Shell Wind Chimes

Shell Wind Chimes

 Another year, another trip to Florida and you know what that means...MORE SHELLS! This year, I wanted to try something new, something, of course, inspired by Pinterest...shell wind chimes! I had found all of these beautiful shells with perfect holes "drilled" in them as if screaming to be strung, so I did!

 First step...ALWAYS wash and dry your shells thoroughly! We used Dawn dish soap and hot water and hot sun!

Next, I broke into my hubby's tackle box and found some 20 pound fishing line. I figured if it can hold a 20 pound fish, it is a great choice for a bunch of shells and beads! I then brought out all out my cleaned shells with holes, my beads, and even took apart a few necklaces that I never wear for additional touches! I always choose a LARGE, HEAVY shell for the bottom. As I tied the initial knot I realized that I am not a fisherman and I have NO idea if my simple knot would hold. My hubby was out of town on business, so instead of waiting for him to return, I thought...GLUE GUN! I thought I would reinforce the knot with hot glue. If it didn't melt the line, at least it would bind it, right? I would follow the knotted shell with beads in various colors and patterns. Every 4 inches or so, I would add in another shell, tied and glued. I did this for about a foot and a half. I repeated the same thing 6 times...

I ended up with 6 strings and I thought, what about attaching it to a STARFISH? My hubby had returned by now, and when I asked him, he said no way would it hold. He said I needed to work on reinforcing it somehow with either supports or a clear hardener.  At the time, I worked for Home Depot and I asked everyone I knew what they would suggest. No one had any ideas. After a month of shells and beads laying around my family room, I decided that God made Star Fish and they are perfect. And it it breaks, well, then, I would try sticks.

I like to be resourceful and use what I have around the house (fine, call it cheap, I am good with that!). I really wanted 6 tiny "eyes" from hook and eye sets, but I only had one. I did find a bunch of picture hanging materials, so I used the smallest ones I had that had teeth. But very shallow teeth...I easily pushed them into the star fish but I was nervous...so, I topped each of them off with a nice dab of E6000 glue and let them sit over night (I did use the perfect eye right in the bottom center, with E6000).  THe next day, I still was nervous, so I added some hot glue as well...

I then tied each strand to the circles (reinforcing them with hot glue, of course!) and threw a large cup holder hook in the top (adding glue)...

 I think it turned out WONDERFUL! I love looking at the sea, while I sit up here in Wisconsin. I love the sparkle when the sun shines and the faint tinkling sound when the wind stirs...As far as durability? I won! It's been up 2 weeks, baked in the sun, got drenched in rain and last night, a HUGE storm hit our town! Everyone lost planters, trees were knocked down...but MY wind chime is still hanging!

Minecraft Halloween Costume

I was DELIGHTED last year when in October, my son wanted to be Steve from Minecraft. You have to understand, the previous 4 years, he always wanted to be some version of Sonic, and quite frankly, I was running out of ideas on how to make another version!

I found a number of ideas on Pinterest, but this one really inspired me!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-No-Sew-Soft-Foam-Minecraft-Armor/

I found a bunch of boxes at work that I could use to make the body and arms. I painted them blue and let them dry.  I then raided the blue and gray paint swatches at my Home Depot and I glued them randomly to the boxes, My hubby cut out the head and arm holes next,,,the final step was finishing all of the edges with black duct tape.

My son already owned the Steve head and the diamond sword, so the costume was complete! All he needed was jeans and a light blue shirt.

He turned out to be a pretty cool Steve and got a TON of compliments!

A Minecraft Birthday Party

 My son is a huge fan of Minecraft. So for his Birthday last year, we had a Minecraft birthday party at a campground. I tried using all the printables on Pinterest, but they were not printing correctly. I purchased posterboard with "ghost lines" and made my own labels for snacks...

 

 We used my son's Minecraft swords for additional decorations. We had a lot of pretzels for snacks! The brick ones were labeled, "Trap Door." Veggie Straws were labeled, "Sticks." I used gold covered chocolates as "Gold," I purchased the confetti poppers and labeled them "TNT." Red grapes were labeled, "Redstone." I found some cheap lime green plastic cups at WalMart and I made creeper faces on them with the help of electrical tape and my son,

 The cake was easy! Simple rectangle cake, then I had my son use Hershey candy bar pieces to create another creeper.

 Overall, I would say it was a success! He was a happy boy!

 A big hit was the Steve head he received as a gift...

 They would wear it and then the battles with the swords began!

It was a very memorable, very fun birthday!

Shell Memory Frame

This post is going to be short and sweet. With all of the shells that I collected in Florida, I used ideas from Pinterest to create this nice memory. I took a cheap frame from Goodwill and white washed it. While at Goodwill, I picked up some fake pearl necklaces and shiny marbles. I then, just glued away! All the shells were cleaned and ready to be hot glued, but adding the pearls and marbles added something more!

Fast, easy and a lasting family memory!

Painted Garden Window

I also wanted to give my mom something to tie her garden books (see previous post) to her garden...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/30317462/sample-painted-windows?ref=sr_gallery_19&ga_search_query=painted+window&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_ref=auto1&ga_search_type=all

https://www.etsy.com/listing/159054701/garden-library-cicero-quote-a

I used these two pins as inspiration...I collect things for future crafts. Last summer, a church was giving away windows so OF COURSE I grabbed a bunch. Every day, my husband complained about them and the fact that I wasn't using them. I decided to try my hand at painting one. I am not an artist; however, I am pretty fearless so I went to Fleet Farm (I work at Home Depot and know that we do not have paint for glass) where I found paint for glass. Little containers for like model cars and things. So I jumped in and tried to mimic the painted window while incorporating the quote.

 The hardest part was waiting for the paint to fully dry between steps. I am not patient and I am used to quick drying latex, but I did it...

 For not being an artist, I thought it came out pretty nice...

And Mom loved it!

Books for Mom's Garden!

Garden "Books"

http://wasbella102.tumblr.com/post/61762198667/bricks-painted-to-look-like-books-in-the-garden

I was inspired by this Pin last year. I decided I would give it a try! My mom loves her garden, and I thought it would make a great birthday gift for her! I went to Home Depot and bought a variety of paving stones. I brought them home, cleaned them and allowed them to dry for 24 hours.

I used Exterior Behr Marquee white semi-gloss paint and painted the "pages" of the books (3 edges). Once they dried, I used any and all exterior paint I had in my garage to paint the covers of the book.

Then, came the tough part. I spent hours at the library looking for copies of some of my mom's favorite books. I checked them out and brought them home. Then, using paint markers, I tried to replicate the covers/font and edge to the best of my ability. Once I finished, I let them dry, then sprayed with a clear protective coating.

 I think they turned out great!

And my mom loved her gift!

Shells, Shells & More Shells!

As you might know, my family and I recently vacationed at Cocoa Beach and I returned with HUNDREDS of shells! I created some pretty cute gifts for my friends (in an earlier post), but I still have a few hundred left! I scoured Pinterest for inspiration then headed to Goodwill for a few frames. I found one really cheap...I think it was 75 cents but had an ugly photo that I couldn't remove. Why I chose it was because it was raised and the back had about an inch of empty space. 

After meticulously scrubbing each shell with Dawn dish soap, water and a toothbrush, I realized I had quite a few broken ones. I slowly started to add them to the inside of the frame on the far right above (ugly picture still facing out on what I now consider the back). I was out of my favorite craft glue (Liquid Nails for Projects), so I broke out the trusty old glue gun and glued them onto the back of the photo & mat. I then gather up these awesome blue muscle shells and used them as petals for flowers that rested (glued, of course!) On top of the broken shells.

 For the final touch, I found some pearl jewelry at Goodwill (a bag full was only $2) and cute the pearls apart. I attached them with hot glue to the center of my "flowers."

Overall, it was super easy, inexpensive and I get numerous compliments on the unique way to display our Florida treasures!