Halloween Bib Necklace

Happy Halloween!!!!  I must admit Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays.  I just never really got into it.  OK, full confession here...I didn't even like going "trick or treating" as a child. For reals! BUT, as I got older I got more into it even dressing up now and then and enjoying a Halloween party here and there.  AND, I always made sure Vivian dressed up for Halloween and went "Trick or Treating" (I think this year she is going as a Volleyball player...I zombie Volleyball player), as she really liked dressing up and, of course, all the candy. And yes, I've even dressed up Luna for Halloween. 

OK, so back to crafting...I made a Halloween bib necklace using Duck tape.  Duck tape has really evolved from the gray tape of yesteryear (or something like that).  We were fortunate to receive 3 different designs during SoCal Social.  The cute...um I mean spooky...spider design was my favorite.

Supplies, I used...plus scissors, glue and hole punch.

First I cut out a pattern on cardboard box (used the lid of one of my shoe boxes I was going to throw away). I then covered it with the Duck tape, added black felt to the back with glue, then went crazy with the bling, punched to holes at the top for the ribbon and done! 

And, since I was having so much fun, I made earrings to match. I know, I'm way too cool!

Until next time!

She's all set for Halloween!  

SoCal Social -- Part 2

So, you might be wondering what we received in our Swag Walk.  Well, check it out...

I know right!  It was like going "trick or treating"!  

Our SoCal Social event ended at Avila's El Ranchito.   

Here are the lovely ladies in my group ready to walk into the restaurant. From left to right, Kirsti, Amanda, Emmy, Melody & Tori.  

Once seated at our table the fun (well, more fun!) began.  We had more swag waiting for us!

Look at our smiley faces...

We had dinner & dessert...

The food was done up buffet style (cheese enchiladas, chicken fajitas, salad, rice, beans and tortillas).  And the staff was very nice.  The desserts were by Creative Cakes.  So good!  Lots of chocolate, which is what I like! 

In between all of that Beverly & Vivienne did tons of raffles where lots of wonderful gifts were available to be won. And guess, what!?! I won! 

Yay me! 

We also had two guest speakers. The beautiful Eva LaRue and the fabulous Mark Montano.  

They gave awesome motivational speeches about not letting fear get in the way of what you want and to visualize your success. I heard that!

That's the end of my recap.  I truly had a wonderful day and can't wait until next year!

Until next time!

SoCal Social -- Part 1

This past Saturday I attended the 3rd annual SoCal Social.  The SoCal Social is an event for bloggers.  It was the brainchild of Beverly and Vivienne.  Let me tell you these ladies are ah-waitforit-mazing! Their hard work paid off as, once again, it was a ginormous success!  So, here's the how to...we meet up at the Plaza Park in Old Town Orange, get our name tag and bag to fill with swag and off we go. I know! How great is that?!?! You get to walk through Old Town Orange Circle's wonderfully charming stores and get free stuff! What the?!?! Crazy good!  I was lucky enough to meet up with friends Amanda and Melody and made some new friends Emmy,Tori & Kirsti.  

Our first stop was Heavenly Hostess.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos at this store as was too busy looking at everything and talking to new friends that I forgot to whip out my phone! Nonetheless, Heavenly Hostess is the place to go for aprons, candles, cook books, funny books, knick knacks, etc. Check out their Face Book page here.

Next on our tour was Tea Leaf Cottage.  Antique clothes, jewelry, home decor, etc.  Wonderful store! 

Next up was Provisions Market.  Oh man, do I love this store!  They have my favorite and in all kinds of yummy varieties...I'm talking about cheese! They also have beer, wine, deli meats, olives, and well, go to their store! They gave us a taste of beer and deviled eggs (how's that for swag!). I was told beets gave them their pretty color.  I am not a beet girl.  In fact, I hate the taste.  But these tasted divine!  

Lovely ladies Amanda & Melody

After hanging out at Provisions we headed out to Coco Rose Boutique.  This was a new store for me. It quickly became my new store crush. Of course, I focused on their jewelry displays.

Up next, Orange Candy Company.  We were ready for a sweet treat and they didn't disappoint by giving us a treat bag full of candy!  They not only have candy, but cool cups, gift bags, magnets, etc.

We moved on to another new store for me, Vintiques.  The people who run the store genuinely seemed happy to see us! Their Social Media guy (yep, they have one!) took our photo and put it up on Instagram (@vintiques_hd). By the way, I'm a new member of Instagram myself (@vivianlunaaccessories). Still figuring out the ins and outs but Emmy and Tori were very helpful in teaching me how to follow people and add photos.  But I digress...where were we. Oh yes, check out the photos from Vintiques...

Yes, that is Amanda photo bombing my attempt at taking a photo of the Vintiques sign.

Onward we went to the next store, Lost & Found. I always enjoy going to this store.  I like the way they display the clothes. This store also caters to men.

Right next door is the store is Elsewhere Vintage. I was a little leery about going into this store, as last year I was reprimanded for touching one of their dresses!  However, they were very nice on this day and seemed glad to see us.  They have a wonderful selection of vintage hats (no, I didn't try any on, but I did touch several of them...just can't help myself!).

And right next door to this store is Joyride. This store is for the man in your life.  Now, if you want him dressed spiffy and looking distinguished (in a super cool way) this is the store! I was drawn to the items in the counters. 

Across the street was our next stop, Country Road Antiques.  This place is huge! It has all kinds of knick knacks, antique home decor, vintage clothes, etc., etc., etc.  If you have an hour to kill you need to stop here an check it all out!

A short walk over is Affaire de Coeur.  This is a fancy antique store.  I'm always too afraid to touch anything in this store for fear of breaking it!   

A couple of spots over is Spotted Moth.  Oh, how I dig this store!  You can find such pretty things here.  

Next up was Eikon Home.  This is a great store for finding things you didn't think you would need but now can't live without.  

Amanda & Melody found some funny disguises. 

We crossed the street over to the sweetest shop, Paris in a Cup.  We purchased macarons and "oh my gosh, this is so freakin good!" salted caramel chocolate. This store also has lovely cards, Paris themed bags, jewelry and so much more including a tea room!

A short block over we entered, Front Porch Pops.  I didn't even know this store existed! Now that I know, you better believe I'll be going back to try the different flavors of fruit popsicles.  

Crossing the street we encountered our next stop, Down Home Antiques.  You find such interesting items in this store. 

Our final stop was Julep's Floral & Gifts.  This store is so stinking cute!  It's a small store so it got a bit crowded but well worth the stop.

So that's it for our Swag Walk around Orange Circle.  I had so much fun and the swag we got was awesome. I especially enjoyed the company I was with.

Stay tuned for part 2 of SoCal Social! Dinner & more Swag! And hey, I even won something. 

Until next time!

I know! I can't stand the cuteness either.  

Skeleton and Spikes Necklace

So, I planned on posting about the new jewelry I made over the last couple of weeks, but alas, my "smart phone" decided otherwise.  I seriously need to invest in a new phone and/or an SLR camera.  One of these would be nice (Santa baby are you listening?!?!).   Anyway, the only photos that made it through was of my "Skeleton & Spikes"necklace.

It's made with different colors of metals.  The spikes are silver and gun metal gray, the chains are copper and the skulls bronze.  I think they all go well together.  Like the perfect party where everyone hangs out and laugh, drink, dance and just have a really good time.  OK, maybe not, but I like it anyway.  

I plan on adding it to my Etsy store, but maybe need better photos???  Here is where the SLR camera would come in handy!  The colors of the metals would really show through.  

  

I hope the other photos make it through the download and I can post them next week.

Well, that's it for today.  I am SO looking forward to tomorrow.  The SoCal Social blogging event is tomorrow!  Will take photos and hopefully my camera phone will cooperate with me! 

Until next time!

TGIF!

Yes, I am so happy it's Friday! The last couple of weeks have been sad.  One of my best friends MIL passed away last week. She was a very sweet lady and will be greatly missed.  I made some desserts to take to the viewing that took place on Sunday.  One of the desserts was these delicious Citrus Butter Cookies from the great The Pioneer Woman  blog.  This is one of the fist blog sites I visited and several years later still love!  

I would post the recipe and how to, but really no one does it better than Ree.  So click on over to her site here and make these delicious cookies!  The cookies made people smile and that was my objective.  I also made chocolate chip cookies and Oreo cheesecake bites.  

I've also been working on making stuff for my Etsy store.  In the midst of that I made this  jewelry set for same best friend. It was her birthday present.  I'm happy to report she loved it (at least that's what she said).  

Over the weekend I also got to volunteer at the Patchworks Edible Edition in Costa Mesa, CA.  It was a nice event.  Not really what I expected, but good nonetheless.  

One last thing....Vivian was bored yesterday and made these drawings...

Pretty cool huh!  I was very impressed. My kid's got skills! 

Until next time!

This is Luna after I caught her messing up my bed.

Pizza Time!

I like making pizza at home.  Well, adding ingredients to a pre-made pizza dough that is. One of these days I'll try to actually make the dough.  Something about working with yeast makes me nervous.  Anyway, I usually purchase pre-made dough from Trader Joe's. Their Garlic & Herb Pizza Dough is especially good. 

While buying the dough I noticed the Pesto sauce and new it would be perfect for the pizza. I usually just use olive oil and Italian spices for the sauce.  

Next I added some spinach...

Some mozzarella cheese...

Some Italian deli slices...

And some more cheese in the form of Asiago & Parmesan...

And it's ready to bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.  

Pizza is ready!

Pizza is almost gone!  

 Until next time.

TBT photo of Luna.