Happy Christmas Eve Everyone!

 

I want to wish everyone a wonderful, happy and safe holiday. Thank you so very much for stopping by to read my blog. Enjoy your holiday and being with your family. Relax and reflect while bring 2014 to a close.

These pictures are from Crabtree Valley Mall when they were just starting to put up the mall's Christmas decorations. 

I LOVE the color of the bulbs on these trees. These are my favorite colors for any Christmas decorations. It's a nice change from the usual red, gold and green colors that are always associated with Christmas time.

If I remember correctly this is the Christmas decorations for the store Belks. Simple but very elegant. I actually like these "hanging upside down trees with the red bulb" thingies. LOL!

Take Care Everyone!

Thank you for reading :)

Tommy Bahama Necklace - A Mermaid Would Love This

 I was browsing in the Tommy Bahama store in Crabtree Valley Mall, I took a quick snap of this stunning sea life theme necklace. Any stylish mermaid would definitely love this piece as a part of her accessory collection. It is definitely a big statement necklace.

 The colors are so perfect: smooth blue for sea water and textured gold for the sparkle of the sun on the waves. I searched the store's website and unfortunately necklace wasn't available anymore.

Inexpensive this necklace is definitely not. I believe the price was over $100.00 (just glanced at the tag and I did get sticker shock LOL!) and if I understood the sales associate correctly Tommy Bahama does not mark down their merchandise??

There is an Tommy Bahama outlet in Tanger Outlet store in Myrtle Beach, SC and the prices were much more reasonable. The outlet store had a 30% off sale going on recently.

Since there is no way I am going to pay that huge amount for costume jewelry, I took a picture so I could gather all the elements of the necklace and make it myself. I'm pretty confident I will be able to easily find the sea life pieces when I visit the shops down at the beach. The basic gold chain and the beads are most craft stores.

This is not difficult necklace to make if you have all the parts because all you are doing is just attaching the "charms" to a gold chain with jump rings.

I love when I get inspired by an expensive item in a store, study the different pieces it is composed of then construct my own version using what I have at home or inexpensive items.

Let me know if you decide to make a necklace similar to this.

Thanks for reading!

Picture Tour Of Crabtree Valley Mall - Raleigh North Carolina

A store full of all types of candy.

I always buy something from this store when I go to this mall. A pencil or a small notebook. I have been doing this for years.

Sanrio store - Hello! Hello Kitty you are so cute.

Crabtree Valley is a a beautiful mall with a lot of stores. I love window shopping.

Skylight - blue skies and fluffy white clouds.

There are TWO of Bath & Body Works store in this mall. One on each of the two floors.

J Crew window display - What is the bird in the background about? Strange LOL!

This is the HUGE Forever 21 store.

Forever 21

A view inside Forever 21 from outside front door.

On the left are the massage chairs. I think you have to paid to turn them on.

Looking into the window at the Arhaus store.

I am a office supply/paper/stationary geek so of course I love browsing in this store.

The decor in Tomato Pie restaurant is so beautiful. This picture does not do it justice.

People waiting patiently at Pantera Bread.

I am a sucker for a well done flower arrangement.

The weather was so warm and sunny the day I visited Raleigh.

This mall has two floors.

Here's a previous picture tour post about downtown Raleigh, NC. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Marilyn Monroe Portrait Made Completely From Jelly Beans

Being a huge fan of Marilyn Monroe, when I saw this jelly bean portrait of her, I was completely awed and amazed.

I asked the young lady behind the counter details about this cool work of "candy art". She told me is the owners of the store made the art piece and it took two weeks. My most important question was how many jelly beans in the entire portrait but she sadly did not know. 

 

Lots of attention to detail: shadows, lines, and variation of colors.

A close up of the actual jelly beans. Will the jelly beans ever spoil or melt? Did the artists do a sketch or is there an actual picture underneath the jelly beans? I have always been interested in the creative process and techniques of artists.

The front entrance of the candy store located in Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, NC.

I don't even want to think what the world's biggest gummy worm would look like much less want to eat it. LOL!

Another blog post I wrote about Marilyn Monroe is here.

Thanks for reading!