Sailing- An upcycled reimagined piece

I had so much fun with this piece. It just developed into a story piece. It was this vinatge old brown drab and boring thing to the right and bottom of this pic. I started out with a cream colored chalk paint ,sanded down my edges and then used a brown wax to give it a fresh vintage look. Next I had this fish that I painted to match and then the book pages from an old sailing book. The pages are perfectedly torn and feathered and aged. I love this little character. You can see him down at the Coastal Bohemian boutique down in A Bit of Everything in Little River , SC. He is ready to go home with someone for $149.00. If interested I can manage to arrange for shipping for an additional price.  

You may want to call this a laptop desk.

Thanks for stopping by.

Michele 

Seashell Floral Picks/ Drink Stirrers

With all the seashells around the beach house and desperately needing a drink stirrer for my Mojito I decided to hot glue a few shells onto wooden shish kebab skewers. My Mojito was tasting much better after that and the stirrers made for a pretty display.

Just a few days later I was arranging a little floral piece and decided to grab the stirrers and tuck them inside my design.  I love the simplicity of the Spanish Moss and with the addition of the little picks, it pops.

How cute would it be to serve fruit kebabs on these little beauties?

Tie a little red ribbon and a jingle bell for a coastal christmas stirrer/skewer/ floral pick. 

Dollar Tree sells packages of these wooden skewers all the time.

Enjoy the day.


Michele Michael 

coastalbohemian@gmail.com

5 Fisherman Reads- Holiday Gift Idea

Maybe because I think it's fun to get a new book as a gift I think it's fun to give a good  book as a gift.

Don't be afraid to search thrift stores and antique shops for less available titles. You can try Etsy, Ebay and Amazon as well. Pick them up throughout the year for gift giving to your fisherman.

Here are a few unique finds for the fisherman in your life.

Be sure and wrap the book or books up with a big bow  and add a decorative lure to complete the theme.

Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World  Mark Kurlansky

How To Make Your Own Fishing Lures: The Complete Illustrated Guide by Vlad Evanoff 

North Carolina's Ocean Fishing Piers: From Kitty Hawk to Sunset Beach by Al Baird

The Southern Surfcaster: Saltwater Strategies for the Carolina Beaches & Beyond  by S. CameronWright

Introduction to Bait Fishing by Ray Ovington found at The Gray Fedora on Etsy

 Vintage books  always have great old drawings you scan and use for decor around your  home too.

 Pick a few new titles and combine them with some vintage finds for a great surprise holiday gift.

Please feel free to add to the comments, some suggested titles and links for the holiday buyers.

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

Follow Coastal Bohemian on Pinterest, Facebook , Twitter,Blogger , and Etsy

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 

Fisherman Inspired Chum Pot Lighting

Is it only Tuesday? Monday was so long it felt like two days.

This is a project that I posted on G+ a while ago and I felt needed to be out on my blog. This is truly a nautical inspired piece.

I picked up a few chum pots while yard saling , so not a word, out in Montauk, NY. They looked perfect for a real industrial looking light fixture.

For months I had been trying to figure out how I was going to turn this into a pendant light over my Mosaic Starfish table.

I was browsing ideas in the Lowe's lighting dept and found this three dangle fixture that would allow me to customize the pendants of the dangles
. 

I had the chum pots cut so the fixture would screw into the tops of the fixture.
I had one glitch....I only had two chum pots and for a weeks I hadn't been able to find a third.
Luckily , Lowe's had a cylindrical pendant. I painted the wicker pendant with a grey primer to match the chum pots.
 
Afterwards, I hot glued some rope around each of the dangles.












Everyone who visits enjoys this piece , especially our fishermen friends.