Free is the ultimate in thrifty shopping.

I am so excited. I just got my first perk from blogging. You see a couple of months ago I blogged about my new favorite store Tai Pan Trading.

Well, I got an email from the manager of Tai Pan Trading's Rancho Cucamonga location which is here in southern California. She was happy to see that I was blogging about Tai Pan Trading & specifically their location. So she said that she was going to send me a gift card that I could use at their store.

ME!!!! She was sending me a gift card. That equals free money!!!

Well my $25.00 gift card arrived in the mail on Thursday. By Saturday my gift card was burning a hole in my pocket. I couldn't wait another minute. Hubby & I jumped in the car and drove the 45 minutes (no traffic) to Tai Pan Trading.

I had a hard time not speeding to get there. I had to keep reminding myself that a speeding ticket in California is over $300. You see money always motivates me. Especially when you don't have any.

Well we finally arrived & we spent about 2 hours roaming the store. I had a hard time deciding what to spend my free money on. They have so much to choose from.

Before I show you what I got. I'll take you on a little tour of my favorite things I saw this time. Each time I have been there it's like visiting a new store.

Of course, patriotic decor was a theme at the store. I almost bought the blue glasses. They were only like $1.99 each. But I passed on them & decided to keep looking.

I loved these cute flower buckets. But then I adore pink & green together. The flowers were corrugated metal. Can you say cute???

They have this iron gazebo that sits inside their front door. I want it. I love the green & yellow color combo as well. To me, lemons just say summer. I have a hankering for lemonade all of a sudden.

I loved this rooster pail. But no, I didn't get it.

And speaking of pails, I love these zinc pails. But I passed on them as well.

They had this fabulous capez shell hanging. I think it was like $20.00. I thought it looked cool, but I have nowhere to hang it. It would get too dusty at my house. And can you see the large blue crystals that are hanging? They were fabulous. Perfect for summer.

This display just screamed summer to me. I loved almost everything in this display. But no, this is not what I purchased.

These boxes would be perfect for your collections.

And here are some more of those fabulous zinc pails.

And more patriotic decor. I'll give you a little hint. I did purchase some patriotic items. But not from this group.

I loved these red clocks. But then I have a thing for clocks.

There is so much more that I didn't show you. They have a big selection of purses and jewelry. But I'm more into the decor stuff.

Even though Tai Pan Trading has great prices. They also have some bargain sections including clearance, $5.00 or less, $10.00 or less or $20.00 or less. Plus they have monthly specials. So if you know me, I had to get the best deals possible with my free money.

Ok, I've teased you long enough. So what did I get with my free money?

This little wooden "Family" sign was only a buck. That's $1.00!!! And I wasn't even at the dollar store.
This wood star box was my most expensive item. It was $10.00. I kept putting it in my cart, taking it out, putting it back. And as you can see, it ended up coming home with me. I decided since I was spending free money, I could splurge on this. So glad I did.

When I first saw this "America the Beautiful" sign it was marked $9.97. I put it in my cart & then took it out. But then I saw that it was actually a monthly special. It was only $6.49, not $9.97 It was on sale!!! So in the cart it went and now it's on my wall.

And with my blog name being Starshine Chic, you have to know that I love stars. I picked up this rusty star for $3.98. And it wasn't even on sale or in the bargain section.

I've even given you a little sneak peek at my patriotic decor.


My best deal was this white pitcher for $3.00. It was in the $5.00 or less section but none of them had a marked price. I figured it would be $5.00. But it rang up $3.00. Boy was I happy. Did I need another white pitcher? No. But when you collect white pitchers it's hard to pass them up. Especially when you find one for such a good deal.

So I got 5 items with my $25.00 gift card. I thought I was pretty thrifty with my free gift. It was hard deciding what to get. I wanted to get as much as possible. I'm very happy with what I chose.

I want to thank Michelle at the Rancho Cucamonga Tai Pan Trading store for sending me the gift card just for blogging. Yes ME!!! I still can't believe it.

I'm happy to blog about their store even without getting something in return. But free stuff is pretty fabulous. And I wouldn't turn it down. But it in no way altered my comments about their fabulous store.

So if you are lucky enough to live in southern California or in Utah, be sure to visit your local Tai Pan Trading store. And if you don't, you need to move there or at least take a vacation so you can shop there yourself.

Be sure to check back later to see how I decorated my family room for the 4th of July.



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Today's Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality

Sunday Favorites-My first blog post

It's been awhile since I have participated in Sunday Favorites over at Happy to Design. I just realized that my blog is now 1 year old. So I thought that I would repost my first post so you could see why I started Starshine Chic.


If you are reading this, then you found my new blog! Welcome, welcome!!! I decided to start a new blog for all my decorating & blog party stuff. My other blog Manning Family Tree was originally started as a family blog for my extended family. Then I morphed it into mostly being a blog about me, my decorating habits and my participation in blog parties.

I thought everything was going great, but then I heard some grumblings from family members (who will remain anonymous) that they didn't like me mixing the other stuff with family stuff. Plus I think it was sometimes confusing to you readers as to what posts were mine & what posts were by other family members.

So I thought it was about time I started my own blog. Then I can write about & share whatever I want & no one else in my family can complain. And hopefully maybe my family members will post more on the family blog if they feel I have not hijacked it.

If you were a follower over at Manning Family Tree, I hope that you will sign up to be a follower here on my new blog as well. You can continue to follow my family blog if you would like. Or you can choose to just follow this new one. Or you can choose to follow both, it's really up to you. I'm pretty easy going.

I just hope that you will enjoy my new blog. I really like getting to know all of you out there in blogland (unless you are creepy, then stay away). So far I haven't met any bad people. Knock on wood. I love finding out when we have things in common & even if we don't. It makes the world a much more interesting place that we are not all the same.

So check back daily to see what's up. And be sure to leave me a comment after one of your visits so that I know you were here. Let me know what you like & if you don't like something, please be kind.

I will have a post for Monday. I have a thrifty find I want to share for Today's Thrifty Treasures & maybe, just maybe I might have something to post for Metamorphosis Monday as well. Keep your fingers crossed.

I'll leave you today with photos of my fireplace mantel makeover for Flag Day/4th of July.





Oh, and you are probably wondering how I came up with the name Starshine Chic. Well, it happens to be my eBay seller ID. I'm not selling right as of this moment, but my plans are to start selling again. I picked the name Starshine as that was my nickname in high school. I can't remember now how I got that nickname, but I have always liked it. And Chic, well because hopefully I am a little chic. Plus I love Shabby Chic, so that is part of the reason as well.

And if you weren't wondering how I came up with the name, then just disregard the last paragraph. lol.

Oh, and another thing (you will find out real quick that I keep thinking of more things), did you notice that I changed my photo? It's not a very good photo, but I thought it was funny. It is a self portrait that I took on my 50th birthday last year at Walmart (of all places), in Las Vegas. I found this silly princess tiara, put it on my head & snapped a photo. I've always wanted to be a princess.

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Well I hope you enjoyed revisiting my first blog post on Starshine Chic. And no, I have not started selling on eBay again. But I'm such a procrastinator. And I hate parting with my stuff. I'm sort of a closet hoarder. Oh don't worry, I'm not like the ones they show on that reality program on TV. I really need to start selling again now as my hubby hasn't been working. Don't worry, you will be the first to know when I do.

Be sure to check back with me this week. I've finished up my 4th of July decorating so I'll be sharing that. Plus I was given a gift card to Tai Pan Trading just for blogging about them and I went shopping there yesterday and got some free stuff. I guess I should have gotten something to give away for my blog anniversary. But I tend to only think of myself when shopping. I'll just have to come up with something else. And I'm going to an art show in Temecula today. Not a high falutin' one, but one where they draw on the street with chalk to make art.

So as you can see, I have lots to blog about this week. Now let's hope I can find the time to do it.

Thanks for visiting, I really appreciate everyone who visits and especially those that take the time to comment or follow me. You really make my day!

It's a wedding party

Stephanie over at Angelic Accents is hosting a To Have & To Hold Wedding Blog Party today. And you know how I love to party. And to think that I almost forgot about it. And I also love to party with Cindy over at My Romantic Home for her Show and Tell Fridays.

June is known to be the month for weddings. So of course I had a June wedding. At least this time around.

The first time I got married, it was in November and was a small family affair. I didn't have a wedding dress or a reception. I was lucky that I even had a wedding cake.

So for my final time getting married I actually got to have a reception. It was still a small affair, but more than I got the first time around. This time I wanted something more.

Too bad I didn't plan this post better as most of my wedding photos are on my home computer & I'm at work (don't tell anyone). Plus my son was suppose to be my photographer & he didn't take as many photos as I would have liked. I never did get any photos of my tables before everyone was sitting at them or of the food tables. Oh well, if we ever renew our vows, I'll make a list of everything I want photos of. That, or hire a real photographer.

Hubby & I got married in our backyard on June 3, 2006. It had to be the hottest June on record that year. We normally get June gloom here in southern California in June so the temps are usually pretty mild. But in 2006 it was 105 degrees on the day we got married. Luckily we didn't actually get married until 7pm. So it had cooled down to about 90 degrees.

We had about 60 people at our wedding. We were married by my brother in law. In California, anyone can be ordained to perform weddings for 1 day. You just have to fill out paperwork & pay a fee. I'm sure you can probably do this in most states. It made it so much nicer to have someone we know & love marry us.

This was our wedding cake. We also had a huge flat cake for serving to the guests. Wedding cakes are sooooo expensive. Much cheaper to get a small one for the cake cutting ceremony & a flat cake for serving. I wanted my cake to look like it had lace on it. The wedding topper we used wasn't my first choice. But my first choice ended up being too big for the cake. So I had to use this smaller one. I wish I could show you a better close up of it, but that photo would be on my home computer.

I wanted a Victorian theme for our wedding. Which it was, but we also called it our eBay wedding. Most everything I purchased for the wedding came from eBay. We even went to an eBay convention in Las Vegas for our honeymoon. I was totally into selling on eBay when we got married, so you could say that eBay paid for our wedding & honeymoon. Even my dress I got off eBay for less than $200.
This Lenox wedding couple was what I had intended to use as my cake topper. Isn't it the sweetest? I just adore how the groom is barefoot. It was a limited edition and I got it for $25.00. And you guessed it, off of eBay.

I made these little votive candles with our name & wedding date.

I purchased about 5 different bride & groom figurines for our wedding. I placed the ones I didn't use for the cake on the bride & groom table for the reception. Too bad I don't have any photos of the table (this photo is of a different one of the five sitting on my table inside the house). We never actually sat at our special table at the reception. We were too busy visiting with everyone who came. I only have 3 of the original 5 bride and groom figurines left. I sold the other two on eBay.

For food we had ham & turkey croissant sandwiches, veggie trays, fruit trays, cheese trays, mini quiches, Oriental chicken salad. These items were purchased from Sam's Club. We also had chicken wings & bread sticks from a local restaurant Pat & Oscars. Besides cake for dessert we also had a 2 chocolate fountains and stuff to dunk in the chocolate. One fountain for milk chocolate and one for white chocolate. We don't drink alcohol so we saved a ton of money there. We did have my favorite almond punch made with orange juice, lemonade, sugar, almond extract and 7 up.

By the end of the evening our reception actually turned into a pool party. It was still pretty warm out. All the kids ended up throwing each other into the pool so they all changed into their swim suits and had a pool party. One of my nieces was pretty upset about this as she had spent a lot of time lighting all the floating candles that had been in the pool. All in all, everyone had a good time. I was happy how it turned out (even if I didn't get a lot of photos). And the best part, it only cost us less than $2000.

You really don't have to spend a lot of money for wedding decorations. I mostly used stuff I already had around my house. I had lots of birdhouses, fairies, cherubs and candlesticks. I decorated each table a little different. Each table had candlesticks and flowers. I just made a different theme on each table. And because most of my stuff is in the same color family, it all worked.

Thrift stores, friends, family, eBay are great sources for finding things cheap. Also you can actually use Valentine's Day decorating stuff. Or you can use your wedding stuff for Valentine's Day.

For Valentine's Day I printed out all these "Love" sayings off the computer. I think they would work for a wedding as well. And they are cheap.

Here is another easy & cheap wedding decor idea. I printed out each letter to spell "LOVE" and them framed them in frames from Dollar Tree. So for less than $5.00 you have a table decoration for your wedding or your mantel for Valentine's Day.

Or how about using "XOXO" letters for a table decoration. Works for both a wedding or Valentine's Day.

Even the Dollar Tree had bride & groom figurines last month.

I still love collecting wedding figurines. Hubby got this one for me for Christmas. I actually picked it our from a trip to an antique store. It was 40% off. So I think it was around $10.00. It even came with the glass dome.

I have a thing for bride & grooms that look like children.



Last month I found these vintage Bride & Groom glasses at the thrift store. My niece is getting married in August and I thought these would be perfect to give her. But now I am feeling kind of stingy. So I'm not sure I can part with them. But I will, cause I am a nice Aunt. I did use them on my anniversary tablescape this year as candle holders though. Plus I do have a set that says "Happy Anniversary" already.

That is the nice thing about anniversaries. You can reuse some of your wedding stuff again each year.
Here is a my anniversary table from 2009. I used my Lenox bride & groom and my personalized wedding votive candles. Here is where I used the "Happy Anniversary" glasses I spoke about. And hubby gave me a special Lenox anniversary box in 2009 as well. You can see more about this tablescape here.

This anniversary table is from earlier this month. I used my newest bride & groom for this table as well as the "Bride & Groom" glasses that I'm giving to my niece. You can see more of this tablescape here. We (as in hubby & me or should I say I) have now been married 4 years. But we've been together for 15. And hopefully (knock on wood) we will be together forever.

I hope that you have enjoyed my contribution to the wedding blog party, even if I am a bit late. Now be sure to hop on over to Angelic Accents to see who else is partying. Stephanie has quite the collection of wedding stuff that you don't want to miss. And then be sure to stop by My Romantic Home to see the different ways that Cindy has decorated using shells.

And next week I'll post about my 4th of July decor. I have a few things left to finish up and then I'll be ready to share. Hardly seems worth the time and effort for just a week or so of decorating. But you know me, I love to decorate.

Easy summer crafts to celebrate the 1st day of Summer

Edited 7/20/10: Linking up to the impromptu mantel party over at The Stories of A to Z.



Today is the first day of summer. Welcome, welcome.

As much as I love summer, I hate the heat. Here in southern California, June is usually the coolest month of summer. We can get what is called "June Gloom". It will be overcast and cloudy in the morning & be quite cool. At the beach, the sun sometimes never comes out in June. But I live inland, so the sun usually breaks through the June Gloom between 9-11am. So the temps only reach the mid to upper 80's. Sometimes the 90's. By late afternoon the marine layer starts creeping back in and it starts cooling down. Then we get a cool breeze off the ocean. Nice early summer sleeping weather.

But in another week or two that all goes away & it will get hot, hot, hot. And the monsoon season starts so it will get humid. Nothing like the south or back east. I know you are all laughing at me complaining about humidity, I've been to Texas, Florida & Washington DC in the summer before. How do you stand it? But I'm talking humid by California standards. And it won't cool off much at night. August & September are our hottest months. But sometimes June & July can be just as hot. This year we are lucky to have a cooler June.

So for now, I am enjoying the cooler summer temps. In celebration of the first official day of summer, I thought I would make a few easy summer crafts to decorate my mantel to welcome summer.
I decided for my summer mantel I wanted to feel cool. What better way to feel cool than to use green, blue & white for my colors.

My favorite summer flower are white daisies. I found some this spring at Dollar Tree and thought I would make me some more flower balls. I made some green ones for spring, and I thought white ones would look great for summer.

Here are my supplies for making the flower balls. Styrofoam balls (picked up at the thrift store for super cheap, you can even find them at Dollar Tree sometimes), the flower heads pulled off 3 bunches of flowers (Dollar Tree), my trusty glue gun and some glue sticks.

I just glued the flowers all around the ball. Easy, peasy.

And I ended up with a pretty flower ball for decorating with.

I made 2 white daisy flower balls. I wish I had purchased more bunches of flowers as I would have really liked 3 flower balls. But I didn't get enough & now they don't have them. Boo hoo. I placed the flower balls in tin buckets that I picked up from the Dollar Spot at Target awhile back.

Then remember my empty photo frames from my last mantel? I decided they needed some art for summer. I found some file folders at Dollar Tree last month that I liked. I thought I could cut it down & use in the frames. So I did. I just plopped them in the frame & taped on the back. You can make art out of just about anything. Another easy project.

And finally I decided I needed some blue vases to hold some more white daisies. But I didn't have any blue vases and I didn't want to spend a lot of money. So I decided to make my own.


I picked up 3 clear glass vases from my local thrift store for 50 cents each.

Then I bought the cheapest craft paint from Michael's. This was 59 cents a bottle. I got Robin's Egg Blue.

Squirt some paint inside the bottle & keep turning the bottle until the inside is coated with paint. Just squirt a little bit of paint at a time. You don't want to use too much or you'll have a ton at the bottom. I did turn upside down & poured out the extra paint. Be sure to wipe the paint off the lip of the vase. And no, this is not my hand. I had hubby demonstrate while I took the photo.

After each vase was coated with the paint, I placed on their side to dry. I kept turning them every 5 minutes or so for an hour. You don't want them to lay on one side for very long or all the paint will go to that one side. Darn that gravity. Keep turning them every few minutes. After an hour or so I felt it was dry enough to stand up.

Super easy to do. And I love how they turned out. They were still a little wet inside the next day. I guess I could have put them in the oven on low to dry even more. But I was too anxious to decorate.

I may try this again but instead of adding paint to the inside. I may try spray painting the outside.
With paint on the inside, I'm not sure what water will do to it.

I just used my "faux" flowers as I didn't want to take the chance with water right away. Who am I kidding. The real reason for the "faux" flowers is that I don't have any "real" daisies yet. I just planted some seeds this weekend. I won't have any real flowers until end of summer. If I'm lucky.



All in all I am pretty happy with how my summer mantel turned out. But are we ever really satisfied?

Besides, I now need to do some patriotic decorating for the 4th of July. But my summer mantel will reappear once the 4th is over. By then, I'm sure I will have found my box of shells, so who knows what my mantel will morph into by then.

Stay tuned.




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