Blog Parties

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Window Shopping at Not Too Shabby

Are you up for more window shopping? I know I am.

Today I'm sharing a yummylicious store I found while on vacation in Phoenix Arizona. The store is called Not Too Shabby. And it was my favorite store I found while in Phoenix.

Now keep in mind these photos were taken 2 months ago. I almost forgot about them. So who knows if any of the items I am showing you are still at this fabulous store. But they still make for great eye candy.

Don't you just love this settee? This would go perfect in my house. And I love the pillow.

And this chair!!!! I'm in love. I did almost buy one of those Paris France burlap bags in the top right hand corner. But I resisted.

If you love Shabby Chic or anything Frenchy, Vintage or Romantic, this store is for you.

I love bird cages. Don't you?

And what about this fabulicious chandelier?

Swoon!!!!! I still have a soft spot for pink roses. This settee would actually look so good in my office at work.

You know I have a thing for cloches. I loved this box sitting under the cloche. I may just have to try & make myself one. But don't hold your breath. You know how lazy I am, and how I like to procrastinate.


I want this hat and hat stand. I look terrible in hats, but I love them. And if you have a pretty hat stand, then hats don't need to be on your head to be enjoyed. I also have a thing for pink depression glass. I don't own any. But I still love it.

Another chair that I fell in love with. That is the problem with this store, too many things to fall in love with.

This is a plain Jane settee. But still fabulous when purdy pillows are added. Knowing me, if I were to purchase one of these settees it would probably be this one. Only because it isn't too trendy & can be changed up with different pillows. I'm old enough to know that you want appliances and furniture to be more neutral. Colors and trends change so often, that this plain Jane color has more staying power. That is what the "safe" side of me says. However, the "wild" side of me would go more for the french writing settee or the pink roses one.


I still love soldered jewelry. Love these necklaces.

They have this attic area upstairs that is set up to look like, well, an attic.

I love how they had things jumbled about. Felt like you had just walked into an old attic full of treasures just waiting to be explored.

Love the "Nest" banner. And I want the bed. I passed one up back in the 80's I found at a swap meet. I'm still kicking myself to this day. I thought $10.00 was too much. What was I thinking?


Isn't this the sweetest cherub? I love that it has a broken hand.

I want some wooden corbels, so bad. But so far, I'm not willing to pay the price. Hubby said he would make me some. I know it isn't the same, but cost wise, I can live with reproduction.

I love this window. Heck, I love everything in this photo. Are you getting the sense that I love everything in this store? Pretty much!

Well I hope that you enjoyed our little window shopping tour of Not Too Shabby. If you are ever in the Phoenix area you can find this store at 11649 N Cave Creek Rd, Phoenix, AZ. And they do have a website www.nottooshabbyonline.com. They don't sell anything online, but you can see lots more eye candy.

And no, I did not buy anything at this store. Not that I didn't want to. Being broke is a real hindrance. Thus, we call this window shopping.

But I'm sure the owners of this store wouldn't mind it at all, if you stopped by and bought everything. Or even a little something. And if you feel like sending me a little sumthin' from this store, I'm not going to stop you.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Window Shopping at Madison's Manor

A few weeks back I went shopping with my sister in law & niece in Old Town Temecula. There are lots of fun antique stores and shops in Old Town Temecula.

One of my more favorite shops is a place called Madison's Manor. It is located at 42050 Main Street in Old Town Temecula.

Their website states they are Purveyors of Romantic Adornments. And boy are they ever. If you love anything romantic, vintage, french, girly, this is the place for you.

Here are a few photos of some of the goodies you will find there.






It was close to Valentine's Day when I was there. So most of the displays had were geared towards that.

I love cherubs.

I have those same candlesticks. But I found mine at a thrift store.

I hope that you enjoyed a small taste of this fabulous store. If you are ever in southern California, you need to make a trip to Old Town Temecula to visit Madison's Manor.

You can see more fabulous photos at their website Madisonsmanor.com. Their web store is closed right now, but they will hopefully be opening it up soon for all of you who can't make it to their store.

I didn't buy anything on this trip. Not that I didn't want to. But for some reason, a lack of funds keeps getting in the way of bringing something home. But my niece did buy a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Interiors book. She was so excited. I may have to borrow it from her.

Sorry I've been so lazy lately. I just haven't felt very motivated to do anything, let alone blog about doing nothing.

I did take down my Valentine stuff this weekend, but that is as far as I got. Still think it's a bit too early for St Paddy's day. But I did get down my St Paddy's box from the attic. So who knows.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day! Would you Be Mine?

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!! I hope you are having a sweet day. Even if you don't have a Valentine to share it with.

The last Valentine decor I have to share with you is this "Be Mine" banner.

I hung it across this triple mirror that is on my family room wall.

This is the wall where the mirror is. It is the wall behind my couch. And I can see from this photo that I forgot to remove the pink blanket that I had piled in a chair. You can see the reflection in the bottom right hand mirror. Oops!!!

And I never did write anything on the small oval chalkboard that hangs from the knob on the window mirror to the left.

See, I am actually human, just like the rest of you. But I know you never had any doubts.

The "Be Mine" banner was actually a free printable that I found at Very Merry Vintage Style.

I downloaded her free banner on to white card stock.

Then I cut it out & glued each piece onto the red & white polka dot paper I had on hand.

Used the only decorative edged scissor that I have to try & make a fancy edge. As you can tell, I'm not very good at that part. I really need to get more decorative edge scissors. At least some pinking shears.

Attached them to some twine with the cute little cloth-pins with hearts that I got on clearance at Michael's. And it was done.

It turned out so cute. I love it!

So what are you plans for Valentine's Day? Hubby & I already celebrated over the weekend. And yes, I did help clean up the garage. Too bad I didn't take any photos. Or maybe that is a good thing. Then you would know what a hoarder I am.

But we did manage to clean off the desk and the countertop so things are better organized & we have a place to work on crafts and hobbies now. We just need to have a yard sale and/or sell stuff on eBay or Craig's list.

And I finally put hubby out of his misery and let him give me my Valentine's gift on Saturday morning.
It wasn't wrapped very Valentinesy. But I was about to find out why.


He got me an Amazon Kindle. And the best part was it didn't cost him a dime. He won it from an insurance meeting he went to last week. And it came already all wrapped up in the bag above. The Kindle was the grand prize in the giveaway. He was so excited he won, and he couldn't tell me until he gave me the gift.

I love it! Now I just need to download some books and start reading. Or better yet, borrow some from my sister and mom. That way, I don't even have to pay for them. I'll just have a time limit. And I hate time limits. Oh well, the price we pay for free.

Yesterday hubby took me shopping to my favorite antique store down in Temecula. It's called Granny's Attic. I purchased 3 vintage heart shaped cookie cutters. Hubby got all excited as he thought that I was going to make him cookies for Valentine's Day. Silly man! They are to put in my apothecary jar. And I thought he knew me better than that.

But who knows, maybe I'll be nice and make him some cookies for Valentine's Day. But it won't be heart shaped sugar cookies. Too much work. It will probably be his favorite no bake drop chocolate/oatmeal/peanut butter cookies that we call Summer cookies. Much easier and they are chocolate!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope yours involves chocolate too.


Friday, February 11, 2011

Love and Cherubs-China Hutch Version

Oops!!! I accidentally hit publish post before I wrote anything.

Can you believe that Valentine's Day is now only 3 days away? I guess I better hurry up & post my remaining Valentine stuff.

Today I will share my china hutch.

Some of it is the same as last year. I did change up a few things.

I used all these cards last year in this photo display. This year I placed it in this pitcher. And placed some cherubs in front.

I printed out most of these in Sepia tone. I like the muted look.

The images I printed out are from numerous books that I've purchased over the years with vintage images. They all came with CD's so you can print the images out.

This LOVE banner was a free printable that I found online this year At Second Street blog. I just printed mine out on white card stock, cut it out, punched some holes & strung it on twine. Super easy.

You'll notice a recurring theme with me. Everything I do is easy, fast and cheap.


As I told you before, I have lots of cherubs left over from my wedding almost 5 years ago. They come in handy for decorating at Christmas and/or Valentine's Day. This is my favorite cherub. Cause he's blowing kisses. Or is it a her? I tend to think of cherubs as boys.

I taped some white heart shaped doilies I had on hand to my white plates. Then I printed out some vintage Valentine hearts in sepia tone & taped on top of the doily.

This cherub is praying that he doesn't fall off the shelf and break into a million pieces.

I did just break down and purchase these two birdies from Michael's. I didn't need any more birds. But these had crowns. And I got them for $1.69 a piece. They were cheap. So I had to get them. Plus I've been so good not spending money, I had to reward myself.

The Hugs & Kisses sign came from TJ Maxx last year.

I had a hard time deciding what to do with my apothecary jars. I switched them out about a hundred times. Ok, I lied, it was more like 5 times. This is what I finally ended up with. I'm still not completely happy. But it will do. Besides, Valentine's Day is in like 3 days. So no more tweaking.


The center jar I filled with heart shaped marshmallows from Target. They are strawberry flavored & pretty yummy. The bag cost $1.19. I also saw some heart shaped marshmallows that were pink on the outside & white in the inside at Dollar Tree yesterday, but I had already purchased the ones from Target.

The "X" & "O" letters came from TJ Maxx last year. It came in a set of 4, but I split them up this year & used half here and half on my shelf I showed you earlier in the week.

I divided up my number balls between two of the apothecary jars. And then placed some heart shaped cookie cutters inside. I like that the #2 ball is showing here. As it takes two to love.

I placed the #1 & #4 balls here as Valentine's Day is on the 14th. My son thought Valentine's Day was on the 17th. I told him that is St Paddy's Day next month. Valentine's Day is the 14th.

Under this cloche I placed a "love poem" propped up by a vintage flower frog. Then I placed 3 paper roses I made in front. They were left over from my paper rose heart that I made for my mantel.
Under this cheese dome cloche I placed a bunch of paper hearts that I made. I placed them inside a large pink heart shaped cookie cutter. I learned how to make the paper hearts from Stephanie Lynn over at Under the Table and Dreaming. She always has so many fabulous ideas.

I nabbed some letter balls from another apothecary jar to spell out "LOVE" for this cloche.

I also placed a small cherub sitting on a bed of curled sheet music strips.

Under this cheese dome I placed this crown bowl I picked up at Michael's for $1.69 on sale. And it has hearts on the crown. Perfect for Valentine's Day. I filled it with some heart ornaments that came from Lillian Vernon catalog years ago.

And that is my Valentine's Day china hutch.

I still have a "Be Mine" banner that I haven't shared that hangs on a mirror in my family room. Maybe I'll post it on Valentine's Day.

What are your plans for Valentine's Day? We don't really have anything planned. I'll probably cook dinner, or better yet, maybe I'll get hubby to cook me dinner. That's more like it.

Tomorrow I'm suppose to help hubby clean out part of the garage. That is my Valentine's gift to him. Not very romantic, but it is something he has wanted for a long time. Not sure what hubby has for me. I know he has something. He's dying to give it to me. Wanted to give it to me early. But I told him to wait until Valentine's Day. It's driving him crazy having to wait until then.

I am curious, but I am having more fun making him wait to give it to me. I wonder what it could be? Maybe, I'll give in & let him give it to me tomorrow after we clean out the garage.

So, if I don't talk to you before Valentine's Day, hugs and kisses to all of you. Have a great Valentine's Day.



Linking to:

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest