SEASHELL SPECIMEN WALL HANGING

August 4, 2020August 3, 202015 Comments

Good morning! Have you been able to get to the beach this summer? Maybe you collected some seashells. Here is a great way to display them!

Hello! Is spring here yet? I can hardly wait for warmer weather. After being in Hawaii, I am so ready to wear shorts and tank top again. To help get in the mood, I created these Seashell Specimen Pictures. I collect lots of seashells and had divided them up in little baggies and I had found these frames at Goodwill a while back, but with the holiday, I just didn’t get to it. So now that I had a little time, I decided to get this project done!

Here are the frames I found. I was able to find 3 of the same ones.

The first thing to do was take the backing off.

I used scissors to cut along the edges to get to the inside.

After the back was off, I removed the picture and the glass, so I was left with the frame, mat and cardboard backing.

I didn’t want the cardboard to show, so I used a piece of brown paper looking scrap paper for behind the shells. I laid out the shells the way I thought I would want them to go. Once I had a pleasing layout, I used tacky glue to glue them onto the paper.

I used some packing tape to secure the back and they were done! I hung them over the bar in the dining room to add some summery fun!

These clam shells are cool with the ridges in them.

Sand dollars are my favorite! I am always on the lookout for them when we walk the beach.

I love the shape of these!

We have the seashells, now we just need the beach!

You can see here, I used one of the pictures in my RV makeover! It has really held up well, even with all the bouncing the trailer does as we travel!

I hope this inspires you to make your own seashell specimen art. Hope you have a wonderful week!

Summer Coastal Dining Room

June 17, 2019June 16, 20192 Comments

Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and were able to celebrate Father’s Day with your families! We had Haley’s graduation party on Saturday and she also bought a car that morning! It was a crazy busy weekend, but filled with good times!

I thought today I would show you a few quick pictures of my coastal dining room. I didn’t buy anything new. I just used what I had. I benefit of having most of your house decorated with neutrals or the same colors, is that you can move things around from space to space and it looks new and refreshed again!

I used a lantern as my larger piece and stacked it on a few books.

I added my glass fishing floats and lots of seashells scattered on a blue and white runner.

Blue and white dishes along with gold flatware add to the coastal feel.

Thank you for stopping by today! See you next time!

Fun Ideas To Do With Seashells

August 6, 2018August 3, 2018Leave a comment

Good morning! Do you collect seashells like I do? Last week I showed you my new storage box I made for my collection.

I also made a seashell mobile to hang in my yard.

I’ve used them quite a bit in my decorating too!

I even made a seashell garland!

So what else can you make? I found some more ideas around the internet.

Shells can help keep your houseplants happy. By placing seashells on top of the soil, they helps to keep the moisture in the flower pot.

Of course, you can also decorate your flower pot.

Deep shells are perfect for planting succulents in. These are the cutest!

How about using a large open shell to hold your little items next to your bed? I love the gold on these!

This is so simple, I don’t know why I haven’t thought of it! A nightlight!

I made a garland, but not a wind-chime. this is so pretty!

Are you going to try any of these projects! The night-light is my first one! Have a great week!

“We are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

Here are some items you might like!

Creating Storage for My Seashells

July 31, 2018July 30, 20181 Comment

Good morning! It’s the last day of July! Can you believe it? Do have children getting rady to go back to school? Or maybe you are! I still have a few weeks left before I go back. So today I am heading to the zoo with Lauren and my two little nieces. It’s supposed to be over 100 degrees today (actually this will be 26 days in a row!), but we are going anyways! The zoo does have a water play area, so we will be spending time in there getting wet!

Last week, I pulled down a box from my closet, not even sure what was inside. It ended up being fabric. I wondered where those fabric pieces had gone to! For some reason, this time when I looked at the box, I came up with the perfect use for it! My seashells!

Here’s how I had them separated. Real classy, right? Yep, good ol’ ziplock bags!

I knew I needed more than just 4 compartments, so I dug through my scrapbooking paper and made some more dividers.

I measured each section and then cut pieces of paper a little larger than would fit across each one. I then folded the edges to create a place to glue. I cut 4 pieces and then varied where I glued them in, so that some of the spaces were bigger for my larger shells.

The dividers in the box weren’t exactly straight, so some of my pieces are a little bowed, but that won’t matter once the shells are in it.

The lid had one corner missing. I don’t even remember that happening, but I had to find away to fix it, at least a little bit.

I guess I forgot to take a picture, but I cut 2 little strips of cardboard and glued them on the side and around the corner. Then I glued a burlap ribbon over the while edge of the lid, so it was all covered up. You will see it in the finished pictures.

This is my ancient Cricut machine. I’m sure it’s an antique now.:) But it still mostly works! It took me forever to decide what I wanted to put on to of the box. I knew I wanted it to say ‘seashells’, but I couldn’t decide how I wanted to do it. Stickers, chipboard, paint? I looked through my stash, but finally decided I could get the style I wanted with my Cricut.

I love this paper! Once I had my letters cut out, I drew a chalk line on the box so I could keep my letters in a straight line and then glued the letters on. Once I had the letters afixed, I just wiped off the chalk.

Here is the side of the box. I added the ribbon to cover up the fixed edge and then added the sailor knot to cover the spot where the ribbon comes together. I added the label too, just in case I forget what’s in the box again. 🙂

Now my shells are all organized and neat! I love that I can easily find exactly the kind of shell I want!

Now I have room for both small shells and large ones.

I’m really pleased with how this turned out! Now I probably need something for all the driftwood I have! Hope you all have a great week!

Here are some other ideas for your seashell collection!

Red, White and Blue Outdoor Dining

July 2, 2018July 1, 20182 Comments

Good morning! We celebrate our country’s independence this week! Do you have big 4th of July celebrations where you are? I’m not even sure what we are doing this year LOL! Last year, all of the neighbors were outside eating and having fun and then lighting off tons of fireworks. We didn’t even have to go to our city’s firework show because we had our own! We will probably do the same this year.

I set up this little tablescape on my back patio this week to celebrate the 4th, but it could be for any summer get together! I don’t have much red, but I was able to pull out a few pieces and it all worked together.

The red and white plates are actually metal. They are pretty cool! I layered my blue and white plates on top along with a blue and white napkin. I used a piece of red ribbon to tie it up and added a fun little pinwheel!

Seashells are the perfect summer touch!

I layered a blue and white striped runner and a red, white and blue striped place-mat in the middle. A few more seashells, candles and bubbles keep it simple.

We still have a lot of work to do in our backyard. We would like to replace the fence and add some plants around the edge. I would also like to paint the patio. I love using blue on the ceiling.

I made the farmhouse beaded chandelier and the recycled pallet table and they add the perfect touch to the patio. I used a dropcloth to make the curtains. Using clip curtain rings makes it easy to use any kind of material.