Celebrate the Opening of Coastal Bohemian Boutique

 As of March 1st Coastal bohemian has opened a small boutique in Myrtle Beach, SC. To be more precise the boutique is in The Best of Everything in Little River , SC. Stopdown and see some of the art and talent at The Best of Everything and many other beautiful finds from the other shops. Here's a link to The Best of Everything for address , directions and hours.

Beach Shabby Chic Clock

One of my New Year's resolutions was to create a video of one of my projects in hopes of continuing to do more videos. Be kind, this is my first video and I know I need work ,but I did it!




Very Coastal Very Bohemian

Driftwood Embellished Night Stand Beach Shabby

Driftwood again. And why not? 

Found this lonely, old girl cast to the side of the road while doing errands one day.

Painted her white with some chalk paint to freshen her up and get my brain chugging away at some inspiration.

Next, I dry brushed her with some grey and then some copper. 

Dry brush is simply a paint brush dipped into paint and then almost all that paint is removed from the brush. Remove almost all of the paint using newspaper or cloth or paper towels. Just run the brush back and forth until there is very little to no paint left on the brush.  Then gently brush the furniture and it will pick up the grain of the piece.

She sat around for a while until I took some driftwood and started to nail it around her. I used my pneumatic nailer. Suddenly, she was  like a little princess, or Cinderella coming into her own. Hahaha...I crack myself up. I'm ridiculously attached to my projects and my driftwood.

Digging around in my hardware draw I found her a little bling and attached this vintage crystal knob.

She was really becoming beach shabby. 

I finished her off with a vintage pink lamp and lace. 

Creating beach shabby  is a challenge but I think this is Very Coastal, Very Bohemian,Very Beachy, and  Very Shabby.

Hope you bring some more driftwood into your home. Please feel free to share your driftwood creations. I'd love to see them and share them.

Michele Michael 

Coastal Bohemian 

coastalbohemian@gmail.com

Holiday Coastal Garden

During the holidays I like to cut fresh evergreen boughs and holly and tuck them into my now flowerless planters. Tuck a few picks inside and add a bow and it always lifts the little tired areas in the garden or at the entry way.

This year, I walked the nearby woods for my evergreens and tied the whole beach theme together with other elements from the garden. I pulled in a architectural block from an old Manhattan church along with some shells and an outdoor candle lit lantern. Very Coastal. Very Bohemian.

                                                           Happy Coastal Holiday Decorating to you.

                                                                     Michele Michael

Seas the Day /Dream Vintage Shabby Silver DIY Upcyle decor

Carpe Diem-Seize the Day ...one of my favorite sayings, because I always look forward to what the new day brings to me and she brings to me, that girl bbbbrrrringgggs it. Glass half full and all, I expect that the new day has something creative  in store for me , or a new find is waiting to be discovered, or I may make a new connection to someone exciting.
 As a Coastal Bohemian , I prefer this spelling of the term Seas the Day , a clever play on words that means nothing more than Seize the Day.Yuck yuck :)

I picked up this silver plate at Goodwill Store for $1.00 and this silver bowl at Good will for $1.00.

Both got two coats of chalkboard paint and then I just draw in a few words.

I recommend getting a chalk pen from AC Moore  or Michael's or one of your favorite  craft stores.

You can download various style fonts specifically recommended for chalkboard art. Create your own sayings and print them out so they fit into your project. Next just take a solid piece of chalk and rub the chalk all over the back of your printed saying. Place it on the chalkboard, dusty chalk side down and trace the saying onto the project. Remove the paper and then it's very easy to take your chalk pen to fill in the design.

I added a few dots around the edge to
give it a little pizzazz, hot glued a ribbon and hung it up with a thumb tack that has a seashell hot glued to it. Easy ,easy little adorable charm.

                           Of  course , you need to continue to Dream while you Seas the Day.


                                                                   Michele Michael

Coastalbohemian@gmail.com

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Before and After Furniture 5 draw chest

Before 

                                    After 

Sorry these pictures are so bad, These are after we were hit by Hurricane Sandy.

I mixed up some of my own recipe for chalk paint using an aqua flat paint from Lowe's. Afterwards, I used Annie Sloan clear wax , then a coat of dark wax and then a coat of clear wax again.  I love to mix in other hardware when possible and so you can see here that I had salvaged two white porcelain handles from another project. So we have some repurposing and recycling here as well.

I have the recipe for DIY chalk pain that has worked really well for me. Email to me at Coastalbohemian@gmail.com and I will send you the recipe I use.


Keep up the fun projects.

Michele

Skipping Stones Collection Inspire a Record Breaking 65 skips

There are two different shorelines on Long Island,the North Shore which is a rocky shore with many cliffs and the South Shore which is flat and sandy. Both are beautiful but the North shore with it's abundant supply of stones is the perfect shore for skipping stones. I love skipping stones. I'm not very athletic so this works with  my skills and abilities.

My home before Hurricane Sandy , had on display a big jar with a fancy topper and inside was my collection of skipping stones.

Think along these lines filled with skipping stones.

              It's time to replace my skipping stones collection.

 I'll make all the visitors to the beach house in charge of bringing back skipping stones too. Hahaha Wink.

What's left of the Skipping Stone Collection

I imagine taking the collection down to the ocean one night and having a skip off contest at the beach. How much fun with friends as we skip along and maybe cast some wishes to the sea.

Wonder if Maxwell Steiner who holds the world record of 65 skips had a skipping jar?
Read more about Maxwell below.

Grosse Pointe Woods man sets Guinness record for stone-skipping 

 Skipping stone lessons may be in order.

13 tips to become a better stone skipper ....in case they make it an Olympic event.

13-tips-to-becoming-a-better-stone-skipper

OK ,off to start my new collection and find a cool new jar. I think it needs a pretty chalk board label like these from Etsy shop Mega Boards.

Tell me how many skips you've got in your arsenal.

My max is three.

Michele 

Beware of the Giant Octopus

With a new round blank canvas table sitting around dying for attention, I was working out the  next nautical themed project. I spend a lot of time scouring the pages of printables at www.graphicsfairy.com and decided I was intrigued by this vintage Octopus.

He would be cool with his tentacles hanging over the sides in a death grip eating the table. YES

I printed him out in 4 pages on waterslide/decal paper in reverse. When I installed him I destroyed the first half of him and was left with half an Octopus. Wah.

 Now, half an Octopus lie around waiting to become something.

I went and translated the warning "Beware of the Giant Octopus" in Italian and then it was game on.

Guardatevi Il Polpo Gigante

.....and I downloaded a lacey tattoo style font on Dafont.com  named "  Ginga.

This was all decoupaged onto the surface and then  top coated with the same matte finish  mod podge .

Here is the new focal piece at the beach house.

Have fun and Guardatevi Il Polpo Gigante.

Michele 

Very Coastal. Very Bohemian.

Driftwood Art

It has become apparent that I have a love for driftwood. Sometimes I can stand back from a piece and see it as if someone had created it by hand or had sculpted it from clay. It becomes mesmerizing to look at and imagine how it has taken form , what kind of path has it been on, where has it traveled and how did it get to this shore?
This is truly a conversation piece and in my world it is pure art....art that I would eagerly visit at an art gallery exhibit titled Mother Nature a True Artist




This piece was found on Sunken Meadow Beach on the North Shore of Long Island ,New York.

                                      It's just a swim  across the Sound from Connecticut.

Decide to bring some driftwood art into your home and make a day of it by visiting beaches , walking and hunting and picnicking. There is almost no cost involved , you'll decorate your home, breathe fresh air, exercise and hopefully find a decorative treasure for your home.

                             I hope you have a great day and plan a driftwood hunt real soon.

                                                                 Michele Michael

Driftwood Sign with Barnacles

Scouring  the beach again I found this piece of driftwood wash up on the North Shore of Long Island NY.

It had barnacles in all the right places. I was crazy for this driftwood. (Side note .......I get very attached to my driftwood. I know each one's shape and texture and curves and weight . I should name them at this point.) Too weird? You can leave the blog now.

It was obviously, screaming to be a sign.

I took some $1.00 store twine ....from Dollar Tree...

   ....braided  for  a hanger .... stapled it to the back.

I dug around in my findings and came up with this "Ahoy" that I had picked out of a Michael's bin two years prior.









The Ahoy had a fabric print that I simply painted over and hot  glued to the front.

                        Look at that barnacle. 





So simple . Great beach house sign , or for the boat.

The thing is, this is  something  adorable to treasure and so easy it can be done for fun with your children, grandchildren , scouts etc.


 Who on Fire Island wouldn't want this as a gift?

Or hanging on the dock as guests board the sailboat in  San Diego?

                 Have a beautiful day . I hope you"ll find some driftwood screaming to be a sign.

                                                                    Michele Michael

P.S. I'm probably going to make my trident from driftwood. It's only fitting. 

Refer to my " I want a Trident" Blog