My Magical Bookcase

So as I promised all of you , I took some pictures of my new Magical Bookcase!!! I am still building up my collection of my reading material, so until then , I will just have to fill the rest of the shelves with Knick Knacks and Paddywacks!

I purchased this bookcase at Target for less than $150.00! It is not REAL wood, but it is still pretty sturdy and very pleasing to the eye (I originally wanted real wood , to match the side pieces of furniture and my clothing trunk, but I am on a budget right now, and couldn't afford to spend too much ) ... As straight lined as it is, I still think it has lots of character!

On the first shelf, I have stored my magical clock

 (The same clock which told Cinderella that she was in fact running a little past her curfew!)

I also have stored some precious fairy memorabilia :-D 

 I am still collecting !

On my second shelf, I have my books of magic, fairy tales, rockstar biographies, and spells, potions, and formulas. Among these books, about half of them are written by my FAVORITE author, Francesca Lia Block! I am such a collector and avid reader of her books, poetry , and prose. She writes of princesses, fairies, mermaids, love, hate, and coming of age. I suggest you all read her books if you haven't already :-D

Also on this shelf, I have my troll collection from Norway of Epcot center in Disney World. It is my favorite country in Epcot... I love my magical buddies :-D They have been hiding away in my closet for the longest time, and now they can hang out for all to enjoy on my new bookshelf ...

On my third shelf I have my collection of TV show boxsets. Among them are True Blood, Six Feet Under, and Sex and the City. I also have my Coraline 3D Collector's Edition, and a picture of me and my love. I also have some little trinket boxes, and my favorite:

My Alice and Wonderland Tea Mug ! (It is in fact a coffee mug, but I do not drink coffee, so I use it for herbal teas ) When you pour hot water in the mug, the Cheshire Cat's grin, magically appears !! What a sight to see !

Around my bookcase , I have adorned with copper light up flowers, I purchased at Target for I believe $15.00.

I love my room, my little sanctuary... I have collected little treasure from all over the place. I will soon get around to sharing them all with you :-) but for now I must go !

Have a nice day

:-D

A Fair Engagement...

Well this past weekend was a very eventful one! I had so much fun, but boy am I exhausted !!

Friday night my boyfriend, Avi and I attended the town fair. Every year the church down the road from me holds a feast in the beginning of June. They have polish, italian food, and korean bbq. Kielbasa and perogies, Pizza Frits which is just deep fried dough with tomato sauce and powdered grated cheese, and bbq'ed meat on a stick. There are also zeppoles, which are deep fried dough balls with powdered sugar, ice cream, cotton candy, candy apples, and fresh lemonade... People attend the fair for the food alone, and the kids go for the rides. Avi and I both brought our SLRs in hopes to catch some Fair in action. I mainly brought mine because I really wanted some nice ferris wheel shots.

Saturday was the last day of the fair, so in the afternoon we went back for more pizza frits, Korean BBQ, and Fresh Lemonade. After the fair I went to a short band practice , and then Avi and I made our way to Branchburg, NJ for our friends' Eric and Danielle's Engagement Party.

Eric's parents have a beautiful house on 7 acres of land, with a barn complete with 3 horses. I had a blast taking some really nice nature shots of the foliage around the yard!

It was such a nice summer party! We had great food, smoked some hookah, played some speed pong, the guys played basketball, and the girls surprised them when they bombared them with water balloons! Some of the girls walked to the barn to pet the horses.

Photo taken by Avi

Marianne and Tara petting one of the horses

Photo taken by Avi

(L to R: Leesh, Erin , Kristi, Marianne, Maid of Honor Allison, Bride to Be Dani, Tara, Marianne, Kristin, Me Justina)

As dusk ascended upon us, the sky turned a beautiful magical pink ...

It was the pure essence of summer, and no summer party is complete without helping the little ones catch fireflies ! I helped Eric's little cousin Josh catch fireflies.

Soon it got dark , and we celebrated our way into the night !!

(Above from L to R: Marianne, Kristi, Thomas, Avi)

The Engagement Party Favors were little heart tins filled with robin's egg blue chocolate covered almonds... After the almonds are gone, I think I will paint the tins and use them as trinket boxes :-D ... I love reinventing stuff !

Sunday was a lazy recovery day. Avi and I laid in bed all day and edited pictures from the party , making them all sorts of magical :-D Then we mustered up some energy and put my new bookcase together ! It looks so amazing and now I have somewhere to store all of my favorite books ! Half of the book I own are by Francesca Lia Block. She is such an amazing writer! I really want to post some pics of my new bookcase :-D I decorated them with some copper flower string lights.... It looks so magical when it's lit up at night :-D

On some shelves , I have my fairy memorabilia stored, and then on the next shelf with my books, I have my troll collection from Norway at Epcot center in Disney World. I love them , they are so cute !!

I will post some pictures of my bookshelf soon :-D

Monday , Avi and I went to the beach with our friends Joe and Mel. We sat on the beach for a couple hours , and then it got really cloudy and windy, so we headed to the boardwalk...

We spent a really long time in a bar having lots of laughs , when the bartender chick overheard our discussion. We were talking about planning our trip to Vegas in Feb. She was giving us a lot of advice on where to stay, what to eat , and what to see.

We ended up leaving the bar only to come back and actually eat dinner there. We finally left and played some prize winning games :-D ... Before we knew it , it was almost 10:00 and it was time to leave ! On the way back to the cars, we passed by a candy shop, and I just couldn't resist! Maybe all the swedish fish shots Mel and I did at the bar, subconsciously made me want real swedish fish.. so I bought a bag of candy... 13 bux worth of swedish fish, gummy worms, peach and cotton candy rings, and tootsie rolls !!! LoL .... my oh my...

Here are the cavities in a bag ....

O sweet candy sugary goodness !!!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my weekend as much as I enjoyed having it :-)

til next time....

Love, Lust, and Pixie Dust ,

Old Junk Jar = New Flower Vase

Hey All,

I have been so inspired the past couple days ! I really wanted to try out this new Gloss clear sealant that I purchased today, so I decided to paint something as a test. So, I rummaged through my fridge, so sure that I would find an old jar of some condiment that no one has touched for probably a decade (gross , i know ) ... but I did manage to find an old salsa jar !! So I washed it out, scrubbed the label and glue off, and started my project. I really wanted to do something bright and summery , so I was really inspired looking through some photos of Dia de lost Muertos , which is the Day of the Dead festival of Mexico. It actually starts in November, but the colors are just amazing. I also used an image of Frida Kahlo, who was a Mexican Painter. Her work is just so bright and colorful!

How I did it:

I painted the vase in Liquitex Acrylic/Folk Art paint, and I mixed my own color out of Folk Art's Warm White #988, Liquitex Pthalo Green (Blue Shade), & Cerulean Blue. I did one coat, let it dry, then did another coat. After the paint was dry, I printed out a picture of Frida onto regular computer white paper. I cut the picture out, and coated the back with Mod Podge Gloss Lustre. I then centered it on my vase and smoothed the edges from the center, out. Once my image was glued in place, I went over the whole paper image with more Mod Podge Gloss. As I was letting that dry, I had little rhinestones I placed around the flowers in her hair, and a green rhinestone for the gem in her necklace. I then started to paint the Pink and Gold accents. I used Liquitex Acrylic Light Portrait Pink, and Folk Art's Pure Gold #871. I also did some foliage with a small round brush #6. I used Liquitex Phthalo Green for the foliage. After I did all the painting , I let that all dry. I then went outside to try out my new Gloss Clear Spray by Rust-oleum Painter's Touch. It took about 20 minutes to dry to the touch... but I left it out in the hot sun for awhile. Soon after it was dry, I couldn't wait to try it out with some foliage, so I gathered some flowers from around my yard. I hope this inspires you to create your own vase out of an old used jar !!

Also I had an extra picture lying around , and also a plastic cup. I used pretty much the same method as I did for the jar as far as doing 2 coats of paint, and letting it dry before I proceed to put the image on. But everything else was pretty much the same. For the cup I used Liquitex Acrylic Cadmium Yellow Medium. I also did a coat of Mod Podge over the the whole cup, and didn't bother with the Clear Gloss Spray , since it was just a plastic cup. As the Mod Podge glue was drying, I added some little silver holographic confetti stars, to give it a bit of shine ! I think it came out really nice and summery! It is very ideal to use as a planter for a flower!!

The Perfect Tea Cup

I've been browsing ALL MORNING , for my ideal tea cup. To some people, tea cups are just tea cups... but like anything you plan on purchasing, it's got to be THE RIGHT ONE. Everything matters, it's got to be the right size , not like drinking out of a soup bowl... but not so small that I feel like I'm drinking out of miniature dollhouse china. It has to have the right design, florals are nice but they can get gaudy very easily. Also a tea cup is not a tea cup, unless it's gold rimmed china. Not to me anyways :-P . It also has to have the right color scheme. For me , I was browsing page after page, and finding nothing but vintage , drab, and gaudy material. I was finally browsing through ebay and this tea cup caught my eye! It was Robin's Egg Blue, with a touch of pink and yellow floral on the inside of the cup, as well as in the center of the saucer. There was more floral pattern and foliage around the saucer and top part of the cup, but it was white, so it was not as overbearing. There was also gold rimmed ornate pattern around the inner rim of the saucer and the handle and base of the cup. It was the most beautiful tea cup I had ever seen. BUT, BUMMER... there was only ONE listed. I searched the name , and I finally found a site that sells them. They are about $24.95 , so getting a set of 4 is a bit pricey. I bookmarked the site, maybe I'll get one a month or something. But they are definitely something worth investing in, especially if you love having tea parties :-D

So here I leave you with , my dream Tea Cup:

The Royal Albert ENCHANTMENT

NOW THAT'S MY CUP OF TEA :-P

My Garden

Hey All,

I did this post a couple days ago, but I decided to post each picture individually instead of a slideshow , so you can really take each picture in....

Here are some photos I took of the garden in my backyard.... everything looks so magical :-)

I hope to make this blog , more of a homemade arts and crafts typa thing... I'm a really crafty, artsy person , so I really want to start putting some of my own creations up for display :-D

So here we venture off into the Fairy Garden! Sheila watches over the garden , and calls to the other fairies with her magical windchime harp....

She attracts baby bunnies and dragonflies.... She lives in a bed of Magenta and White Dahlietta Flowers....

Here is the White Dahlietta

Onward to the herb garden...

Here is some Magical Mint! It is good to put a few crushed up leaves and a fresh lemon wedge into your iced water on hot summer days !! That seems to be my drink of choice lately!!

Some Fresh Basil! Now I am Italian, so Basil goes in just about EVERYTHING my family cooks! It's good to put some leaves into a pot of summery fresh tomato sauce , or some raw leaves to sprinkle on top of bruschetta with fresh tomatoes. As a matter of fact, yesterday I actually put some crushed up leaves into some homemade egg salad! I tried a new recipe , and I just have to share it with you all , because it is TO DIE FOR ! But let's not get off topic right now .....

Here is a picture of the Herb and Vegetable Garden! Amelia watches over to make sure no little critters come through to steal our harvest !! We actually had some pesty problems in the beginning of the spring, gophers, rabbits, you name it ... they were after our crop! But my dad managed to fix the problem with some small plastic fencing and some higher chicken wire! He also has some kind of spray , that you spray on the crop , to keep the pests away. It smells like horse manure, which actually isn't too good to spray before you have an outdoor picnic! GROSS!! We haven't had a problem since rodent proofing... everything is starting to flourish just nicely!! We're growing broccoli , tomatoes, cucumbers, I think cauliflower, and zucchini in this garden!

On to the spinach garden....

Our gnome friend David watches over our spinach !! He's been standing there for years... he is really dedicated to his line of duty :-D

There are peppers growing in the other corner of the garden , and also parsley, and fresh oregano... maybe I will get around to taking some pictures of those as well!

Here are some more flowers!

Here are some Sun Daisies my mom had gotten... I love the fiery colors !

On to the front yard!

Here is a DayLily (Stelladora), they really filled in nicely this year !!

Ooh Look! What is that dust!?! I think a fairy must have passed through!

Here are some more little pink flowers my mom also received as a birthday gift! I am not sure of the species of flower, there was no tag in the pot... But the little fae love these sweet smellers as well ! They keep passing through my photographs!





Here is a Maynight Salvia flower! It is actually still potted... I think my mom is trying to find a good spot to plant it ! Those are some more yellow day lilies you see in the background!

I took some more shots of the purple clematis , but I have not gotten around to editing it yet !

That is all for now , I hope you enjoyed strolling through my garden as much as I did !!

Francesca Lia Block - House of Dolls

I want to share with you all, one of my favorite authors ever, Francesca Lia Block. Her work is magical. You can taste every ethnic food, smell every flower, feel the warmth of every color, the presence of every spirit and goddess .... every scenario that she sets up for her readers... you are there with her... wrapped up in the magic. Alot of times her work is very abstract, and hard for many to grasp, but if you can get past the freeform approach in some of her works , you can really appreciate the beauty in her art. Sometimes she takes a more simple approach to her storytelling, but even in her most simple writing , lies something much deeper and complex in feeling. She has written many books and stories of love, magic, poetry, and prose. Today she just released her newest works titled "House of Dolls" . Here is a little excerpt from the product description on Amazon.com:

"In a little house from another time, with lace curtains in every window and paintings hung in gold doily frames, Wildflower, Rockstar, and Miss Selene live a warm and cozy life. They wear fancy dresses, bake play-dough cakes, and spend their days enjoying one another's company.

For the three dolls, life is small but good.

But life is not good for Madison Blackberry, the owner of the dollhouse. Her grandmother pays more attention to the dolls than to her. The dolls have one another, but she is lonely in her big, empty apartment.

Then one day, as things always do—even for dolls—everything changes.

This beautiful story from the acclaimed team of Francesca Lia Block, author of such novels as Weetzie Bat, and Barbara McClintock, author and illustrator of many picture books, including AdÈle & Simon, brings to life the power of love, family, and friendship."

Order your copy today on Amazon.com!

Find out more info about the works of Francesca Lia Block

She is truly a goddess....

Vintage Images

Here is a wonderful site of Vintage Images for all of your collaging and crafting needs!

VISIT VINTAGE IMAGES HERE!

El Jamal - Hamam -Tamer Yilmaz

Stumble Upon always manages to send me some interesting stuff and among the last batch of cool stumbles I came across this really neat Renaissance Gypsy-esque photoshoot by photographer Tamer Yilmaz...

Here are just a few samples of the amazing work :

Photographer: Tamer Yilmaz
Stylist: Hakan Ozturk
Make Up: Hamiyet Akpinar
Hair: Ibrahim Zengin
Production: Hakan Ozturk

You can find more of Tamer's work here!

BOUDOIR AGUILERA

This is a really cool boudoir old fashioned video that Christina Aguilera did for her song "Nasty Naughty Boy" , I just love the song , and her costumes in the video are very lacy and moulin rouge-esque.... I just love the emphasis she puts on those old boudoir glam time periods with a hint of circus performer.... so bohemian!

I could see her singing this song in an old fashioned late night jazz club , and walking around seducing guys like Jessica Rabbit LoL.....

Jessie Steele Aprons

Hey All!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend... I am trying to fight off this annoying cold !! :-(

Well I don't know why, but I decided to check out some aprons...

JESSIE STEELE has an AMAZING line of vintage 50s style housewife looking aprons... and they are so ADORABLE! If you don't cook or bake, they will make you WANT to... Just wearing these cute little numbers around the kitchen should be enough to inspire anyone to pick up a cookbook and bake a lil sumthin sumthin for your lover this Valentine's Day. She even has salon aprons for your hairstylists out there....

Click Jessie Steele's Name above to be directed to her website!