Seashell Crafts for Your Nautical Beach House Decor

I'm convinced seashells are just about the most fun, least expensive decorating accessory you'll ever find for the summer house.  Recently, I was shopping in Marshalls and came across this glass container for just $5.99.  I loved the natural woven design surrounding it, especially its nice, aged "drift-wood" look.

I had some inexpensive shells from Big Lots ($3) and decided to embellish it just a bit.  I barely used any of the shells...lots left over for another seashell craft some day.

This was a fun little project to do while watching Mapp and Lucia on Netflix.  Have you ever seen that old series?  I got hooked and watched both seasons.  I had to watch to see what ensemble Georgie would wear next.  That man has style!  He dressed better than the women in the show.  Ha!

To add a little seashell embellishment to our container, I snipped off about 4-5 inches of some 3-ply jute yarn purchased from Hobby Lobby for this previous seashell bottle craft.  I separated out the three strands since I wanted my jute thread nice and skinny.
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The Summer House

A little beach themed vignette...

It's time to celebrate summer!
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Pottery Barn Knock-off: Shell Chargers for Summer Dining

In March, right after I purchased cupcake stands from Pottery Barn for this Easter table setting,  out of curiosity I typed "Pottery Barn chargers" into the search engine on eBay.

This auction for shell chargers popped up.   Wow...shell chargers!  Not great for Easter but perfect for summer dining on the porch.  Unfortunately, the bidding quickly escalated to way beyond the amount I would have been willing to pay.
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Make a Beach or Seaside Table Decoration: A Tutorial

Yesterday, we went spring shopping in some of my fave haunts in THIS post.  On our shopping trip, we spied these cuties at Big Lots.  I could so see these in a summertime tablescape.  Actually, they would look great almost anywhere.  Imagine three lined up across a kitchen window sill with the sun lighting them up from behind.  Add them to a pretty spring/summer vignette on an entry table.  Or, tuck some flowers down inside each bottle and decorate an outdoor patio table for an evening dinner.

They were $6 each which wasn't terrible, but I knew I already had everything I needed at home to make my own.

Here are the supplies I used.  Ignore the Mod Podge and the bowl/paintbrush.  I ended up using a hot glue gun instead...more on that in a sec.   For this little project you'll need: a pretty wine or water bottle, scissors, glue gun, drill with a tiny bit, some small seashells or starfish, narrow jute or rope, raffia, and nylon thread or fishing line.

I stole a few blue bottles off the bottle tree you see outside on the deck in this previous SPRINGTIME table setting post.  (You can read more about bottle trees, HERE and see the one on the deck in  THIS post.)

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Beach Tablescape... Welcome to the 108th Tablescape Thursday!

It's still beautiful summer weather here in Georgia. So, I've loaded up the car and I thought you and I would take one last beach trip before the cool fall weather arrives. Are ya with me? :)

A while back for a Tablescape Thursday, I posted two wonderful table settings created by my talented friend, Bonnie. You can view those HERE. I fell in love with the salad plates she used in one of those tablescapes. A search on eBay turned up two sets of four plates (8 total) and they were calling my name. I've paired them with another set of beachy china and stemware I found at Kohl's over 3 years ago. Hope you enjoy this last beach escape before fall officially arrives.

Summer breeze makes me feel fine...




The breezes were non-stop this gorgeous summer day...you may not be able to feel them through that computer screen, but at least you can see them.







Starfish will keep our napkins from blowing away...







A few close ups...the appetizer seabiscuit plate...




Salad plate atop a dinner plate with a shell border...













Lots of shells collected from many years of beach trips to Hilton Head, Sanibel and Captiva Island...




Flatware has a shell-shaped design on the handle...









Getting darker...time for a little candlelight...












Dinner Plate: Shoreline Collection-Home Studio, Kohl's 3 years ago
Salad Plate: Warren Kimble "Coastal Breeze" by Sakura, eBay
Appetizer Plate: Shoreline Collection-Home Studio, Kohl's 3 years ago
Glassware: Shoreline Collection-Home Studio, Kohl's 3 years ago
Napkins: Kohl's 3 years ago
Flatware: HomeGoods, around 9 months ago
Shell Candleholders: HomeGoods, 2 years ago
Large Candleholder: Marshalls, 1 year ago
Candles: Provided by Colonial Candle
Shells: Beach trips over the years

Looking forward to viewing all the beautiful tablescapes for this Tablescape Thursday!



Please Read:
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name. Then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

You may see a red X once you enter your link. No one else can see the red X, it's just there in case you make a little mistake and need to delete your link and re-enter it.

I'd love for you to use the Tablescape Thursday logo button in your post. To do that, just copy and paste it to your computer and upload it to your post as you would any photo. Or, just grab the html code posted on the sidebar under the TT button.

Please, link back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. This is important because it helps those who are visiting your blog, find the other wonderful tablescapes posted for this Tablescape Thursday, thus increasing visits for all participants.

Please, do not add your link below, until your tablescape post is actually published to your blog.

Please, don't add your post name/blog name in ALL CAPS...it tends to create big spaces between the rows of links. Thanks!

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course. :-)

Georgia's Colonial Coast Birding and Nature Festival

In October of last year, I attended the Georgia's Colonial Coast Birding and Nature Festival, along with three of my good bird watching buddies. It was a fun five days, filled with lots of bird watching field trips and wonderful seminars on almost every topic related to birds and bird watching that you can imagine.



October is THE time for bird watching on Jekyll Island because so many birds stop over to feed and rest as they pass through on their autumn migration. We hiked on the beach, through forest, out boardwalks and through marshland.

I saw Bald Eagles... (image from Wikipedia)




and Peregrine Falcons. (image from Wikipedia)




I even got to see my first Painted Bunting...he was only about 3 feet in front of me on a board walk that led down to the beach. He took my breath away!  Over the five days of the festival, I was able to see several more painted buntings...it was one of the highlights of my trip.

(image from Wikipedia)




One night we went out on a "wildlife watch and owl prowl" through Laura S. Walker State Park. It reminded me of one of my son's favorite childhood books called, "Owl Moon." We didn't see any owls that night, but we saw lots of waterfowl leaving the lake to go roost for the night. And, after dark, we saw several pairs of eyes out in the lake. It gave us the heebie-jeebies. We were not just watching...but we were being watched right back! Each day we headed out on a brand new adventure.




Our days were spent at places like Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge or Sapelo Island.



The serious birders brought along scopes... (from Georgia Coastal Birding website)




You could even take a field trip on the Lady Jane shrimp boat and watch the shrimpers in action.



A few pics of the beach...it wasn't very crowded this time of year...





A shipwreck...




There were some really interesting historic homes on Jekyll...this one had a neat bookstore and gift shop inside.



See the long building off to the right in this pic? (image from Jekyll Island Club website)


That's the historic Jekyll Island Club and Hotel. (image from Jekyll Island Club website)



The Jekyll Island Club has a rich history. In its historic past, it was a favorite vacation spot for the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and even a few United States Presidents. We didn't stay there...




But we did dine in their beautiful dining room several times. The breakfast brunch was yummy.




It was an amazing week...one I won't soon forget.

Beach Tablescape! Welcome to the 52nd Tablescape Thursday!

If you've stopped by the porch earlier in the week, you know there's a celebration going on! Tuesday was the 1 year Blogoversary of Between Naps on the Porch, and we're celebrating all week long! :-)

BNOTP is hosting a brand new give-a-way every day this week for Blogoversary Week (Monday through Friday) August 17th through August 21st.

If you missed Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday's Give-a-Way, it's not too late...just scroll on down to those posts when you are done reading this one, and leave a comment to be included in those drawings, too. The drawings for all 5 days will not take place until this weekend, (results announced next Monday) so you have all week (until Saturday) to leave a comment on each of the five Give-a-Way posts:-)

I'd especially like to show my appreciation to those of you who are "Followers" of BNOTP...so, if you are a Follower, be sure to mention that in your comment and your name will be entered twice for today's drawing. Did you know you don't have to be a blogger yourself to become a Follower of BNOTP. Just register and sign in with Google and you will be able to "Follow" all of your favorite blogs. :-)

If you also subscribe to the BNOTP feed, mention that, too, for a third entry into today's Give-a-Way. Remember, there will be a different drawing each day, so lots of opportunities to win. :-) To make it easy, you can just write "F" and/or "S" in your comment and I'll know to include an extra entry for you for that day's Give-a-Way. :-) And thanks so much for "following" BNOTP!

Our Blogoversary Give-a-Way for today is a set of these wonderful Laguiole knives made in France by Jean Dubost. They have an Authenticity Certificate on the back with the Laguiole stamp, an image of a bee and the name Jean Dubost, France. The stamp states: "Dubost Colas Pradel founded in 1920 by Mr. Pierre Dubost, a cutler's son and maker of the famous Laguiole knives. Production started in a small workshop and grew thanks to the founders son, Mr. Jean Dubost, whose name signs the flatware and kitchen knives lines."



Do you see the little bees? :-)


It just seemed fitting to have an item for the table as our give-a-way for our Blogoversary Tablescape Thursday. :-) Please be sure to leave a comment to be included in the drawing for the Laguiole knives.


For our Blogoversary (52nd) Tablescape Thursday, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. I thought it would be fun to post the table setting I put together for that very first Tablescape party. Back then our tablescaping day was on Tuesday...so you'll see the Tablescape Tuesday button that Shelia at Notes Songs so graciously made for TT. She also made the one we use now...thank-you, Shelia! Once Metamorphosis Monday began, our tablescaping day moved a couple of days down the week to Thursday...just so we'd have a little separation between the two parties. We've been tablescaping on Thursday's ever since. :-)

I had only been blogging for about a week at this point and I didn't have any idea how to sign up or use Mr. Linky. So I aasked folks to let me know via comments left during the week, if they wanted to participate. That worked fine in the very beginning, but as TT grew, I found it taking an hour or longer each week to put the list together. Things got a lot simpler when I started using Mr. Linky. Yea, Mr. Linky!

I've left the original group of participants, just as I posted them back on August 25th, 2008. You'll notice I didn't know how to create links and had to list the entire URL. I also, didn't have any idea about permalinks back then, so the links shown are the participants general blog addresses and not the actual link to their tablescape. You have to remember, I'd only been blogging for a week at this point...things did get better. :-)

I want to thank all 13 of the original participants who took that leap of faith with me on the very first Tablescape Tuesday. You were brave pioneers and will always be heroes in my eyes! :-)

The only thing I've changed below is the size of the pics...I did enlarge them for this Blogoversary posting. Hope you enjoy the very first "Tablescape Tuesday" posted at Between Naps on the Porch! :-) There's some beachy music on the playlist to go with our tablescape. :-)

Posted August 25, 2008

Welcome everyone to the first Tablescape Tuesday. You will find beautiful tablescapes awaiting your oooohhhs and ahhhhhs at the following blogs (listed in alphabetical order):

A Beach Cottage http://www.abeachcottage.typepad.com/
Angelic Accents http://angelicaccents.blogspot.com/
Cathymac’s Holiday Hamlet http://holidayhamlet.blogspot.com/
Dish Diva aka Kay http://dishdivaakakay.blogspot.com/
'D's DayDreams http://dsdaydreams.blogspot.com/
Equus Villa http://equusvilla.blogspot.com/
Designs by Gollum http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com//
My Romantic Home http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
Note Songs http://notesongs.blogspot.com/
Ribbonwood Cottage http://ribbonwoodcottage.blogspot.com/
Sweet Designs http://judith-sweetdesigns.blogspot.com/
There is Always Thyme for... http://thereisalwaysthymefor.blogspot.com/
Thinkin’ of Home http://thinkinofhome.blogspot.com/

If you are participating today and you do not see your name above, please leave me a comment right away and I will add you to the list, post-haste. If you would like to participate next Tuesday, please leave me a comment by this Friday so I can make sure I have an updated list.

I know summer is almost over, but I'm just not quite ready to let it go. I found some adorable shell candlesticks recently and put together this "beach" themed tablescape.




Found the sea-blue flatware at Pier 1 recently and it was half off...whoo, hoo! Thought it worked well with the colors in the china...what do you think?


Napkin rings were made by gluing shells to plain wooden rings...


Used both starfish-shaped salad plates with shell-shaped ones in this tablescape... Star-fished shaped salad plate shown here...


Shell shaped salad plate...


Do you see the little starfish on the glass? :-)


Sea-biscuit bread plate...


Love how they decorated all four sides of the bowls...


Thought these candlesticks look like they were designed to go with this beach china...


Close-up of candlestick base...






Come walk with me, along the sea, where dusk sits on the land. And search with me, for shells are free, and treasures hide in sand. (Author unknown)

END of first Tablescape Tuesday (08-25-08) post...

Hope you enjoyed viewing this first Tablescape Party. Thanks for making Tablescape Thursday so much fun each and every week! Looking forward to the next 52! :-)

The following blogs have lovely tablescapes awaiting your visit: