Make a Wooden Beach Sign

A few very creative fellow bloggers who express their love for the sea, the beach or their coastal town with a wooden beach sign.


If you happen to have an old crate, tear a piece from it like Jillian did in order to make this wooden Beach Sign. First, she gave the wood a white wash, then penciled the letters on "freestyle", followed by painting over the pencil with white acrylic paint. Beautiful and simple! The rustic sign sits on a ledge in her bathroom.


Lili lives in Sorrento, Maine, and made her Coastal Sign with letters which she gave a coating of liquid gold leaf, then attached them to a curved distressed board that once was part of a church steeple. And did you notice the sea urchins? They too are golden! The sign's now hanging right above her blue painted tin lobster. Gorgeous combo!


A beautiful wooden beach sign made by Gina of The Shabby Chic Cottage. She used pieces of beadboard, scrap wood and hand made stencils.


Marsha saw the potential of an old chippy white fence picket. It only needed a few chunky white letters to make a statement. And I think her Beach Sign is perfect for that space!


Chris' wooden Beach Sign was part of this Craft Post. She glued letters from Michael's onto a painted wood panel, spelling out two of her favorite words.


Karla of It's the Little Things also used scrap wood. She gave the piece a quick coat of color, and printed her letters on the computer.


And ending the presentation with a saying! Okay, I cheated with this one, it's not wood, Lynette used a canvas and vinyl letters for this great Sign which she calls the "red letter knockoff".


And I just learn about this beauty in the comments! It's the works of Tina of The Artful Life.

Feel free to grab this button. It links to this post!

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Seashell Covered -It's Called Coquillage

Did you know that attaching shells to objects such as frames, mirrors or pieces of furniture (see Sea Shell Covered and Seashell Creations) is a practice called Coquillage? Me of all people didn't know, until recently! Coincidentally the same Idea House from My Home Ideas on Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, also has plenty of interesting examples of this art. Here's a quick tour.


Coquille is the French word for shell and the art of Coquillage goes back to the Rococo period of 18th- century France when the shell motif was popular as a carved decoration. In this picture you see a cute birdhouse distinguished by a shell exterior.


This is something that I want to do -decorate the necks of a couple of bottles with tiny shells, then use them as vases.


Local Florida Oysters were used to create a pair of shell encrusted table lamps in the guest room.


A large shell encrusted mirror.


And a picture frame by the bed is adorned with shells to carry the coquillage motif throughout the house. Coquillage..., love the word. Want to hear how it's pronounced? Go here and click on audio.

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Something's Gotta Give -But It Ain't the Blue and White Striped Rug

Film maker Nancy Meyers is in the spotlight again with the movie It's Complicated, which reminded me of her previous film Something's Gotta Give (2003). I'm sure you know, its Hampton beach house movie set was a huge hit and created a wave of requests for kitchens and living rooms that looked just like it. The big eye catcher in the living room was the blue and white striped cotton rug (or dhurri).


"The story goes," says Linda of Surroundings, "that the set decorators actually sewed two smaller rugs together to fit the space." The rug came from The Rug Loft in New York. Linda just clarified in a comment that Beth Rubino (who did the movie's set decoration) said that the original blue rug was one really big rug that they cut in half and sewed back together to fit the living room set and that you can see the seem in certain still images of the living room.


And here's the original Something's Gotta Give rug! Hamptons Hostess bought the rug two years ago from a charity auction in the Hamptons. The yearly event, she writes on her blog, features rooms of furniture and antiques donated by some of the most fabulous homes in the Hamptons. And in 2008, one of the rooms was entirely furnished with pieces from the movie set.


You can find a selection of blue and white striped rugs at Aspen Carpet Designs -all inspired by the movie!

"Nothing quite says Something's Gotta Give more than the blue and white striped rug" says Joni of Cote de Texas, adding, "To duplicate this look in your space, there would have to be a blue and white dhurri - otherwise, it would just be a pretty room."

Thank you Joni for writing such a fabulous post about this Blue and White Striped Rug!

Browse all Movie Homes and Movies by the Sea.

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Kohl's Gone to the Beach

I've never associated Kohl's with the beach, but check out what I found when I went to their online store. Click images.









Browse everything at Kohl's.

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Beach Grass Cottage Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the Beach Grass Cottage Giveaway is: Anne of Get Your Martha On.
Congratulations Anne! And many thanks to all of you who participated!

Anne said in the comment that she loves the seashell mirrors and always wanted one! So I assume she'll be using her $40 gift certificate toward a beauty like this one.

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Curio Tables -A Way to Display

Have you ever thought of using a display or curio table to showcase your beach treasures?


I haven't, until I saw this one (and others) at Barbara Jacksier. Do you like the look as much as I do? Touch of Glass sells a curio table that is similar in style. And IKEA carries a clever Curio with Drawer in white -thanks Janice for the tip!


A weathered antique. Unfortunately I have lost the source. I bet you could build this with an old rustic wood box.


And a great do it yourself idea from Tales from an OC Cottage, using a plastic urn from the garden department. Click over for the how to's and more pictures!

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Relax with Rene Gruau

An easy breezy beach bedroom with a fashionable cruise poster that you can't miss.


Relax by Rene Gruau (1910-2004) who's illustrations became the favorite of the Haute Couture fashion world In the 40‘s and 50‘s.

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Making a Shell Chandelier

In a previous life Lindsey's gorgeous Shell Chandelier...


... was a slightly tacky ceiling light fixture.



I discovered this Shell Chandelier project at Tip Junkie where my Stacked Rocks were featured yesterday -thanks Laurie! I love this transformation that includes wrapping the arms of the chandelier in twine -very doable. Shells were glued to the large ball, covering as much area as possible with the biggest shells, filling in the empty spots with smaller ones. Pieces of seaglass for the next ball up, more shells for the cups that hold the lights, and a finishing tassel. Success! For pictures and all the details about making this shell chandelier visit Lindsey at the Pleated Poppy.

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Cabinet of Natural Curiosities by Albertus Seba

Cabinet of Natural Curiosities is a large, heavy book filled with amazing illustrations of animals, plants and insect by Amsterdam-based pharmacist Albertus Seba (1665-1736), and it includes, as you can guess from the cover, plenty of corals, shellfish, and other ocean creatures for us sea lovers.
The book deserves to have its very own display stand image!

This is what it says on the Publishers Website, "Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities is one of the 18th century's greatest natural history achievements and remains one of the most prized natural history books of all time."


In 2007 Patricia Gray wrote on her blog, "This book may go down in the Guinness World Book of Records as the most photographed book." Here used by Tobi Fairley to accentuate her design. Without a doubt Natural Curiosities makes a fantastic coffee table book.


But some people tear out the pages...


... and frame them for wall art...


... like Leisa Tobler of Idea Mom who won the 2008 Idea House in Windmark (FL) from My Home Ideas (read here). Since the artwork, reproductions of drawings from Albertus Seba, did not convey with the home, and the price per piece would have been around $2000, Leisa purchased a used copy of the book for $20, then removed the pages from the binding and framed them.


This was the room before. Leisa's beautiful home is now a vacation rental and you can learn all about it @ Summer Dream -see more pictures and read about the "Forgotten Coast".


Then others, like designer Steven Gambrel featured here, paste the pages of Cabinet of Natural Curiosities on the wall. Here you see the powder room in his cottage in Sag Harbor, NY. It's busy, but I love it! And as I mentioned in this post: Going Wild with Wallpaper in the Bathroom, a small bathroom or powder room is a great space to experiment and go wild!

Create a similar effect with Free Vintage Printables:


For a similar effect check out what Roeshel from DIY Show Off did. She printed out some vintage illustrations from Vintage Printable and framed them, and gives you the how to's.

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