Basket Top Pumpkin Sign

When someone left a bunch of old basket tops at the studio, I tucked them away hoping for inspiration at some point. 

Inspiration hit one day, not long  after a recent perusing of Pinterest. 

This day , pulling up fall ideas to diy , I was struck by the fact that most things were upcycled, oh did I mention I'm a big time upcycler, from oval and circular items, in one case a pumpkin was upcycled from a broken tennis racket.

In that moment I vowed to upcycle and clean out my studio with every oval and circular thing I had accumulated.

Can you say "Clean out"?

That's when I came across these forgotten basket tops. 

 A few extra staples to tighten them up , a quick coat of dry brush and a piece of driftwood.(I have shown you my driftwood collection at the studio)

 At this point you can hand paint some crude lettering across or stencil something fun. Or not. It's cute just as it is without signage.

I'm a fan of the farmers market and I have been seeing that in the home decor arena lately. Makes me think of Flea Markets, Garage Sales and Fall.

I'm loving these cuties. I hope this gives you a fun for fall idea.

Thanks for peeking in to see what I'm up to at Coastal Bohemian.

Enjoy your fall.

Michele 

Coastal Bohemian 

www.CoastalBohemian.net

Be sure and check out the Link Party Page  to see where I party all week.

Seashell Scooper -Upper

I usually keep a seashell scoop in my car in case I make a beach stop, which I do, often. It's my trusty new side kick, that I love.

My scoop is actually a sand flea rake,

 that we modified by adding bicycle handle bar grips.

 It's a fun little gadget and I always get complements and questions from other shellers. I guess we all have our seashell gathering routines.

While I was away on vacation at the beach in Florida, I realized I had forgotten to pack my new friend.

 Boo. 

Seriously BOO!

OK, but I have an idea.

You like where I'm going with this? I know your brain is already pickin' up what I'm puttin' down.

1 Strainer (Under $5  at Walmart ) 

+

1 long handled wooden pole. Bought at Walmarts for under $3.00 

+ 

 zip ties, (from the Dollar Tree)

 + 

 Gorilla Tape = Seashell Scoop

In the end this got the job done. It did bend on me when I collected too much sand and shells but I adjusted it back and took in less as I was collecting. 

Total cost $9.00 w/out the Gorilla tape. 

1. Using zip ties, attach the handle from the strainer to the wooden pole. We used 4-5 ties. 

2. Wrap the handles with Gorilla tape, (this is really super strong and never pulled apart when it got wet). 

Thanks for sharing and caring .

Hope this helps you in your shelling adventures. 

Michele , a Coastal Bohemian.

Be sure and stop by our studio in Myrtle Beach for our arts and crafts classes. We also do off site events , corporate events and do guest crafter events in your town. Call to see when we'll be in your area.

631-245-2674

Here's a link to our page to show you  Where we Party .

Seashell Switch Plates

A while ago my good friend Cathy came to visit me for a little beach getaway. She's my oldest and dearest craft buddy and I actually have a guest blog on here from her.

She takes a look at this naked light switch (Ok, not exactly this switch plate)and starts hollering from the other room, telling me these should be covered in seashells or something beachy. Looking around the beach cottage it was a little strange to see them so plain considering all the crazy bohemian beachiness around the place. 

 The next day I put my daughter, who was visiting,  to work covering up those plates. 

I like to cover everything in sand and glitter so I made up a quick and easy batch of sand and glitter. The mix is really an eye ball mix until the sand looks glittery. If I had to take a guess I would say 10 parts sand to one part glitter. Think in tablespoons.

I have made this so many times using every color glitter I can get my hands on but I really like the whites, crystals and opal colored with the sand.

Evenly paint on some Mod Podge and then cover with the sand and glitter. Let dry, then shake off the excess sand mix onto a plate to catch all that pretty goodness for future use. One more coat of Mod Podge and sand and glitter.










(BTW, I like the extra fine stuff for my sand mixes. )

http://www.michaels.com/extra-fine-glitter-stacker-artminds/10226118.html?productsource=PDPZ1               
This is one I keep around the studio from Michael's.

Let dry. Shake off excess.  Now start gluing on your shells and sea glass using a hot glue gun. This is a "hot " temp glue gun not  a "low temp" hot glue gun. 

You are done. Time to reinstall the switch plate. Did I mention you should remove the plate to do all this. LOL.

Hope you find room for a piece of the beach in your home using this very simple and satisfying design idea. 

Michele 
Coastal Bohemian


Shout out to all the Link Parties I've been dancing with. You can catch them on my Link Party Page.