Coastal Crafts Book Review

I recently got a copy of Coastal Crafts by Cynthia Shaffer.

It is the first book published featuring coastal crafts.

I have to be honest, it was worth the wait.

Cynthia has written and photographed the book beautifully.

I love how the book is laid out.

Not only does Cynthia include over 20 projects, she also includes some directions in the first chapter for cleaning shells and making your own drift wood.

I am very excited to be able to make my own driftwood.

While I collect shells every chance I get, I have never managed to be places where I could get driftwood.

There is such a great variety of materials and types of projects.

She has everything from these clay disks made into a cute banner to sewing to making a mixed media necklace.

Here are some embroidered towels.

She includes the simple directions and the patterns.

My daughter has earmarked this project as one she wants to do so we will be watching for white vases and vessels.

These sailboats are on my to do list for sure.

All of Cynthia's designs incorporate common materials that you already have at home or can find at any craft store.

You do not have to live close to the beach to complete the projects in the book- Genius!

The glass jar luminary would look awesome on anyone's deck, backyard or balcony.

The knotted coaster set is broken down into simple enough steps that I think I can do them.

I will do a post when I do so you can see how they turn out.

I love the nautical flag project.

Cynthia gives you the flag for each letter so you can spell out your name or a meaningful message of your own.

What a great gift for just about anyone on your gift list.

This white shell wreath is gorgeous and you can follow her easy-to-follow directions to make your own.

I love how these projects feel like a summer day and yet would be welcome in anyone's home year round.

Her starfish note cards are simple and gorgeous.

Not only does she provide directions for the notecards, she provides them to make your own stick pencils as well.

I am so trying those.

And what I have showed you is less than half of what is in the book.

Coastal Crafts is available on Amazon here.

You can find it in many other book stores as well.

It is a great book for anyone who loves the beach, coastal decorating or just a touch of summer for their home.

I plan to make most of the projects in the book and what I don't make for myself, I will be making to give as gifts.

I promise I will show you how my projects look when I get them made.

Thanks for stopping by....

Finished Mosaics and tips and tricks for Mosaic-ing

This post will give you some of our best tips and tricks for mosaic-ing....


If you missed them, we showed you our mosaic-ing journey here and here.

We purchased some per-mixed grout and some sanded grout that needed to be mixed.

My daughter wanted to start right away so she opened the premixed grout to use on her coasters.

This did not go well.

She was very grumpy.

It was extremely sticky and difficult to spread evenly.

She used the word "HATE" a lot.

She grouted just a couple coasters.

The excess did not wipe off either.

To tile your bathroom, I am sure it is a great grout.

For what we wanted to do, it was just not working.

In the meantime, I was mixing the sanded grout.

I had to guess water amounts since I was not using the whole bag.

The grout I had calls for it to be mixed, then set for 10 minutes and be mixed again before using.

Pretty easy to do.

The spoon and spatula were purchased at the Salvation Army specifically for crafting.

We learned this is best done out in the grass.

My daughter added the seat cushion to the work station.

It was a great idea, although our dog tried to take it from her when she got up for a minute.

I really liked mixing my own grout so I could make it thicker or thinner depending on what was needed.

Here's the charger.

And the satellite dish.

The bottles were fun.

I prefer to just wear gloves and scoop and spread the grout with my hands.

Grown up mud pies.

Maybe that was why I did enjoy it so much.

Now, a couple tricks.....

Our grout recommended letting it sit for 30 minutes and then wiping it.

I did not do this with one batch.

It got very hard overnight and required using a brillo pad to scrub away the grout over the tiles and pebbles.

My daughter also did this with a batch of coasters but she is much more meticulous than I am so hers were already pretty clean and were not too bad to wipe.

I also preferred to wipe each item 2-3 times to remove the grit.  

I let them dry completely between wiping sessions.

I sprayed my finished pieces with Krylon Clear coat for some protection from the elements.

I gave each piece 2-3 coats of sealer. 

 Now here are the finished pieces...

The Bottles turned out great!

You can see I added letters to the empty strips.

The little tabs on the letters helped them to stick in the grout.

This bottle is my favorite.

It was the only one I did with an actual pattern.

These will make great garden accents....

My daughter's coasters turned out as well.

We did learn that all items need to be the same height or the glass won't sit evenly.

I love the pebbles....

Water anyone?

These are just too clever.

They will make great gifts for her techie friends....

These actually turned out to be some of my daughter's favorites when they were finished.

  The shells are another of my favorites.

They are all ready for drinks on the porch.

Here is the funny little bird that puzzled my husband. 

 He looks better now.

I am pleased with how the eggs turned out...

They will be fun to nestle in the garden... 

A hidden surprise.

The little gazing ball my friend gave me turned out...

And the idea that started the madness is actually one of my least favorite pieces.  

Go figure.

Excuse the crooked stump.

I did not want to run around looking for a shim.

Another tip that worked for us was to put the tile adhesive in a sandwich ziploc bag.

We just snipped the end.

Just a little bit.

This was actually too much.

Then squeeze the mastic out onto the piece being covered or the item being added.

My husband's suggestion...

We did learn something about what sponges to use as well.

The one on the left did not work well for us.

The cellulose sponge (green) worked well to wipe wet grout.

The fine orange one worked perfectly for the final wipes.  

I highly recommend having brillo pads on hand as well.

I would encourage you to give it a go.

It was very fun and addictive.

Thanks for stopping by....

We are linking up with these great blogs.