How to decorate with sea shells

Sorry for the delay in posting new things! My daughter is doing great after her wisdom teeth were removed, but we did have a few rough days.  Getting back to our routine now... here is some frugal crafty goodness!

So, we arrived home from our beach getaway with SO MANY SHELLS! The kids each found bags of them, and I did too!  This is just a small selection of the shells we brought home!!

When we arrived home, I boiled them on the stove with a little bleach to kill any nasty germs that might have hitched a ride with them.  Then we spent a few days letting them dry out again. 

First, I put some on my mantle in one of my Williams-Sonoma knock off Hurricanes.   My Dad gave David a lovely model sailboat which I borrowed for the family room this summer, so my mantle was looking very beachy.  But I wanted to do something a little more unique, so I hit google for a bit!  My favorite idea was from this site -Becca painted her seashells with silver-y spray paint to look like their much more expensive Pottery Barn cousins...

So I decided to go that route.  Simple but elegant, showcasing the nooks & crannies of each shell with the gorgeous paint.   I followed her directions and looked for Krylon Chrome spray paint (she tested a few colors & found this to be the perfect color).

David & I hit up two stores on Sunday morning before we finally found that color, but it was Rust-o-leum brand.  (worked just fine, btw!)  Once home, David & I sorted the shells to find the ones we were willing to paint from our stash. (We're still planning a dollar store trip to get some more shells exclusively to paint!)    (ps ~ if you don't have a handle/sprayer thingie for your spray paint, you need to run get one - it makes it so much easier to get an even coat on anything you spray paint, and no more painted fingertips! I got mine for under $3 on Amazon.com) Here is the first batch of shells ~ I spraypainted each side, with about 15 minutes drying time, then turned them over and sprayed again!  Look for imperfect shells when you are choosing your shells to paint  (those with barnacles, holes, etc), they look so cool painted!

Aren't they lovely? I want to get more Starfish (and a couple sand dollars & sea biscuits) from Michael's to paint - LOVE how the textures really show up with the coat of paint! It's not as shiny as the shells because the starfish is so porous, but I really love the final result.

Right now they are hanging out inside one of my made-over Goodwill cheese domes - this one is painted Antique White. I tried taking a picture of these under the glass, but it didn't cooperate, so here ya' go!!

A few of these are destined to become pins or rings, too.  They are just too pretty to keep on display - they need to be worn and admired! : )  I'll post pics from that project soon, too!

Online Sale at Ballard Designs through March 20th

I *drool* over the Ballard Designs catalog and website.  Their gorgeous home furnishings are out of my price range for now, but they do serve as inspiration for things around the home! 

I just received an email about their weekly sale and it looks like anything that hangs on your wall is 20% off this week!

Take this burlap message board:

Even with the 20% off it is still $39.  I'm thinking this would cost under $5 to make ~ looks like those upholstry nails around the edge, and I've heard you can buy the board at home depot for uber-cheap.  Just cover with burlap, add the nails and voila!

Or this ~ the Madison corkboard:


Gorgeous, no?  But the price (before sale) ranges from $299 to $99.  People, check the picture section of your Goodwill or Thrift store! I see beautiful frames with ugly pictures all the time! Spend $10 for the frame, take out the glass, cover the picture with cork (buy cork at the craft store in rolls), and use a little paint, stain and sandpaper to distress the frame.  You'll have a Ballard-inspired corkboard for a fraction of the cost! No one has to know how cheap it was to make unless you want them to!

I tried to find a coupon code for Ballard Designs to share with you, just in case you wanted to spend the money on some of their beautiful home furnishings, but they have requested that the legit coupon code sites block user submissions of coupon codes....so none are out there. 

Have you ever made a Ballard-inspired item for your home? If so, I'd love to see it! Leave me a link to check it out!!

Trash to Treasure: Goodwill Mirror Makeover

Y'all know I can't pass up a deal at Goodwill.  Last month they had this mirror for $4.94 - it was large, framed, and had a small shelf and four screw hooks pushed into the bottom.  I knew I wanted to do something with it - but what?

After playing around with some acrylic paints I had,  I went to Walmart.  I headed for the spray paint section and inspiration hit! Chalkboard paint!!  I painted the frame and shelf black, then spray painted the mirror with three coats of the chalkboard paint.   Randy hung it up in the kitchen and I am in love with this newly made-over treasure!!  

I can post messages to the kids, or the menu for the day - even fun quotes!  And the kids can leave mom messages too!!  The hooks at the bottom hold different things on different days! Today in honor of Fat Tuesday, I have a Mardi Gras theme - a magnet Randy bought last time he was in New Orleans, and a few strings of beads.  There are also a few kitchen tools - a fun whisk and one of my Grandmother's ladles.... I am planning on drying some rosemary & lavender so I can hang bundles of them from the hooks come summer!

It's beginning to feel like Spring here, so I'm decorating like it is!

I've been stalking the glassware aisle at the local Goodwill and I finally found what I was looking for ~ another cheese board & glass dome set! I ADORE these!! I've found a couple of the glass domes by themselves, so this was a treasure! And it was so big ~ much bigger than the last one I found there, and only $4.94.   Time for another Goodwill Trash to Treasure makeover!  I needed something lighter-colored, so I bought some antique white spray paint at Wal-mart and got to work!

Before - just your average cheese board & dome....kind of scratched up too....

Here's how it looks now ~ I added some robins egg/nest vase filler I got at Target with my free Rx gift cards

but it's only $3.99 so I'd have gotten it even without the free gift card! 

It turned out to be so cute and exactly what I had in mind -a perfect centerpiece for the kitchen table! (please excuse the tablecloth - haven't gotten my Spring one on there yet!)

I even repurposed some tree branches from this Christmas project!  I really love the simplicity of this ~ isn't it sweet?! And the color - so nice, such a bright change from winter's darker shades.

Afterwards, I had so many pieces of the filler items leftover in the box that I spruced up my dollar store hurricanes with them, too! I am still looking for the perfect ribbon to tie around the base of each of them.

I'm ready for Spring to hurry up and get here!

Linking up with:

Halloween Centerpiece from Dollar Tree/Goodwill/Thrift store finds!

So tonight I finally got one Halloween project totally done. You've already seen my Halloween tree...




I needed something to add to it, so I grabbed that really unattractive oval plastic Christmas platter I scored at Goodwill a few weeks ago.



First it got a coat of the oil rubbed bronze spray paint, then a few splatter-y sprays of satin nickel to add more shine. I put the Halloween tree in the middle, added some spider-web stuff, some more of the metal ornaments and a couple creepy spiders. I think it looks really cute! Of course, my Katie piped in that it doesn't match the table cloth, but OH WELL!



PS ~ See the jar of creepy skeletal hands on the side? That is another project in progress. A crafty mom's work is never done!! I'll share that project soon!  

Some people look into an online associates degree
when they love interior design.

A Goodwill makeover

I have been so inspired by several other bloggers' recycled cheese board/dome makeovers, (especially Thrifty Decor Chic and House of Hepworths) so last week I headed to Goodwill and found my own!



I painted the board black, but wasn't really loving how it turned out.



Yesterday David & I had to spend a few hours at Walmart while waiting for a new tire to be put on the van, and a light to be replaced. We browsed the store, and I ended up getting some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint. Then we went over to Goodwill and I found the perfect wooden candlestick holder. It was $1.21, and was already painted black.

After we got home, I grabbed the board I painted last week along with the new holder, and headed out to the deck with the new paint.


This is the final result. I love it!

What I found at Goodwill today!

I haven't been to Goodwill in forever! Since the beginning of summer, at least. So today, after my little Publix trip, I ran in to see what they had!

Found: Adorable cheese dome/board $2.92
Tacky oval Christmas tray 99 cents
2 glass storage jars $1.81 each
Basket $1.81
2 Hardy Boys books for David $1.25 each



spent under $13 with tax for everything!

Now, I know it doesn't look like that much, but give me a few weeks, some spray paint and some holiday or seasonal decor and it is gonna ROCK! That tray will be black, with some burnished edges for holding candles as a centerpiece. The little dome will highlight something beautiful ~ not sure if I will paint the base black or white? The basket will sit on my newly repainted counters to hold dishwashing soap, sponges and such. The jars will be perfect in the pantry. At Walmart, similar jars were $7! And the books will help my little reader read even more! Check back soon as I'll post the finished projects here! Thanks for stopping by!