My Favorite Things

I've been sitting on the sidelines way too long; I had to jump in and try this blog thing out!

And that makes me excited!

(That would be part of my Halloween costume from last year; surely you recognize me!)

I've lived in my house for 3 years now and just got excited about decorating my home in the last 5 months. The purchase of two glass candlesticks (they might be plastic...it's hard for me to tell) at EQ3 in Charlotte, NC, for the absolute steal of $1.25 each got me started, and I've not looked back since. I look forward to talking about my adventures in home decorating here!

Cindy at My Romantic Home hosted "Our favorite things" this past weekend and encouraged us to post pictures of our favorite items from our homes. Pictures could be of anything at all except people. Since I'm already late to the party I'll be breaking the "post just one!" rule.

First off, my budding collection of mirrored stars. I love mirrored items and this star immediately caught my eye. It was originally $125 at Pier 1, and I wanted it so badly, but was not about to pay $125 for it. Of course they all disappeared from the Pier 1 stores in my area while I waited for the price to come down, and I had taken to searching online. Christmas rolled around and when I opened an especially big box (this star is about 29" from tip to tip) there was my star! My honey of a husband had tracked down one of these mirrors in the next state, and one of his cousins happened to live 15 minutes from the store! Possibly the best part of this story is the $25 price tag! What a steal!

One more star!

This one came from an after-Christmas sale at World Market. I think it was $15. The mirrored arms reflected my camera's flash and formed those reflections on the walls between the arms...it doesn't actully do that unless there's a flash on it. This star measures about 23.5". I actually won another star on Ebay this week, so I'm slowly but surely adding to my collection.

Another favorite thing: my first trophy cup! I did absolutely nothing to earn this trophy, although that would have been nice. I found it at the Maxwell St. Sunday morning market during our vacation in Chicago this past May. It was tarnished, but I could see the potential! I asked the guy how much he wanted for it and when he said, "$800!" I, without thinking, blurted, "How about 10!" to which he replied, "Sold!"...which of course made me realize he would have taken less! Oh well, I still love the thing. Hubs broke out the polishing head on his dremel tool and had this shined up in no time.

One last thing: an apothecary jar full of shells. The $9 jar came from either TJ Maxx, Ross or Marshalls, and the shells came from Ross for $5. I love the shape and versatility of this jar; it can fit in with almost any style decor and can be filled with any number of items (candy corn at Halloween, tinsel or shiny ornaments at Christmas, mini moss balls at Easter) and shells always look good! I could even make a custom shell picture or mirror frame with a bit of hot glue should I get tired of displaying these shells. Love 'em!

I could go on and on posting pictures and talking your ear off about my favorite things, so I'll stop now! What a great blog event, Cindy!