7/31/10

Hand Stamped Designs by Beach House Living

Rita of Beach House Living says that she's always been a crafter and recycler for as long as she can recall and loves finding new uses for things, which brings me right to her first hand stamped designs...

garden markers
... adorable Garden Markers. She makes these from vintage, silver-plated flatware, and they're just perfect for flower pots, planters or garden.


Sun, sand and surf -I can see this trio not only looking great in a pot, but also in a mason jar filled with sand! To view hand stamped designs on all flatware click here.

nautical ribbons
Then, Rita's lovely muslin ribbons are also part of the post Hand Print on Fabric with Craft Rubber Stamps, and she shares how she makes these beauties on her blog Beach House Living. This hand stamped design in navy blue she calls Love Letters from the Sea.

beach ribbon
Or bring the shore to your home the with her aqua By the Sea ribbons.

beach gift tags
And last but not least, gorgeous hand stamped gift tags. Use these tags to make a gift more special, or as name tags for a Nautical and Beach Theme Table Setting, even as labels or as bookmarks!

nautical gift tags
To view all of Rita's sea inspired hand stamped designs, click here.

Happy Weekend!

7/29/10

Make a Night Light

make a night light with a starfish
Light the Night with a Starfish, Sand Dollar or a Shell! To make a night light is easy and quick. Just get yourself a plug in clip at a local hardware store or Online.

Grab your Starfish, cut and clean out the back of it with a utility knife, then glue it to the front of your night light.

make a sand dollar night light
Look for shells with a flat surface, such as scallop shells (see below), sea biscuits and sand dollars. They all work well, Martha says! After cleaning, apply epoxy glue to night light clip, and then press onto flat part of shell. When dry, attach to socket.

make a sea shell night light
Or take inspiration from this beautiful Scallop Shell Night Light in Shari's Etsy Store Beach Grass Cottage. It's embellished with tiny shells and pearls.

As always, please click on images for more information.


7/28/10

Thomas Paul Collection

Thomas Paul Designer Collection
I'm sure Thomas Paul is no stranger to you. His product line is popular and has a variety of vivid designs that depict sea creatures and capture the seafaring style with whales, ships, anchors and more -I've already featured some of his Nautical Pillows. Picture above is from Picnic Fashion.

Thomas Paul Pillows
Thomas Paul is a trained textile designer and started off in 2001 with a line of Pillows that has since expanded into many other directions.

Thomas Paul Pillows
I've been drawn to the seafaring style lately, and I'm loving all his rustic jute pillows, one of which is Moby the Whale, as seen in this Seaside Style Home.

Thomas Paul Plates
And you got to love all the Thomas Paul Plates. They are just so fabulous. This tablescape is actually a store display, captured by Jamie of I Suwannee -browse all Tablescapes.

lighthouse tea towel
Other items for the kitchen; an awesome Lighthouse Tea Towel, plus one with an Octopus design.

Moby Shawl
These are not bath towels -I wish they were! It's Moby the Whale on a Shawl...

octopus shawl
... that you can wear as a wrap. On this shawl you're seeing the Octopus Design.

Thomas Paul Bath
Thomas Paul's Collection does include two cool designs for the bath though; an Octopus Shower Curtain and a graphic Shell Bath Mat.

Thomas Paul Bags
Other Thomas Paul products include bags, and pouches for the little things. I'm afraid that this ship wheel pouch (seen on Design Sponge) is a tease. I couldn't locate it..., but check ou the Puffer Pouch, it's equally adorable!

7/27/10

Acrylic Drinkware

Acrylic Drinkware Inventory Sale -Now 30% off!

acrylic drinkware
I introduced you to Up 2 Code (see sponsor ad) here..., and now they're having an inventory sale of their Acrylic Drinkware. The design is great, nautical signal flags that spell out some fun sayings. This is a boxed set of four 14oz. Acrylic tumblers that are perfect for entertaining at the patio, pool or aboard, and of course you can also take them along with you for a toast at the beach!

So cheers to this fabulous Acrylic drinkware for less than $20!

7/26/10

A Shell Chic Cottage in Austin Texas

shell covered cottage and garden
The theme of this Austin cottage greets you right by the entry. Hard to see in the photograph, but shells are incorporated into the stone street gate. Emily, the owner, claims, "I don’t think there is a surface we haven’t engaged." And all thanks to the book Shell Chic! So let's see.

shell covered garden fountain
This is their front garden shell grotto. Not your ordinary garden fountain. Emily admits that she is a complete shellaholic.

shell covered fireplace
Shells cover the fireplace, the wall beyond and adorn the mirror.

shells cover fireplace like tiles
Here a detail view. The flat scallops make perfect "tiles".

shell covered dresser
And another master piece, a shell covered dresser. Nothing you would expect to find in Austin. Read the entire story about this unique Shell Chic Cottage at Traditional Home.

Related Posts:
A Shell House Like no Other
Seashell Covered
Seashell Vintage Mantel


7/23/10

Into the Lighthouse Keepers Quarters with Sibella Court

Into the Lighthouse Keepers Quarter
As much as you, my dear Readers, are inspired by posts here, I am in so many ways inspired by You! So when a reader left a comment on Collecting Decorative Lighthouses last week, saying that she plans to redecorate her bedroom/bathroom like the inside of a lighthouse keeper's quarters, I thought, what a brilliant idea. My first googling attempts to find such quarters, however, did not result in anything of interest so far, but I did stumble upon this on Decor Arts Now, an installation called Into the Lighthouse by Australian designer Sibella Court at Anthropologie's Flagship Store (also see Nathalie Lete).

Into the Lighthouse Sibella Court
The installation is Sibella Court's imagined re-creation of a lighthouse keeper’s quarters in the early 1900′s. Maybe not the time frame said reader had in mind -I don't know.

Sibella Court
On display are many awesome creations by artists whom Court introduced to buyer-at-large Keith Johnson (Man Shops Globe on Sundance) when they travelled to Australia together earlier this year.

Lighthouse Keeper's Quarters
Original artworks include a potbelly stove made of cardboard, a hand embroidered bed quilt, textured porcelain vessels, and seafaring birds from archival cotton paper. To see and learn more click over to Into the Lighthouse @ Decor Arts Now.

Related Posts:
Wings Neck Lighthouse Cape Cod
Lighthouses with Claim to Fame

Happy Weekend!

7/22/10

Salvaged Nautical Antiques & Vintage Pieces Repurposed

nautical antiques repurposed
Skipjack not only offers products for Maritime & Nautical Living, but they also produce high quality furniture pieces, lamps and accessories from some of their fabulous salvaged nautical antiques. You can browse their lasted creations under Nautical Living, and you might want to check back regularly for new items as they are added to their Online Store.

antique nautical ship lamps
Salvaged nautical antiques and vintage pieces repurposed, such as this pair of Nautical Ship Lamps, produced by the Nippin Sento Co. Ltd. Japan in the 1970's.

repurposed nautical antiques
Also part of their Nautical Lamp Collection, adorable table lamps made from vintage lobster buoys that you might remember from here. The surface is the original paint, and they come in different sizes and colors.

nautical chart lampshades
And the perfect shade for any of their lamps -a nautical chart! Skipjack makes these Nautical Chart Lampshades in their Design Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia, using authentic charts from the Chesapeake Bay region.

vintage nautical signal flag pillows
And more awesome Pillows! These colorful Nautical Pillows are made from authentic vintage signal flags! As always, please click on images for more information and/or purchase.

salvaged nautical antiques
An antique brass porthole frame is furnished with a mirror insert.

antique porthole
And another brass porthole is converted into a neat side table that is available in a variety of sizes and with different bases.

antique nautical tables
Skipjack also searches worldwide to find authentic vintage and antique wood ships grates to produce the perfect nautical tables for your home, office or yacht. What you see above is a grate repurposed as a coffee table, on display in their showroom.

ships grates
Since I am not a boater, I wanted to see (and show you) the grates in place on a ship. They are used over hatch openings and are found in varying shapes and sizes depending on where they are. To learn more, click here and scroll down.

7/21/10

Nautical & Beach Theme Table Settings

It's summer and lots of folks are bringing the nautical and beach theme to the table, creating wonderful tablescapes. Take a look!

beach table with blue and lighthouse
Donna's Nautical & Beach Theme Table Setting was done on her vacation at St. George Island (FL). The home they rented had a lot of dishes and a lot of beach decor (and I love Lighthouses). The beautiful flowers, she says, were everywhere on the island.

beach theme table setting
Here, another beach table by Donna. This time with shorebirds, see here.

pottery barn inspired beach table
Can you tell? Mary's Nautical Table is inspired by Pottery Barn. It includes a Decorative Fishnet and Sailor's Knot. And in case you missed it (and love PB), check out Pottery Barn Knock Off.


Susan calls her nautical table setting An Afternoon at the Beach.

nautical blue theme entertaining
Lynda keeps it cool with a crisp Table Setting in Blue and White -and frozen blueberries as beverage chillers!

nautical lobster theme plates
I'm loving the lobster plates on Sheila's Table.

nautical theme table
Mary's Beach Table also focuses around beautiful plates, and they came from Pottery Barn as well. Also in the mix, a few Glass Floats!

beach theme table setting
Terri did some very creative recycling for her Beach Table Setting and turned a patio umbrella bag into a table runner.

nautical theme boat
Last stop, Jacqueline's boat on Lake Powell where she set a Nautical Theme Table for two in her favorite color purple. I'm happy to see (more) purple combined with coastal, it's rare, and the only other places where you can find the combo is here and here, both times as a wall color.

400
And one more! Just discovered this Beach Theme Table Setting over at Kat's Low Tide High Style, with one of those super sweet vintage sand pails in the middle -remember Painted Beach Sand Pails and Buckets!

Browse all Tablescapes.

Feel free to copy and paste the code for the button below -it links to this post!

Featured on Completely Coastal


Shared with Tablescape Thursday.

7/19/10

Painted Beach Sand Pails & Buckets

painted vintage beach buckets
Painted beach sand pails and buckets can add whimsy and storage to a room, perhaps even bring some memories back! You can use them as containers for anything imaginable. I remember seeing pails and buckets used in bathrooms holding rolled-up hand towels, for utensils, or as table centerpieces with potted plants, even as hanging storage. Image via Scott Sanders.

beach bucket lamp
Or you can create a Beach Bucket Lamp like Cheryl. Just stick a plain lamp into a beach bucket or pail, then fill it up with beach finds.

To create the look, check out the sources below:

Sand Pail Replica
Browse Beach Buckets on Ebay.

vintage sand pails on ebay
Two new fun Metal Buckets for less than ten dollars also via Ebay.

vintage sand pails and buckets
Playful original Vintage Pails at Huxtins.

painted beach buckets
New Painted Beach Buckets from Melodie Lane.

1950's tin sand pail
1950's Tin Sand Pail

Old Children Sand Pails
And you might also want to check out these two blog articles:
Vintage Beach Pails @ Shabby Vintage Mom + Vintage Sand Pails @ Found Now Home.