6 Ways to Use Seashells in Summer Décor

The official start is still about a week or so away, but here in the South it is already full-on summer! My favorite little people are on the way back from the beach as I write and I am betting that they are bringing  a collection of treasured finds from their beach-combing expeditions. It's time to bring out the seashells! Sooo...I am sharing six of my favorite ways to add  that beachy touch that just says summer!

20+ Restoration Hardware Inspired Ideas

Yaay! After a week of rain, we finally had some sunshine today! It looks like spring is in full force and thoughts of summer are even starting to creep into my brain! And with summer comes the beach and seashells! So when I was checking out the Restoration Hardware website, I was excited to find this…

Frameable Vintage Seashell Prints

Can you believe that summer is half over now? On the fun side, I have been spending lots of time with my grandchildren and enjoying every minute since school starts back in less than a month. On the not-so-fun side, I’m working hard to revive my yard after last winter’s single digit temperatures. Sooo…as a result, I am still adding a few summery touches to my décor. And here’s my latest project…a pair of frameable vintage seashell prints!

I found a website with some wonderful vintage nature prints, such as this Chambered Nautilus, and knew immediately what I wanted to do. I cropped it and added it to a vintage book page…

…as well as this vintage Purpura print, to create a pair. I love them! It’s sometimes hard to fit summery décor into my Country French home and these work perfectly!

I just printed them at 8 x 10 size using Photoscape, a free photo-editing download, and then framed them in a pair of thrift store frames…once gold but now softened with Annie Sloan Old White chalk paint. They add a perfect hint of summer for me without being too much!

And just in case you are looking for a few more projects using shells, here is my Pier 1 inspired seashell wreath…super easy and waaay cheaper than theirs!

Another fun project was my summer dough bowl with DIY Japanese fishing floats. You will find a  link to the tutorial for the floats here.

And if you love Mason jars like I do, here’s a way to create summer Mason jar candles…so fun and easy to do!

Miss Kitty, however, maintains that summer is prime time for taking little cat naps…literally…and begs me please do not disturb!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed seeing my vintage seashell prints! Please visit these wonderful bloggers and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants. 
Under the Table and Dreaming for the Sunday Showcase Party , Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday , Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday , The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday , Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday , A Stroll thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday , My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Inspire Me Tuesday, Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays ,   French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday , Common Ground for Be Inspired on Fridays , The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday , Craftberry Bush for the Inspiration Gallery on Friday

See you next time! À la prochaine!

Also find me at…

 

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Summer Dough Bowl with DIY Japanese Fishing Floats

I was drinking my coffee the other day when I had an epiphany…I am not making good use of my beloved dough bowl! It is very special to me because it was my grandmother’s and was the starting point for many a batch of good Southern biscuits! But, sadly, it now spends a lot of time in a special place in my closet.

I love to pull it out in the fall and at Christmas when it becomes one of the centerpieces of my holiday décor. You can see some of my fall dough bowl looks here and Christmas ideas here and here.

But I realized that I have been missing a wonderful opportunity to use it the rest of the year! Soooo…I decided to give it an all-new look for summer…and I didn’t have to look far for my inspiration!

I filled it with pebbles (from Dollar Tree) to serve as an anchor for my pillar candle, which I wrapped in jute twine for a beachy look. Next, I loaded in the shells…some from my thrifting stash and some left over from the seashell wreath that I had just made.

But the crowning touch…my DIY Japanese fishing floats…were by far the most fun to make and, to me, have the biggest impact! To create them, I decided to combine the projects of two very talented bloggers, beginning with these super-easy glass floats made from clear glass Christmas ornaments! Yep…can you believe it? They were the brain-child of Suzy at Worthing Court. You will find her tutorial for dyeing the glass by clicking here. And don’t worry about finding the ornaments since they are already out at Hobby Lobby! I would add that they take several days to dry. I added a small amount of blue dye to the Mod Podge to achieve the color. The iridescent look is from the ornaments themselves.

Once I had dyed the glass, I was ready to add my DIY “nets,” so I followed these  instructions from Lucy at Craftberry Bush. I was amazed at how easy they were to add to the glass balls. It took me back to my days of doing all of those macramé projects waaay back in the ‘70s!

Throw in a couple of starfish and…taaa daaa!…here is is! I love the way it combines all of my summer favorites!

And just in case you need some more summery ideas, how about my linen and burlap no-sew starfish pillow…

…or my Pier 1 inspired seashell wreath! Yes…summer is gradually starting to make an appearance at my house!

And as a way of explanation for my Facebook friends who may have seen a message from me that went something like this… k,k,k,k,k,k,k,k,k,k,k,k,k,k,k,k …our ever-industrious CEO Miss Ozzie has decided to take a few word-processing lessons this summer and can occasionally be found at the computer updating my status and taking the liberty to delete a few files. Hmmm…thanks, Oz!


Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed seeing my summery centerpiece! Please visit these wonderful bloggers and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants. 
Under the Table and Dreaming for the Sunday Showcase Party , Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday , Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday , The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday , Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday , A Stroll thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday , My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Inspire Me Tuesday, Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays ,  French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday , Common Ground for Be Inspired on Fridays , The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday , Craftberry Bush for the Inspiration Gallery on Friday

See you next time! À la prochaine!

Also find me at…

 

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Summery Pier 1 Inspired Seashell Wreath

I’m excited to join the gang at All Things Home for the Elements of Summer tour and to share my latest summer project…my Pier 1 inspired seashell wreath! After all, what says summer more than seashells?

If you know me, you know I am a big fat copy-cat! And as soon as I saw Pier 1’s Coastal Shells Wreath, I fell in love! But there was one big problem for me…it costs $60! Yikes! So my little wheels started turning…

…and with the help of our CEO Miss Ozzie, I figured it out! And it was so super easy that I really can’t call it a tutorial…it’s more of just a list of supplies and sources.
Here’s what you will need:

• Sunburst grapevine wreath (Mine came from Hobby Lobby at $12 with a coupon)
• Seashells (Also from Hobby Lobby in a plastic drawstring bag at $7 with a coupon. The starfish was an additional purchase at $1.50 with a coupon.)
• White spray paint
• Hot glue gun
• Jute twine to hang the wreath

And here’s what you will do:

• Spray paint the wreath and let it dry.
• Arrange the shells on the wreath in a pattern that pleases you. Mine is relatively symmetrical since the shells in the package came in pairs.
• Hot glue the shells to the wreath. You may find that you have to hold them in place for a minute until the glue cools and holds.
• Attach the twine.

 And that’s it!

You may notice that the Pier 1 wreath had little starfish and ornaments that were painted blue, but when I saw all the wonderful shades of orange in my shells, I knew that I would leave them natural.

Be sure to look at all sides of the shells as you place them. Some of mine that appeared to be plain and white from the front had the most beautiful yellow underside!

And here it is again! I am so happy with the result…and mine only  cost about $20 instead of their hefty $60! Woo hoo! I haven’t decided yet for sure, but I am leaning towards using it to create a beachy mantel for the summer!

And just in case you need another summery idea, here’s my oh-so-easy no-sew linen and burlap starfish pillow! You can see how I made it here.

And I have also pulled all of my favorite summer projects together in one place…including pillows, Mason jar candles, paper crafts and more! You can see them all here.

Be sure to visit these wonderful blogs for lots more summer inspiration!

Monday, June 2nd




Tuesday, June 3rd




Wednesday, June 4th




Thursday, June 5th




Friday, June 6th



Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed seeing my seashell wreath! Please visit these wonderful bloggers and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants. 
Under the Table and Dreaming for the Sunday Showcase Party , Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday , Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday , The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday , Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday , A Stroll thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday , My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Inspire Me Tuesday, Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays , The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays , No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays ,  French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday , Common Ground for Be Inspired on Fridays , The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday , Craftberry Bush for the Inspiration Gallery on Friday
See you next time! À la prochaine!
 

Also find me at…

 

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