DIY Shell Planter

I have lots of plants in my house and like to get a little creative with the pots I keep them in.  Since I love and live near the beach a lot of my decor has a beach theme.  ImageMaterials: clay pot (any size), paint, paintbrush, shells (store bought or if you’re a beachcomber like me, your beach treasures), glue gun, glue

ImageYou can start by painting the upper rim of the pot any color you like.  I chose white but a sea foam green or light turquoise would look great too.  Once the paint is dry just start hot gluing the shells all around the pot.  I think I know the title for my next post…”Hot Glue Guns : DIYers Friend or Foe”  Don’t get me wrong, I love my hot glue gun but I can never seem to escape getting a blister every time I use it.  Tip: Start with the larger shells and then fill in the empty spaces with smaller shells.  Feel free to overlap the shells.  Keep adding shells until the pot is completely filled.  Really there is no way to mess this up…just play around with it until you are happy with the result.  ImageYup, there’s Daisy again…she follows me wherever I go.

ImageThis little fellow, my fat happy Buddha, I got at a jade market on our trip to Hong Kong last summer.  I think a person’s home should tell their story.  Almost everything I display is my house was either made by me, made by a family member, or a memento from a trip.  I like that everything is personalized and has a story behind it rather then mass produced in a factory.

Happy creating 🙂

Advertisement

Where in the World?

I am a wanderlust.  I love to travel anywhere and everywhere.  I can’t get enough of it.  Some people collect cars.  Some people collect coins.  I collect experiences.  I collect stamps in my passport.  I collect pins on my map. I would much rather do something than have something.  For every birthday, anniversary, Christmas, etc. my husband always asks what I want.  My answer is always the same… I don’t want a physical present.  Sure gifts are great but I’d rather have an experience.  A trip (near or far), a broadway show, a day spent together doing anything really.

Anyway back to travel.  We have gotten to see some pretty awesome places on this earth and a lot of my DIY inspirations are because of our travels.  This project was super easy and it’s always fun to add another pin to our map.

ImageMaterials: bulletin board, acrylic paint, map, pins, card stock

I painted the bulletin board white and then sponged on a little tan to make it look a little aged since the map is a vintage style.  After the paint is dry, just staple the map to the bulletin board.

I printed the title on card stock and then burned the edges to make it look a little bit aged.  (I recommend doing this close to a sink just in case.  The paper can burn very quickly…we don’t want any accidents.)

Image

Now you’re ready to start adding pins to your map.  The blue are domestic travels and the red are international.  You can use any colors you like.

Image

Image

Image

Happy pinning!

Someone’s Trash is Someone Else’s Treasure

I love seeing the potential something has.  I love going to garage sales or antique shops and finding a piece and thinking, “I can work with that!”  These are some of my past finds and what they have been transformed into.  Sorry I don’t have step by step instructions or specific colors used for these…they were BTB (Before the Blog).  I promise future posts will have more details.

It’s amazing what some paint and sandpaper can do.  I found this piece at a local garage sale for $40.

Image

This was a piece I found on Craigslist for $15.

Image

I absolutely LOVE anything mosaic!  I found this piece at a garage sale.  It was missing the middle insert.  The guy who was selling it said it was originally a slate slab that had cracked.  I think I paid $5 for it.  Some paint, a plywood insert, some smashed tiles from Home Depot, a little bit of grout, and voila, a mosaic table is born!  Did I mention how happy everything mosaic makes me?? 🙂Image