Spooky Mantle: take 1

I'm calling this "take 1" because I may make some modifications once I officially pull out my Halloween decorations from the garage. In the meantime, I had a mini splurge at Michael's this past weekend because everything was on super sale. Yay! All of the creepy stuff on this mantle cost me about $13 ($13 too much according to my husband, but that's neither here nor there). Anyway, here are some pics of my spooky mantle (take 1):

Spooooooky?? Spoooooooooky!

They had these awesome beige "ghoslty" branches on sale for $2 each - score! I think the butterflies were $1 each or something like that. The perfect spooky touch :)

Of course I added my book page "Boo" letters, and I am pretty much in love with my $2.50 crow!

Hayden still clings to my leg the entire time we are in the Halloween section, so I didn't want to go too scary with it. More eeeeeerie than scary.

I love how the Eiffel tower in the pic looks kind of ghostly too. Perfect!

We'll see what other spooky treasures I can find in my stash to add to it. S-p-o-o-k-y!!!!!!!! Boo!
Happy Moan-day people!

The ol' Shoppity Shop

Happy Sunday everyone! It's a nice gloomy Fall-ish day here in SoCal and we're warm and cozy in our house. I just wanted to pop in to share a few more Fall/Halloween items that are new to my
etsy shop :)

First is this spooky gray glittery bunting. Spppoooooookkkky!!! Ha ha! It didn't photograph that well, it's super sparkly in person. Cassie and I saw a similar one when we were at the Rose Bowl last weekend made out of German glass glitter, so I decided to knock-it-off. This one is made out of glittery card stock from Michael's some metal eyelets, and baker's twine :)

Next I made some vintage looking pumpkin book page medallions. If I'm being honest, I won't be heart broken if these guys don't sell ;)

It isn't even October yet and I'm already getting the itch to pull out my giant tubs of Halloween decor and get all spooky up in here!! Ha ha. I'll try to hold off.....a bit.

Friday's Etsy Faves #3

Happy Friday everyone!!! Here are some things I've been crushing on lately from Etsy :)

First up is this adorable monthly calendar from Jane Says. I would love to buy this and hang it up on my pin board by my desk. Sometimes I just want to glance and see what the date is without having to bust out my large-and-in-charge family calendar.

Next, I am in LOVE with this pretty hot air balloon print from Lovely Sweet William. "Come with me to touch the sky!"

Do you remember these bird whistles from when you were little?? I totally do!! They have these at Hey YoYo and I love 'em! These would be so awesome as party favors :)

As some of you know, my sister is expecting a baby boy in February. I think he may NEED one of these sweet gnome dolls from Tadpole Creations. You know...want/need/want - it's all the same when we're shopping for baby :)

Last up - a spooky addition to my collection of faves. You know how I love book pages and this print from Winterberry Cottage is no exception. This would be awesome in a gallery wall or on a spooky mantle.

That's all for today people!! I'll be adding some new fun & sorta spooky items to my Etsy shop today so go take a look :)

From the archives...

From the archives people!!!! I have not yet begun to decorate for Fall yet, but I am starting to get organized today. I will say goodbye to my shells and starfish, and hello to pumpkins and spooky stuff ;)

These pictures below were taken last year. Still one of my favorite projects to date. I can't wait to get these pretty pumpkins out and arrange them this year! I plan to add to them too (yes hubby, I do). The craft pumpkins are on sale as we speak at Michael's!! Woohoo! Anyway, like I said, these pics are from last year so you'll have to stay tuned to see what I do with them this year (oooooh, ahhhhhh, sounds thrilling, I know. ha ha).

 Happy almost semi-sort of Fall-ish :)

Seriously Awesome!!

What is awesome you ask??! Let me tell you ALL about it :)
If you read my last post and clicked on the link, you were whisked away to the land of
 Primitive & Proper & Miss Cassie Bustamante. For those of you who know Cassie's blog (which, let's face it, is most of you), you know that she is funny, sweet, smart, pretty (inside and out), a great mom, a great friend, and an AWESOME furniture re-finisher. I have to admit that I sort of had a "celebrity blogger" crush on her when our love affair began (ha ha). It all started with the occasional e-mail, a link-up to her furniture link party, and the every-so-often witty banter. Eventually it blossomed into a "blog friendship." We really related to one another, we had similar ideas about life, some similar life experiences, and we just "clicked." She brought me into her (cool girl) circle which also included a few other awesome bloggers (Andi & Lisa to name a couple) and I officially considered her my friend. Let's face it, I was hooked! We e-mailed back and forth a ton! We texted from time to time, and I can't forget to mention the instant message 3-way sessions between Cassie, Andi, & Myself.
Why am I telling you this??
Here's why :)
Cassie's brother (conveniently for me) lives in L.A. (which is about a one hour drive from where I live). Wheels were in motion for her to come out and visit him and see the house he had purchased and was fixing up. Umm...Do we take our relationship to the next level and meet in person??? Umm....YES!!! No brainer!!! And, to make it even more super duper awesome, we'll plan to meet in person for the very first time at the infamous Rose Bowl Flea Market (aka heaven on Earth - haha). Fast forward to this past Sunday and BAM! Awesome!!! My sis and I meet Cassie and her brother and his girlfriend at the flea for some shopping, talking, shopping, eating, talking, shopping, FUN! Again, it was AWESOME!!! The three of us clicked instantly and it was better than I could have imagined it.

Did we stop there you ask?? NOPE.
From the flea market, Cassie came home with us to hang out a bit and have a slumber party at my house. We spent the evening chatting, relaxing, hanging with my family, eating food, and having fun. It was perfect!

The next morning, my sweeter than sweet husband made us a yummy breakfast. Crepes. My favorite!!

YUM!!!

And then my sis and I took Cassie into our cute little home town (Laguna Beach) to see the sights.

We walked around a bit, and let Hayden play on the playground (btw, my kids LOVED Cassie and were so excited that she got to sleep over at our house).

We took her to Wahoo's for lunch, and then it was back home for some more relaxin'! We pretty much spent the rest of the day lounging around, chatting, and chatting some more.

Later that evening, Cassie and I made the trek back up to LA to meet up with her brother for an awesome karaoke session. You guessed it, it was AWESOME!! Ha ha. So much fun to step outside our comfort zones and let loose for a bit. These pictures say it all :)

We even sang a duet from the movie Grease - "You're the one that I want....ooh ooh ooh."
We had a BLAST! Seriously, so much fun! I will remember it always!

You know when you have an idea about how something is going to turn out in your head, and then the reality totally blows that idea out of the water. That's exactly what happened here! I truly believe we will be life-long friends and I could not be more thrilled! Cassie - You freakin' ROCK! I miss you already!!!!

The next time we see each other, I'll be heading out to MD to see her neck of the woods and I can't wait :)
Cheers Cassie! Until next time friend :)  

Happy :)

Go HERE :)

Friday's Etsy Faves #2

Happy Friday everyone!!!! Yesterday around 3pm, all of Southern Orange County and San Diego (anyone with SDGE as their power company) had a blackout. Stores, homes, street lights, everything was BLACK. It was a super hot day so we spent most of it outside hiding in the shade. Our night was filled with quiet and candles. Our power came back on around midnight (and so did all of our lights, tv, etc). Luckily, I was the only one that woke up and turned them all off while the others slept soundly in their beds :) It was kind of a "fun" little adventure, but I'm glad it's over. Anyway, here are my Etsy faves for this week!! Enjoy :)

First fave of the day: This awesome book page garland by Stacey Winters. You all know how I love some book pages :)

Next: I love these fun maps from Vassi Slavova. CA owns my heart for sure, but I am also in love with France :)

I am also loving this pretty makeup pouch from a.e.wilder (Buntings make me happy).

This art by Studio Mela reminds me of my mom and Nana. This is exactly how they feel :)

And last but not least, this gorgeous charm necklace from Saylor Rose. Her shop has amazing jewelry!

That's it for today peeps!!
Oh yeah, some BIG news!!! A SUPER DUPER AWESOME person and I will be hanging out in real life this Sunday at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. To know her is to love her :) I can't wait!!!!!