Showing posts with label beachy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beachy. Show all posts

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Plaster dipped silk flowers...


Have you seen plaster dipped silk flowers?

I saw them last fall and was enchanted. 

 I wanted to try it for myself.

Sometimes, the crafting gods deliver what I need right to my doorstep (almost).

Last winter, a small silk flower arrangement blew into our yard on a windy day.

There were red, white and blue silk roses stuck in a piece of styrofoam.  

The flowers were all faded and my husband was going to throw it away.

I saved it just for this project.


I mixed plaster with some water to make a little thinnner than pancake batter consistency.

Then I dipped each rose into the mixture and pushed it down several times to coat all the petals.

I hung them on this card display.

The newspapers below are very important.


The red and blue roses required more than one dipping to cover the flower as much as I wanted it to.


These were the white roses and I only dipped them once.  I liked the finer, more delicate look only one coating created.


They have the look of porcelain.


The blue and red ones were dipped twice and have a chunkier look to them.

You can also see where they were touching the hook below on my rack as it left a mark when the flowers were removed.


I wanted to make a coastal arrangement to say good bye to summer.

First I spray painted this hammered aluminum two-tiered stand.

Then I added my plaster flowers and some coastal touches.


I started with some spanish moss to fill the trays.


Then I added starfish, seashells and pearls.


I gathered another handful of smaller shells and went back to fill in some bare spots and cover  any chips in the plaster.


I also added some of the plaster-dipped leaves.


It is a fun coastal arrangement.


Right now it is on my front porch next to the door.


For these photos, it is on my workbench on the back porch.


I think something like this would be so fun to do for a coastal wedding.


Some sisal rope would be a great addition as well.


I really enjoyed this process.


It was fun and easy to do.


They are pretty fragile so it not something you want to do for things that will be banged around or handled a lot.


Once I am done with them in this arrangement, I may do a fall version with leaves and a Christmas version with either poinsettias or evergreen branches.


I removed my roses from the stems, but you could make an arrangement in a vase too.


The plaster hardens in the cup relatively quickly but it was hot and humid when I did mine, so they took a minimum of overnight to dry.



Thanks for stopping by....

                  Linking up with these great blogs.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Beachy Blues Necklace

I am not the only one at our house that is creative.

We all are.

My husband works his magic with wood.

And my daughter can do anything creative she puts her mind to.

When she has time, she likes to make jewelry too.  

Her style is very different than mine.

I love this necklace that she made...

So beachy and sweet.


Let's take a closer look.


This is so her.

I love it.


The hard part is her slowing down enough to have time to make some things.


Even the chain is pretty.


Thanks for stopping by...


Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Rose Bangles from Scrap Fabric Strips




This summer, my daughter had a blast learning to dye fabric.

You can read about it here.

She then used those strips to make a fantastic Shaggy Raggy Rug.

You can see how here.

When she was finished, she still had a lot of strips left so I asked if I could use a few.

She said sure.

I had a great idea.

All I needed were the fabric strips, plastic bangle bracelets, and some hot glue.



To begin, wrap the fabric around the bangle. 

 Leave a tail about 1 1/2-2 inches long so when you get back to that spot, you can tie the ends in a knot.


I showed you the bracelets on my workbench here.


The next step is just to twist and wrap the fabric around.

I run my glue around the outside edge and then wrap the fabric around it.  

Then I repeat and just keep going until all the fabric is secured around the rose.  

Sometimes I twist and turn the fabric and sometimes, not so much.


The colors my daughter chose are luscious and refreshing.



They all make me think of the beach....


The purple is such a great accent to the blues and greens...



This blue might be my favorite...


No, maybe this one...

Only one way to solve it...

Wear them all!



Sadly, I cannot.

I have a big wrist and hand and these are too small.

I will have to find some larger bangles to make my own set...



I do love these, though...

Hoping someone else falls in love with them as well...

They would make gorgeous wedding bracelets for the bridal party....



Thanks for stopping by....

I will be offering any 2 of these bracelets in the Swap and Tell Link Party at Tarnished Royalty....

Linking up with these great blogs.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

A Wooden Box Beachy Redo....


I believe this box was in the throw away pile at school.

It had some stains in the wood but I thought it just needed a little makeover.


If you visited our mosaic series, you might remember it from here:


I never did show it to you all finished up.


This was it before the final grouting.


Here it is after.



Do you notice a problem?

One of these things is not like the others....

My daughter noticed right away when I said that to her.



One of the corner shells fell off before I grouted it. 

 So I put it back on. 

 I did not notice the problem until it dried.

Now I am just going to pretend I did that on purpose so it would be easier to lift the top....

The inside and outside of the bottom of the box got a couple coats of Americana Chalkiy Finish paints in Escape and Primitive.



I am loving tan and beachy blues together right now...

The stains are all gone...


Here is the back of the lid.


I added a little Sea poem from a discarded children's poetry book with Americana Decoupage.



Now it's ready to hold treasures.


A pretty good makeover if I do say so myself...




Thanks for stopping by...

We will be joining as many of these great blogs as we can.