Garden Window Decor - Comic-Con

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My garden window decorations usually revolve around seasons or holidays, this time, my theme revolves around an event. It is the holiest of comic weeks, San Diego Comic-Con International, an event like no other!

I went around my place and gathered a few of the items I've purchased at Comic-Con over the years, I had to leave quite a few things because of the lack of space, but this collection is representative of my favorite themes.

First of all are the collectible books from each time I've been to the event....9 in total and I'm lucky enough that I will get to go for a 10th time. The most memorable occasions have been when I've been with my brother and sister, and I really feel like an old timer when I tell people I used to be able to buy tickets the same day! Imagine that!

In the back I have a print autographed by James O'Barr creator of The Crow, I have two of his prints and the graphic novel. Next to the collectible books are Magic The Gathering cards, my new game and obsession.

Here we have Buddy Christ from the movie Dogma, this was so hard to find! I went through every single booth until I found it and it's been with me for at least 8 years now. In the back you'll see a furry brown ball...that's a Tribble, originally seen on Star Trek TOS on the episode The Trouble with Tribbles. This one makes the cute Tribble noises and thankfully it does not breed!

The upper shelf is dedicated to Doctor Who, last year (2012) is when I got most of my collectibles, including a Tardis lunch pail - which I've used to take my lunch to work - sticky notes, a Dalek foam hat and the ever crucial sonic screwdriver!

Last but not least, I painted my nails in Comic-Con colors, which are also reminiscent of super hero costumes.

This year I will only be going on Saturday and Sunday, I know it will be a tiring and painful experience, but it is one I don't want to miss!

Garden Window Decor - 5 de Mayo

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Today is 5 de Mayo, a day of celebration in the U.S., an excuse to party, drink margaritas, Mexican beers and lots of tacos! This date is not a holiday in Mexico, however it is a date of significance in which a small Mexican army in 1862 defeated and sent back the mighty invading French army....for a little while, they came back with full force and established the Second Mexican Empire with the Emperor Maximilian I.

This decoration idea for my garden window was from last year, but I couldn't find any empty beer containers on short notice, so this year I prepared and made sure I had the bottles ready!

The inflatable decorations and banners came from the dollar store, the bottles were once full of very good beer. I highly recommend Negra Modelo, an amber lager first introduced in 1926 and originally brewed by Austrian immigrants, and Indio,  a darker color lager brewed with caramel malts. Both are smooth and a great way to introduce yourself to Mexican beers...other than Corona. These beers are imported and can be found in convenience and liquor stores as well as most major grocery stores.

I like to give my nails a Mexican treatment, I've tried to do the flag, but the seal in the middle is too difficult and whatever I try ends up looking like a blob. I saw these two designs online, they were very easy to do, cute and festive!

I hope you enjoy the day and even if you don't go out drinking, have some tacos!

Garden Window Decorations - Valentine's Day 2013

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OK, so V-Day is not my favorite holiday, but I'm not gonna get on my soapbox, no rants this time. Last minute I did decide to decorate my Garden Window in a simple and cute way...with kids valentine's day cards!

I just kept remembering how much fun it was to have a decorated shoe box filled with cards and the preparations of my cards to my friends, it was so sweet back then. So I got some Muppets and Shrek cards and called it a day!

And the fun doesn't stop there...I did a quick search for fun cards from my favorite shows and found these:

Game of Thrones

Downton Abbey

Cute one

Doctor Who

Star Trek - Wrath a Khan - this scene always makes me cry!

Ay Papi!

Garden Window Decorations - Mardi Gras 2013

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Once again time for Mardi Gras decorations, everything is full of color, brightness and beautiful masks. I love the fun of the celebration and then with a huge hangover get over to the Church for Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. But who thinks about that part when there is food, drinks, beads and masks!

Garden Window Decor - Chinese New Year 2013

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Lately the posts that are getting more comments have been the ones that have to do with my Garden Window and that has made me not only very happy, but has inspired me to do more designs this year. Big Thanks for everyone who has seen my posts and added comments!

Chinese New Year will be celebrated on February 10th and while there are many celebrations preceding this date, I don't know much about them. But I can tell you I learned a lot as I was planning my decorations.

On a sunny Saturday morning I made my way through estate and garage sales, thrift shops and a gift shop in the City Heights area of San Diego and without spending too much money found great treasures for my decor!

2013 is the Year of the Snake and in honor of it I bought a small jade snake, a small wooden one and one with little coins on the back.

"In Chinese astrology the animal signs assigned by year represent what others perceive you as being or how you present yourself. It is a common misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs and many western descriptions of Chinese astrology draw solely on this system. In fact, there are also animal signs assigned by month (called inner animals), by day (called true animals) and hours (called secret animals)."

Wikipedia - Chinese Zodiac

The best hours: from 9 AM to 10:59 AM. This is the time when Snakes are leaving their caves.
The best matches: Ox, Rooster, Dragon
Matches: Rat, Rabbit, Monkey, Snake, Horse, Goat, Dog
No Match: Tiger, Pig

Previous Years of the Snake:

14 February 1953 – 2 February 1954
2 February 1965 – 20 January 1966
18 February 1977 – 6 February 1978
6 February 1989 – 26 January 1990
23 January 2001 – 11 February 2002

The Chinese take out box is actually a small purse with a mirror and pockets inside. The silver fortune cookies are guest name holders, and the mandarin oranges are the most popular fruit in this time of year, they represent luck or fortune. During the Lantern Festival (Feb 24) unmarried girls will throw mandarin oranges into the sea, a river or a pond to find a partner.

The red envelopes are very important in this celebration, "they are are passed out during the Chinese New Year's celebrations, from married couples or the elderly to unmarried juniors. It is also common for adults or young couples to give red packets to children."

"Red packets almost always contain money, usually varying from a couple of dollars to several hundred. Per custom, the amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals. The number 8 is considered lucky (for its homophone for "wealth"), and $8 is commonly found in the red envelopes in the US. The number six is also very lucky as it sounds like 'smooth', in the sense of having a smooth year. Sometimes chocolate coins are found in the red packets."

Wikipedia - Chinese New Year

I bought the Crystal Tree on the left many years ago in Hong Kong and until now I know what it means:

"Real-life wish-fulfilling tree is a common sight in many Asian countries (such as Hong Kong or China). Believers will toss wishes enscribed on red incantation papers at the tree, accompanied with juicy mandarin oranges; these “wish trees” will then make the wish come true. Since olden times, the wish tree has been a potent tool, used to summon better health, wealth, and family harmony. There are many Chinese texts which show that coins grew from the branches of the wish tree and fell into a bountiful treasure bowl. It is for this reason that people keep the Crystal Tree, in the hopes that they will always have enough fortune in their lives."
"The story behind the Crystal Tree is that a heavenly fairy, Shang Ziyie, travelled to Earth with the intents to marry Chooi Wen Lui, a small village commoner. Because they had little money, the fairy fostered a magic tree, which created coins. It provided her family with the means to survive, and also assisted the other villagers when they gave it a shake. In modern days, a small Crystal Tree is displayed in homes and offices, to signify a steady profit and everlasting financial support."

The Lanterns are the traditional ones used this time of year and the Chinese Doll was an extremely lucky find deep inside a thrift shop, isn't she beautiful?

And now I'm looking forward to the next decoration....Mardi Gras!

UPDATE

I completely forgot I had real Hong Kong money I brought back as a souvenir from a trip I made there almost 10 years ago. So I went ahead and added them to my decor and to the red envelopes...this time next year I'll be loaded with money!

Sources:

• Wikipedia - Chinese Zodiac
• Wikipedia - Chinese New Year
• Wikipedia - Chinese Calendar
• Feng Shui Mall
• A friend of Chinese descent
• The lady at the gift shop

Garden Window - New Year's Decor

Hey There:

Made it to the end of another year, getting closer to the next World Cup in Brazil, so far my family, friends and cats are OK. It can be hard not get into a weird mood with the "looking back" thing and focusing on all the things that didn't get done. For me it's the perfect time to get lost in Dr. Who or Star Trek and long for the next metal show now that I'm so fed up with holiday music and cheer.

I've very much enjoyed decorating my Garden Window depending on the season or festivities and  I have many ideas for next year. So for now Happy New Year to all and here is my last decoration of the year:

Garden Window Decoration - Christmas

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Better late than never, this year was a decorating challenge with half my decorations at my Mom's attic in Mexico and the stuff I had with water damage. So no tree this year, but I had enough for my garden window, though this year it was not as flashy as I would normally do it.

The little tree was given to me 13 years ago when I arrived in San Diego, I was at my first apartment with nothing more than a TV, my clothes and an air mattress, little by little I furnished the apartment mainly with second-hand things either bought at thrift stores or given to me by the ladies at the office I worked in. I mostly received kitchen things, pots, pans but sometimes I would receive decorations, like the little tree for my first Christmas in San Diego.

What I liked about it the most was that it reminded me of a tree we had when I was a kid in the 70's and to this day even if I have a big tree in the house, I always take out the little one and deck it out, usually with blue accessories and lights, I think for next year I will decorate it in purple.

For a time I had a thing about buying nativity scenes, at one point I had 12 of them but this is my favorite because it was my first. I remember I put it on layaway and got it just in time for my second Christmas in San Diego. The little houses light up.

In the left corner you might be able to see a tiny scene made inside half a walnut shell, so cute!

Usually my next door neighbor decorates her garden window, but this year my other next door neighbor also decorated hers, so our little apartment complex looks very festive!

Happy Holidays to All!!!

Garden Window Decoration - Thanksgiving

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This may not have been my initial idea for Thanksgiving / Fall decoration, but I like the end result, even if I got it done way too close to Thanksgiving Day. The first thing I did a few weeks ago was buy gourds from my local farmer's market, my idea was to get a cornucopia and have it looking all abundant with the gourds, glass grapes and big fall leaves.

Nice idea, but couldn't find the cornucopia. At the beginning of the month got so busy I didn't have time to go to craft stores and by the time I did, there were no cornucopias in sight...and maybe they don't sell them in Southern California, next year I'll look online.

Anyway, so last weekend it was a mad dash at Michael's, Ross and Marshall's, looking for the last fall items they had and I was able to put this together:

My neighbor also gets in the decorating mood and here is her garden window decoration:

 The reason why I am so pleased with my decorations is that I was able to do a quick craft. If you've ever been to Michael's craft store, you may have noticed they have $2 "grab bags", the bags are sealed and you can't see inside, so its a gamble and a surprise to see what you'll get. This time I saw a very big grab bag and I took it, among several items there was a plaque ready to be painted.

I thought about writing "Welcome", "Ellie's Place", and other nice and cute things...then it hit me, and I decided on the best line ever written:

Garden Window Decoration - Day of the Dead and Halloween

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Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year, there is no gift-giving or family obligations, the only thing that is required is to be spooky and have fun.

I was raised in a border town in the North of Mexico, therefore I grew up knowing all about Halloween and going for "triki-triki" on the 31st. But in the rest of Mexico the ancient ritual of the Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd.

I have several storage boxes full of Halloween decorations collected throughout the years, but this is the first year I make a Day of the Dead altar to celebrate my ancestors. But first let me show my Halloween decorations, unfortunately half of it is in storage with my Mom, but I least I got some stuff out.

OK, now to the juicy part, my altar, on the first pic you may notice the bottom part of the garden window contains the altar, in the pics below I will explain each part of it. This ritual has been practiced in Mexico since the time of the Aztecs and it was one of those rituals that the Spanish could not eradicate so it was incorporated into Catholic rituals. This time of year people flock to the cemeteries to visit the graves of their relatives, they clean the gravestones, take flowers, have a nice afternoon picnic, take music and honor the dead.

This ritual exemplifies how we view death, not as an ending, but as the next step. Many cultures venerate their ancestors and believe they are with us to help, protect and guide. The Day of the Dead altars are very personal and usually very colorful, this is my first one, next year it will be better.

I'll explain my altar by parts, on the pic below we see several items:

• The photograph features my Dad and his four brothers, of which three have passed away as well. It is one of the few photos of them together, so the altar also acknowledges my uncles.
• The sugar skull represents people who have passed, this one is for my Aunt Mica who passed away earlier this year. The skull is made of hardened sugar decorated with icing, it is hard and can last for years as long as it does not get wet.
• Next to the photo is a traditional bread baked only in this time of year. They are sold sweet sprinkled with sugar or savory with sesame seeds on top. These breads are edible and I bought one for me and one for the altar. It is tradition to have some of the deceased relatives favorite foods on the altar, I've been told that once the celebrations are over the foods from the altar have no taste, the spirits took it. I don't think I'll be sampling this bread on Nov 3rd.
• The lady skull on the pink matchbox is known as La Calavera Catrina, a zinc etching by Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada done in 1910 and now a staple when it comes to the Day of the Dead decorations.
• The purple votive holder just looked cool and it holds a flame-less tea light.

• The cat in the photo is Simba, my first cat in the US, he was such a rascal!
• The three small robed skeletons in red, black and white represent the cult of la Santa Muerte, there are several interpretations and ways of worshiping, but in themselves they are supposed to protect against harm.

• That's my Dad, he passed away 3 1/2 years ago and this picture is from the early 70's in the apartment they lived in when I was born. I do have many more photos, but I liked this one.
• The beer next to him is the Mexican beer Tecate, his favorite.
• Wondering about the Brylcreem? It was the only hair grooming cream he used, since I can remember he's been using that brand. As the years went by it became more and more difficult to find it, as well as more expensive. I was lucky to find it and now it will be a staple in my altar.

And this is how my altar looks at night with the flame-less candles.

As I mentioned before, altars are very personal, colorful and full of meaning. Each year altars are placed in Chicano Park and Old Town in San Diego, CA. Last year I went to both events and took some video, one of the ladies from a museum gave a very good explanation about the meaning of the holiday.

And in case you didn't know, we have many haunted places in San Diego, back from the time this was the wild wild west. This is a video from a tour I took at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, very cool stories!