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Tag: coastal decor


decoupaged double clam shells

15
April

nest double clam shell

You’ve seen me decoupage many a shell!  Oyster shells are definitely my favorite to make, but scallop and clam are fun to do as well!  And, since it is Easter week, I do have a bunny in the mix!

bunny double shell

The procedure is the same as the one I gave you for the oyster shells.  (Click here if you need the instructions.)

boat double clam

The only difference here is that I used clam shells and I used those that still had the two sides attached.   I decoupaged both sides, being extra careful so as not to break them apart.

nests and eggs double clam

If you haven’t yet tried to decoupage a shell, I hope I have inspired you to try!

holding open clam shell

Thanks for stopping by!

nest shell double

Have a fabulous Easter weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Comments Off on decoupaged double clam shells | diy, sand & sea, style

christmas oyster shell dishes

18
December

red toile oyster dish

You have seen decoupaged oyster shells on my blog before, but today I am including a few honoring the Christmas holiday.

oyster shell with topiary tree

I decided to make some as gifts and thought I’d share the pretty holiday patterns with you on today’s post.

oyster shell with tree pattern

tree oyster gift

Shown here are a few of my favorite decoupaged Christmas patterns.

oyster shell with holly pattern

If you are inspired, you still have time to craft a few of your own!  You can get to the link with my original DIY instructions by clicking here. 

oyster shell with palm tree design

Living on the coast, I salvage shells from the beach, but if you need them, most craft stores have some in stock.

oyster shell with lobster pattern

Remember that other types of shells will work also, but a heavy, hard-to-break shell is best – I like oyster, clam, and scallop for good- sized, smooth surfaces.

oyster shell gift

Seas and greetings!

oyster shell xmas gift

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

2 comments » | diy, holiday, sand & sea

lighting at coquina

10
March

best outdoor lighting

In my last post I shared some cool drinks I shared with friends at Coquina in Amelia Island, Florida.  Today, I am sharing some of the lighting at this new coastal restaurant.

nautical lighting

If you follow my blog, you know how much I love lighting – any new place I visit is a call to check out all the fixtures!

Because Coquina is basically right on the sand, the lighting is super cool coastal!

outdoor lighting

It looks great during the day, but even better as the day turns into night!

nighttime coastal lighting

pretty outdoor lighting

Wouldn’t you love to have some of these fixtures out on your patio!  Love them!

wall lighting

Thanks for stopping by.  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. Don’t worry – I will show you what the rest of Coquina looks like in an upcoming post!

Comments Off on lighting at coquina | sand & sea, style

fall by the sea velvet pumpkins

27
October

white velvet fall by the sea pumpkins

I thought I would leave you with one last velvet pumpkin post for this year.  If you have been inspired to try making some velvet pumpkins, I want to suggest you experiment with stems.  Yes, the real pumpkin stems are so beautiful (and my favorites), but changing up the stems can create a different vibe for your homemade creations.

teal velvet and driftwood pumpkin fall by the sea

For today’s Friday field trip, I am demonstrating this by sharing a few of my seaside pumpkins.  By simply changing up the stems, it is possible to create a beachy vibe with your velvet pumpkins.

fall by the sea pumpkin trio

Just as I save pumpkin stems, I also save pieces of driftwood that I think will make great pumpkin stems come fall.

white velvets fall by the sea pumpkins

Driftwood stems are much more challenging to collect than real pumpkin stems, since the shapes are so varied and not all pieces will translate well as pumpkin stems.

fall by the sea velvet pumpkins on shells

My favorite driftwood stem this year is on this light sea green pumpkin – isn’t it perfect?!  The driftwood stems usually are chunkier, just by nature of the driftwood – but, the shape of this piece looks like an authentic pumpkin stem shape!  I love it!

fall by the sea aqua velvet pumpkin

Sea themed velvet pumpkins look great in a home displayed in a cluster with sea glass and some Spanish moss.  Adding ribbons, twine, seashells, pearls, etc. to the pumpkin can help convey your vibe…have fun with it!

fall by the sea gray velvet pumpkin

I hope I have inspired you to try making a velvet pumpkin in a sea themed color with a driftwood stem!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing with The Inspiration Gallery at  Taryn Whiteaker. :)

3 comments » | inspiration, sand & sea, style

creating white sea glass

14
June

a weck jar after diy sea glass paint pleasure in simple things blog

Last week, I showed you how easy it is to create a sea glass look to glass using the new Krylon spray paint.  I showed a couple of examples to get you inspired.

a sea glass diy pleasure in simple things blog

I received so many emails asking why I didn’t include the ‘ice’ color in my post, I decided to dedicate today’s post to a demonstration of that particular color!

creating a sea glass jar pleasure in simple things blog

The ‘ice’ color of the Krylon sea glass spray paint actually happens to be my favorite of all the colors!  I guess I should have included it in my post last week, but here goes!  As I mentioned last week, it takes mere seconds to complete a spray painting project!  Here you can see me spraying a cute little Weck jar.

process of sea glass spray paint

And here, the beautiful result!  Ready to use in minutes!

a diy weck jar in sea glass pleasure in simple things blog

Thanks for stopping by!  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

1 comment » | diy, inspiration, sand & sea

sea glass spray paint

7
June

Krylon sea glass paint pleasure in simple things blog

We have all made sea glass looking jars from glue, water, and some food coloring – haven’t we?  If you haven’t, please don’t even try it!  There is a new sea glass spray paint that makes this process so much quicker and so much less of a mess!  The effect is created, literally, in seconds -and dries almost as fast.  It is possible to transform your entire recycling bin of bottles in mere minutes!

demonstrating Krylon sea glass paint pleasure in simple things blog

I actually had an empty recycling bin when I decided to demonstrate this new Krylon spray paint, so I made a quick trip to the dollar store.  I found some great looking bottles for this exercise and sprayed some to use as table numbers – a fun way to dress up party tables!  After spraying, I just added numbers.before and after Krylon sea glass paint pleasure in simple things blogOf course, there are tons of ways to use the bottles once they are painted!  Like…making labels to add to a bottle – easy to do with a home computer!

sea glass painting pleasure in simple things blog

Because I ended up buying bottles from the dollar store, they are all the same size and shape, but the beauty of using this paint is that you can create a cohesive grouping of bottles by simply painting a variety of shapes and sizes all in the same color.

Krylon amber sea glass paint before and after pleasure in simple things blog

This Krylon sea glass paint is available in more colors than you probably have sea glass!  They include lemon, aqua, ice, cornflower, rose, sea foam, ruby, and amber.  Of course, though I didn’t use it for this exercise, ice is probably my favorite!  Yes, white is my favorite color in sea glass!

Here is an example of the amber color paint.  I used it on a clear glass candlestick.  When I put some of my brown sea glass next to the painted candlestick, look how similar they appear!

Krylon amber sea glass paint pleasure in simple things blog

Krylon sea glass paint at night pleasure in simple things blog

 

I hope I have inspired you to create something fun of your own in your favorite sea glass color using Krylon spray paint!

P.S.  For an evening party, battery operated lights in bottles are a nice addition. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Comments Off on sea glass spray paint | diy, inspiration, sand & sea

wedding beauty in newport, ri

24
May

closeup of Newport wedding arch pleasure in simple things blog

It has been a very busy time for me.  Right after a short trip to the West Coast, I attended a wedding on the East Coast in Newport, RI.  On both coasts, my stay was directly on the shore so I was surrounded by all the coastal details I adore!

Castle Hill in RI pleasure in simple things blog

Castle Hill wedding pleasure in simple things blog

At the wedding, I was able to see a guy very special to me wed the gal of his dreams.  This gal also happens to have amazing taste and their wedding certainly reflected it!

a Newport RI wedding pleasure in simple things blog

pink flowers pleasure in simple things blog

wedding arch at Castle Hill pleasure in simple things blog

Today I am sharing with you a little bit of the beauty from the evening.

Newport wedding flowers pleasure in simple things blog

menu card at Castle Hill RI pleasure in simple things blog

white flowers at Castle Hill pleasure in simple things blog

At the couple’s request, photos were not taken at the ceremony or reception, but I did sneak a few photos of the amazing ocean view venue at Castle Hill Inn and a couple of the gorgeous details incorporated into the décor.

wedding table number Newport RI pleasure in simple things blog

wedding tablesetting at Castle Hill pleasure in simple things blog

I hope you enjoy the photos!  You can see a little more Newport on the blog on Friday!

Newport RI wedding flowers pleasure in simple things blog

tears of wedding joy pleasure in simple things blog

Thank you so much for stopping.  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

1 comment » | inspiration, sand & sea, style

coastal party favors

10
May

anchor bag favors pleasure in simple things blog

Friends, you know how much I embrace a good theme – particularly a coastal one!  SO, you can really appreciate today’s post!

I was recently challenged to create Mother’s Day favors for a party celebrating a group of moms on the California coast.  Exciting!  This is the type of project I love!  I am super excited to show you the results of this project!

First, I got a Connecticut artisan to create my vision of a coastal themed, zippered, canvas bag.  I wanted to have a really great bag and find something related to my theme to tuck inside to make it extra special.

completed coastal theme favor pleasure in simple things blog

I had imagined a metallic anchor on the front of the bags, and I got just that!  How perfect are these?!  And, the anchor printed lining couldn’t be any cuter!

ct artisan zippered pouch pleasure in simple things blog

What did I choose to tuck inside these custom creations?  I first decided on some candy beach stones and packaged them in round glass-topped tins.

beach stone candies pleasure in simple things blog

Next, I added an anchor shaped bookmark – a great item to have for beach reads!

anchor bookmark for favor pleasure in simple things blog

As a way to utilize the new bookmarks, large baskets of gently used paperbacks in various notable titles were part of the party décor for moms to grab on their way to the beach.  Fun!

completed coastal theme favor pleasure in simple things blog

I hope I have inspired you to create some themed favors of your own for your next celebration.

If you have a vision for your own design and want to contact the artisan I used, check out Ralph & Martha on Facebook!

Thanks for stopping by!  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Comments Off on coastal party favors | gift ideas, inspiration, sand & sea, style

‘beachify’ your bottles

22
April

diy shells for wine bottles pleasure in simple things blog

The weather has finally turned here in Connecticut and I am loving every warm, sunny second of it!

For Friday field trip today, I am taking you into my wine cellar. (Not really, I don’t have a wine cellar – although I do keep a bottle of wine in my cellar!) But, I am showing you a bottle of wine!

shells for wine bottles pleasure in simple things blog

Warm weather not only makes me smile, but encourages me to find summer enhancements that also make me smile. A super simple one is to add a shell garland to your summer wine! A glue gun and a couple of shells (or beach glass) glued to a piece of twine create some easy summer décor! Just glue a shell – preferably found at the beach – onto each end of a length of twine and wrap it around a bottle!

shells on twine for wine bottles pleasure in simple things blog

These make great warm weather napkin rings as well!

If you are giving a bottle of wine as a gift, you can even roll a cute summer dishtowel (maybe a lobster or crab motif) around the bottle and tie it on with the shell enhanced twine!

beachify wine bottles pleasure in simple things blog

An easy way to add a feeling of summer and a smile! :)

Happy sunshine! Thank you for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Comments Off on ‘beachify’ your bottles | diy, gift ideas, inspiration

taking down the tree

5
January

christmas tree is undone pleasure in simple things blog

Is it hard for you to say good-bye to the Christmas tree?

It is for me! I had to take down the entire collection of holiday decor on New Year’s Day because that was the only day I had a little scrap of free time to complete the chore. Packing away all the holiday treasures and kicking the tree out to the curb are not easy tasks!

a sweet crab shell homemade ornament pleasure in simple things blog

The very last ornament I took off the tree was one that has made it through four generations! It was handmade from a crab shell found locally. The ornament was like a flagship piece for the Christmas of 2015 – not only is it a family heirloom, but it fit in perfectly with my sea glass Christmas theme. Can you believe this fragile piece of crab shell has lasted four generations?

But yes, I finally did take down this last ornament and the tree now sits on my front lawn awaiting pickup!

sea glass mantel take down pleasure in simple things blog

I had just about all the decorations down except for one side of my mantle. On it, I had a collection of bottle brush trees; some in sea glass shades. That was when I decided not to take down every piece of décor…so what if I left a few trees on the mantle? What would it hurt?

And, guess what? I left a few trees in the bathroom as well!

taking down christmas pleasure in simple things blog

Sometimes it is just too hard to say good-bye. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

2 comments » | holiday, nostalgia, sand & sea

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