Spring & St Patrick's Day Cloches

It's Party time!!! And a cloche party at that. You know how I love my cloches.

It is so hard trying to think up different ways to decorate them. I went pretty simple this time. But then, don't I always? I'm continuing with my green theme.

So here are my spring and St Patrick's Day cloches.....



We will start off with the table that sits behind my sofa. I have placed two of my cloches here.


I placed a leaf decor ball I made on top of a candle stick. And then placed a candle ring at the base.


Under this cloche I placed a thrift store urn with a green decor ball on top.

To the left of my couch sits an antique trunk, a freebie from my sister in law. You know, one of those, "Oh, are you going to get rid of that? I'll take it". On top of the trunk I have this antique tray I picked up at the thrift store. The tray makes placing things on the trunk much easier. On the tray I have three, yes you heard me right, three cloches.

Another thrift store urn (a small one) with a small decor ball I picked up from Dollar Tree a few years back. The two birds came from Target last year. They were Christmas ornaments. I placed them on a bed of split peas.

This is my newest cloche. It's not really a cloche as it doesn't have a handle or knob on top. I think it is actually part of a light fixture. In fact, I was going to make a light out of it. But for now, I'm using it as a cloche. I have this glass dome covering another flower ball I made that is resting on top of another candlestick. The green birdies came from Micheal's last year. The black base is some sort of kitchen tin I picked up at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago. I liked the texture & that it was painted black. I think it is a tart tin, but I turned it upside down to use as a base.


I made this cloche out of a glass dome I found at a thrift store. I glued a glass knob to the top. I've made a couple of these. I placed a vintage bottle inside with a shamrock pick I've had.

I tied this charm to the bottle with twine. The charm was an eBay find from a few years back. Love the shamrocks.

Last year I grabbed a few rocks from outside & wrote "Kiss me I'm Irish" on them with a black Sharpie pen. They are my blarney stones. Placed everything on a bed of split peas.

For some reason, I have a hankering for soup. How about you?

Now we will move on to my hutch. I've already shared these when I did my hutch post earlier in the week. But let's look at them again.


This is Liam. I just caught him last week, from eBay. He is such a charmer.

On the base of my hutch I have a couple of glass cheese dome cloches and some apothecary jars.

Under this cheese dome I placed this crown from Michael's. I love how the heart shapes on the crown make shamrocks.

The inside of the crown is filled with fake gold coins with a leprechaun hat on top.

Did you think I'd keep real ones in there? Gold coins that is. I wish. But then I wouldn't be that dumb. Gold is expensive now.

How I wish my coins were real. If they were, do you think I would be here? Heck no! I'd be in Ireland trying to find a real leprechaun and a real pot of gold. And why Ireland & not Paris? Don't you worry, I'd be going to Paris as well. But I've already been there once. So I'd go to Ireland first, as I haven't been there. But I would definitely stay a week or so in Paris before coming home.


I added a touch of green to my apothecary jars.

Here is the right side.


This is another cloche I made by gluing a glass knob to the top of a thrift store glass dome. I placed some moss balls I had on hand. They came from Michael's, last year. And added a skeleton key I had laying around.

Under this cheese dome I added some moss rocks that came from Dollar Tree, last year. I hung this Irish blessing plaque from the knob.

And finally we have the little cabinet that sits at the end of my kitchen cabinets.

I did nothing different to the large apothecary jar. Still holds my letter balls. Which by the way, I still love.


But I did manage to capture a couple of more leprechauns. I've had these two for a couple of years now. They came from eBay as well. Their names are Siobhan ("shiv + awn", the Irish version of Joan) and Seamus ("shay + muss", the Irish version of James).

So there you have this years spring & St Patrick's Day cloches. I had great plans on adding some cute tags. But you know me, I decided I'd rather watch American Idol then to make tags. The lazy me always seems to win out.

Now be sure to stop by A Stroll Thru Life to visit all the other party goers.

It's Good to be Green aka: My St Patrick's Day Mantel

Today we are having spring like weather here in southern California. It is suppose to be in the high 70's to low 80's today. Sorry to rub it in for all of you who are still having snow. But our weather is freaking fabulous right now!!!

I really like decorating for Spring. I'm not into using pastel colors. I save that for Easter. I really like using green for spring. And since March is the month for St Patrick's Day, green is even better.

So here is my St Patrick's Day mantel.


I love it! The only "new" purchase is the light green flower ball on the right hand side. I got it at Michael's a few weeks back at 40% off. Everything else I already had or made myself with stuff I already had.

The empty frames are ones I picked up at a thrift store. I painted them Heirloom White, then used watered down burnt umber paint to antique them. I don't have any glaze, so I used what I had.

The "skinned" books came from a thrift store for 10 cents each. No, they did not come already "skinned". I had to do that myself, but I didn't feel too bad "skinning" them.

The topiary I found on clearance a few years back at Ross for $2.99.

The milk glass urn was another thrift store find. I made the green leaf ball last year. I had made some flower balls with Dollar Tree flowers. Then I used the leaves from the flowers to make a couple of leaf balls. Super easy. Just hot glue leaves into a Styrofoam ball.



Can you believe that I made this split pea ball? Of course you can believe it. Just look at it. You can see all kinds of hot glue strings. This was a super easy project too. I used a Styrofoam ball I had lying around (I picked up a bunch last year from the thrift store), squirted hot glue on it (in small sections) and rolled it in split peas I had laying on a paper plate. Fast and easy.

I wanted to make one after I saw one Alison on House of Hepworths made last month. She used a whiffle ball wrapped in paper instead of a Styrofoam one like I used. We both just used what we had.

But this wasn't my first foray into using split peas to decorate with. Remember when I made a split pea wreath last year for spring? And then I painted it black and made a Halloween wreath? I threw it in the trash after Halloween. I may just have to make me another spring one this year.

The St Patty's Day lolly is a recycled project. See I am truly being green. Last month I made Valentine's Day ones. I just peeled off the Valentine Day center & printed out a St Patrick's Day free printable I found online at Anna and Blue Paperie & hot glued it to the center of the book page lolly.

I'm still not tired of the layered look of the empty frame in front of the mirror. I've had it that way for about a year now.

This shamrock wreath came from Michael's a few years back. But they still had them this year. I just used some St Patrick's Day ribbon I already had on hand to tie it to the frame.

Nothing screams St Patty's Day like shamrocks.

On the right hand side of the mantel I placed this milk glass urn. It is another thrift store find. Placed a boxwood decor ball in the urn. It and the larger green ball both came from Tai Pan Trading last year. The small green flower ball is the one "new" item this year from Michael's. You know, the one I mentioned in the beginning of this post. It would be super easy to recreate. But sometimes it's just easier to buy one all ready made.




Another recycled lolly that I morphed from Valentine's Day to St Patty's Day.




And that is why it is good to be green. I only spent $2.39 for the Michael's flower ball for this mantel. Everything else, I already had. It helps when you are a closet hoarder.

Now I think I will go outside and enjoy this beautiful spring weather we are having. Oops! I forgot, I have to work today. Drats! I guess I will just have to enjoy looking out the window at the beautiful spring weather while I slave away working at my desk.



Linking to:

Hookin Up with HOH @ House of Hepworths

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage

My hutch is feeling a wee bit Irish

Look at what I was lucky enough to catch.

A leprechaun!
This is my newest eBay find. I was lucky enough to snatch him for $4.95. Isn't he cute? I didn't want him escaping, so I trapped him under this cloche. He looks quite comfy. I've named him Liam.

So to make him feel a little at home, I decided to bring a wee bit of green to my china hutch.



The easiest way to add a bit of Irish is to add reproduction vintage post cards. I happen to have a CD with a lot of these images.

But you can find lots on the Internet.

I found some free printables on the web as well. Just cut them out & tape to the plates. I found some at Lizard & Ladybug.

And some at Anna and Blue Paperie.

I found a ceramic crown at Michael's last month. It has hearts on it so I used it for Valentine's Day. But the hearts are actually in the shape of a clover, so it also works for St Patty's Day. I placed it under a glass cheese dome. Filled up the crown with gold coins (that you can not see) and placed a green leprechaun hat on top.

The bottle on the left is a seltzer bottle. Part of my bottle collection. I found it at an antique store last year for cheap. I liked it as it is quite heavy.

And the small vintage frame came from a thrift store a few years back. I printed out some more St Patty's day vintage images to place in the frame.

On the right hand side I have another cheese dome. This one is filled with moss covered rocks that I got last year from Dollar Tree. I hung a ceramic sign with an Irish blessing that came from Michael's last year or the year before.

Another thrift store vintage frame with another vintage image. The tall cloche is one I made from an old anniversary clock glass dome. I glued the glass knob on top. Filled it up with moss balls that came from Michael's last year.

I added some glitter shamrocks and a leprechaun hat to the apothecary jars.

I seem to have quite a collection of cloches and apothecary jars. I love them. But sometimes I get stumped with what to fill them with.

I still love my number balls that I've had for a couple of years now. And I love the domino pieces. Reminds me of my parents & vacation. We always play domino's when we go on vacation with them. And I found the vintage clothes pins at the thrift store a few months back.

I found these cool shamrock printables from Blooming Homestead.

I cut them out & taped them to my white plates. Easy peasy.

Behind my leprechaun I added a shamrock wreath. I have a couple of these wreaths that I've picked up over the years at Michael's.

I think my new leprechaun feels right at home on my hutch. And don't worry. I'm not going to fall for any of his shenanigans. I know Liam is going to try & trick me into letting him go. I may be blond, but I'm not dumb. But then, he did promise to show me his pot of gold if I let him out for a minute.

I hope that you liked my St Patrick's day china hutch and my new leprechaun friend. I have two more leprechauns that I've captured in another part of the room. I'll share that later. So stay tuned.



Linking to:

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage

Window Shopping at Vintage Begonia

Can you believe that it is already March? This year is whizzing by so fast. Spring is coming up quickly. I'm sure most of you are more than ready for Spring to arrive.

While we wait for spring, I thought we'd do some more window shopping.

I found another fabulous store a few weeks back while shopping in Old Town Temecula. The store is called Vintage Begonia and it is brand spanking new. It has only been open a month or two. And it has become one of my most favorite stores in Old Town.

This store has lots of yummy french, shabby chic and cottage adornments. Just look at this scrumptious chair. I need it for my house.

I loved this display shelf.

And look at these pink canisters. It was love at first sight. I need them. Except for the fact that my kitchen has zero pink in it.

I need this mantel. Or I need hubby to build me one that looks like this.

Lots of yummy pillows.

I loved everything about this store.

Isn't this bench the best? And I need one of those top hat pillows. It would look great on hubby's side of the bed. Seems like I need a lot of things from this store. Did you notice that they are "needs" and not "wants".


You can find Vintage Begonia at 28465 Old Town Front St, Temecula, CA 92590. Be sure to stop by and do some shopping. I only wish I had money to do some actual shopping here. And I hope they can stay in business long enough until I do.