decorating with shells

The weekend of the city to surf usually signals warmer weather and clear blue skies to me and this weekend was a stunner. The city to surf is the world's largest run from Sydney city to Bondi Beach. This year 85,000 people entered! The course is 14km long and winds it's way around some of the most scenic parts of the harbour and coastline, much of where I have taken you with my camera. 

With summer on the way, here are a few quick and simple ideas to display shells and beach finds using every day objects.

I painted and sanded this rustic wooden bowl this weekend. I like how it looks with an $8 thrifted tablecloth and the mix of textures and natural colours in the shells and driftwood. 

Cover a recycled jar with a square of linen and tie with rope.

This is a cake stand that belonged to my grandmother.

Hope the sun is shining where you are.

See more ideas for decorating with shells here.

beachcomber shadow box

Whether you live on the coast or not, here's a simple way to re-create the beauty of nature and hold onto memories of happy, relaxing days spent at the beach. 

These shadow box frames are available at art and craft shops. I painted mine white but it would look fine left natural. 
I removed the backing and glued some beachcombing finds, shells, feathers, driftwood, rope and pebbles randomly to the board using strong wood glue, it seems to work well on the heavier pieces such as pebbles.

I secured the board back into the frame. 

Stand on a shelf or hang on a wall.

Happy beachcombing!

Find more ideas with beach finds here & here.

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succulent beach shells

Don't you love succulents? I love how they're so easy to grow from cuttings and seem to thrive on neglect. I have some that have been happily growing in a shell without any soil and just a bit of rain water.
They come in so many beautiful shapes and shades of green and don't take up much space, which makes them great for a deck or balcony. Combined with shells, sand, seaglass and driftwood they make an easy care coastal garden.

Most of my succulents are growing in ordinary potting mix. I'm not planning on leaving these here permanently, so for now they are just planted in sand. According to my research on google.. correct me if it's wrong, the best soil for succulents is one that drains well - 2 parts potting mix, one part perlite, one part sand.

See some older posts on succulents here & here.

Remember to enter the jewellery GIVEAWAY drawn this Friday 

Happy gardening!

Cheryl

x

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drift away

Drifting away with all natural coastal colours and textures today..

I love cowrie shells. They remind me of the shell decorated baskets of the Pacific Islands. Apparently cowrie shells have been used as money, jewellery and religious accessories in many parts of the world and symbolise prosperity, fertility and longevity. 

Inspired by the shell design on one of my baskets I decorated these IKEA storage baskets I use for jewellery.

I sewed the shells onto the larger basket, until I realised it was much easier and quicker to glue them on.

See you later
:)


Cheryl
x

mermaid crown

see it here

happy weekend!

say it with shells

Just a little something I put together for Valentines Day, or anytime...

inspired by Sophie's beautiful beachcombing finds the other morning. 

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shells & succulents

Hello.. hope you all enjoyed your weekend!
Warming up here, it's feeling like summer already. 
I think we're in for a hot, dry one so I've decided to stick to plants I don't have to water much. The succulents are multiplying and even grow happily without soil in a small amount of water in shells and bottles.

This is a collection of things I put together. I like the mix of the greens and aquas of the glass bottles and fishing floats with succulents and shells.  

see you next time 

cheryl

x

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shell sorting

there's nothing like an antique or vintage printers tray for storing and displaying shells or other tiny curiosities. 
this weekend, with bella's assistance, i played around with shells, a bit neglected in wooden bowls & jars all over the place. i love how they look piled into the little wooden sections along with a few other natural finds.

i found this rustic old tray at bondi markets a few years ago. you can find them on ebay and etsy but postage is pretty expensive because of their weight.

bella always likes to get involved & inspect any changes before she gives her approval. 

does your cat or dog do that?

see some other ways i've used the printers tray 
here & here & here

cheryl

x

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shell cottage

we don't live in a cottage, we live in an apartment in a busy city. sometimes i dream about having a whitewashed cottage near a secluded beach. i'll call it shell cottage.
after my daughter saw the most recent harry potter movie she told me i had to go and see it just for shell cottage. my kids were at a perfect age when harry potter first came out & like many have grown up devouring the books and loving the movies. 
i always admire the amazing set design and will have to get around to checking out shell cottage!
these are some of my shell collections & creations..

"Bill and Fleur's cottage stood alone on a cliff overlooking the sea, it's walls embedded with shells and whitewashed.. Wherever Harry went inside the tiny cottage or it's garden, he could hear the constant ebb and flow of the sea, like the breathing of some great, slumbering creature. He spent much of the next few days making excuses to escape the crowded cottage, craving the cliff-top view of open sky and wide, empty sea, and the feel of cold salty wind on his face"

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

read more about shell cottage here

have you seen shell cottage?

c

x

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shell chic

hi..how was your weekend?

almost summer temps here last week had me dreaming about relaxing days at the beach. only 3 weeks and counting 'til winter's over!

lots of white, blue and white stripes and collections of natural & weathered objects makes our place feel like summer all year round. 
here are some simple things i've made with shells..   

the wooden letter is from a craft shop, covered in tiny shells i found at the beach

i love rustic wooden bowls filled with shells

i painted an old frame white, cut a thin piece of board to fit, then glued similar shells in rows

playing around with shells out on our sunny deck this weekend i came up with this idea

wrap string around bottles and tie on a shell

it's not too late to enter the coastal living giveaway drawn on August 14th.

thanks for all your entries so far and welcome new followers :)

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norske interior blogger