +0000

Hello! It's me. You know, Kim. The one you thought had dropped off the face of the earth.

I'm still here. And I finally got off my lazy butt and decorated for St Patrick's Day.

My family asked, "Why bother? St Patrick's day is in less than a week. Why not go straight to decorating for Easter?"

But my sweet leprechauns were calling from the attic to be let out. Even if just for a week. So I had to oblige. And they are so happy I did.

The problem with me being a procrastinator is that by the time I get done decorating, the light in my family room isn't very good and my pictures don't turn out like I want.

But then, maybe that's because I take crappy photos. I really need a new camera. Or learn to take better shots.

Here is one of my sweet leprechauns. I found him on eBay a few years ago. I think he is so cute. Don't you agree?

I only purchased one thing for this years mantel, and it was from the thrift store. I'll show you later what I got. For now, here is the left side of the mantel.

I made the flower balls a couple of years ago when I spied some at Tai Pan Trading that I was too cheap to buy. The white urn came from Tender Heart Treasures. I loved that catalog. I wonder what ever happened to that company. Does anyone know?

I purchased a CD off eBay along time ago that has tons of vintage images for every holiday. I just printed this one and placed in this spray painted frame from the thrift store.

All my frames on the mantel came from thrift stores over the years. I had hubby add some chicken wire to 3 of them. I've been using them on my mantel in almost all my decorating for the past year. I still love them.

I found this "Happy St Patrick's Day" sign a couple of years ago at Joanns on clearance.

The "Lucky" banner was a free printable I found at Sugar Tot Designs. Oops, I guess that was something new for the mantel this year. But since it was a free printable, I didn't consider it a purchase.

And here is the right side of my mantel, with my other two leprechauns.

Can a leprechaun be a girl? I say "yes". Aren't they the cutest? This is the first year in the last three years that I didn't search eBay for new leprechauns. I guess 3 is enough for me. At least for now.

Another vintage print from my CD in another vintage thrift store frame.

And this was my only purchase for St Patrick's day this year. I found this green urn at the thrift store this weekend. My hubby thought it was ugly. But I thought it would be perfect for my St Patrick's Day mantel.

Here are some final shots of my 2012 St Patrick's Day mantel.

I hope my "Lucky" banner makes me lucky in finding my pot of gold. You never know. I just bought a mega millions lottery ticket just in case. Somebody's got to win sometime. And it might as well be me.

Who wouldn't love to win millions? Maybe then, I could purchase some more leprechauns for next years mantel. Or better yet, a new mantel.

Come back tomorrow and I'll share this years St Patty's day hutch.

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Love is all you need-Valentine hutch

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:50:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! The day is 3/4 of the way done and I am just now posting. That's what happens when my real life gets in the way of my blogging life. Seems to happen all the time now.

Anyhoo, since today is Valentine's Day, I thought I better post about my Valentine hutch.

This years version is very frugal.

I started off with this chalkboard I picked up at a flea market for a buck. I just wrote "Love is all you need!" and instant Valentine decor.

My Valentine theme this year is heart doilies from the dollar store.

The larger heart doilies actually came Walmart. But I think they were around a dollar. Maybe a little more. The smaller white ones came from Hobby Lobby.

Did I ever mention how excited I am that we finally have Hobby Lobby in southern California? And that one is 20 minutes from my house? Doesn't get much better than that. Unless it were less than 5 minutes away. I'm just happy I don't have to drive to Utah or Arizona anymore to shop at one.

I just taped red & white heart doilies to all my plates.

And tied some to different size Mason jars with some bakers twine. The "XO" circle was a free printable from The Diary of Daves Wife.

I have a stash of Valentine cookie cutters that I used under some of my cloches.

I like the vintage ones the best. But I take what I can find.

It's hard to see in this cheese dome. But I put more of my vintage heart cookie cutters inside a larger newer one.

The "Be Mine" banner I made last year. It was a free printable that I found at Very Merry Vintage Style.

I added a red background to mine.

I just used stuff I already had on hand in a couple of my small cloches. This one has some paper hearts I made last year from my Dollar Tree thesaurus. There are some red glitter hearts at the bottom. And I could not for the life of me, make my heart stand in the right direction.

The "Hugs & Kisses" sign was picked up at TJ Maxx last year or the year before. I didn't change out my apothecary jars this year. Too lazy.

And finally a sweet cherub with a lonely heart.

All I decorated for Valentine's day is my hutch and my mantel. I never did decorate anything else. Partly because I'm too lazy and party because I can't get to the cabinet in the garage that houses all my cherubs. My hubby is a hoarder. He would call me one, but we all know he is the real culprit. I'm just a closet hoarder. He's the garage hoarder.

There is always next year!

Maybe I should clean out the garage as hubby's Valentine's Day present. Nah! Too much work. And we all know how much I hate work.

Now go and enjoy what's left of your Valentine's Day.

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Valentine Mantel

noreply@blogger.com (Kim @ Starshine Chic) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:13:00 +0000

I finally quit tweaking my mantel enough to take photos and post about it. And it's a good thing since Valentine's Day is in a week.

I decided to stick with red, white & black this year.

I had most everything in my stash already.

Wrapped a battery operated candle with some Dollar store heart doilies and tied it with some bakers twine. The bakers twine was a special deal from Pick Your Plum back in November.

I already had the cookie cutters. The wire heart in the back was a thrift store find last year. I found it while on vacation. Either in Utah or Arizona.

Found some Valentine related silhouettes from good old Google and Pinterest. This one was found on Flickr.

And this one at Karen's Whimsy.

The glitter heart cutout I've had for years. It either came from Walmart or Target's Dollar Spot. I did just get the glittered "LOVE" from Michaels a few weeks back. I think that is my only new purchase for the mantel.

I made the chalkboard from a cabinet door I picked up at the Habitat ReStore last year. I think it cost me a couple of bucks. I've been wanting to attach it to door that goes into my laundry room from the kitchen, but I've been too lazy to do so. So why not use it for my Valentine mantel?

I found the saying from Your Homebased Mom blog. She has a free printable with this saying.

I recycled one of my rosette's from last year. Added a "14" image that I found at The Diary of Daves Wife.

The cupcake liner heart I made for last year's mantel. I just removed the blue ribbon & pinned it to my chicken wire frame with a small clothespin. You can see in the reflection that it still has a blue back. I was going to paint it, but the lazy person in me opted not to.

The wooden "LOVE" sign was originally black. I painted it white a few years ago. Now I am wishing I had left it black. I guess I could have painted it black again. But, that lazy person inside decided white it just fine.

I used my thrift store Mason jars from my Christmas & winter mantels again.

I did just find this heart shaped basket at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago. I spray painted it with some cheapo paint from Walmart as I was out of my Rustoleum Heirloom White paint.

My "Valentine" garland was super easy. Just taped some smaller dollar store heart doilies to some larger red ones, printed out some letters that I got from AllSorts blog that spell "Valentine" & pinned them all to some bakers twine with my heart clothespins I picked up from Michaels last year on clearance.

And a few last photos of my mantel.

So how do you like this years mantel? Let me know.

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