Sea Glass Pictures

I love all things beach and ocean.  Especially the sound of the ocean waves.  There is nothing more soothing, meditative, and contemplative that ocean waves and if I had my druthers I would live on the beach.  Unfortunately, I don't live there, but have been fortunate enough to visit there many times in my life.  This year may not be one of those years (insert sad face).

At the little yellow cottage, all the walls were a soft creamy yellow and I used mostly red accents with a little blue.  Our new home has taupe colored walls and some decorating changes were in order.  Our hall bath was being finished after we moved in so I had about two weeks to think about how I would decorate it.  The brown stone tile and sand colored vanity top made me think of the beach, so I decided I would go with blues and use shells and something, just wasn't sure what something.

I had made a really big shell wreath a couple of years ago, but it was too big for the bathroom, so I made a smaller one and purchased some blue towels and a beautiful blue rug for the room.

The wreath hangs on the wall at the end of the bathroom.  You see it when you enter the door.   I needed something for the wall across from the vanity.  I was working putting things away and spied these frames that my daughter had given me for my birthday while we were living at the other house.  I loved the color of them and had them hanging in the dining room because they were a perfect complement to my Bluebird Cafe poster.  Just one little thing, I had never removed the original pictures that came in the frames because I just never got around to it somehow.  Don't laugh.

In a flash of inspiration, I knew what I could do with the frames so I could  use them in the new bathroom.  I took the backs off which was really easy,  you just had to twist a couple of little doodads and remove the pictures.  It wasn't like it was hard.  

I had lots of shells to use and a bag of sea glass from the Dollar Tree.  No, it's not real sea glass because I could search from now until forever and never have enough to use for this project.  It is truly beautiful, but not that easily found, so I used what I had and it looks great.  Do you know what sea glass is?  Here is what Wikipedia has to say:

There are two methods of making sea glass. The first type of sea glass production is natural. Pieces of glass from broken bottles, broken tableware or even shipwrecks are rolled and tumbled in the ocean or lakes for years until all of their edges are rounded off and the slickness of the glass has been worn to a frosted appearance.

Sea glass also can be produced artificially, when pieces of glass are tossed into a rock tumbler or dipped in acid to produce the desired finish. Artificially-produced sea glass is much less expensive than natural sea glass.

I had this piece of green glittered scrap book paper I had bought because I liked it.  It was sparkly, ya know?  So, I used the picture from the frames and traced two squares on the sparkly green paper and cut them out.  That would be the background for my new inserts.

I dumped out the bag of sea glass and searched for pieces and colors I liked and laid them out on the paper until I got a design that I liked.  Then, I hot glued each piece to the paper and placed it in the frame and put the backs on.  Easy peasy and I LOVE the way they look on the wall.  The picture isn't great because I could not get back far enough for a good shot.  You'll just have to come see them in person.

The piece of paper was $.50 and the bag of sea glass was $1.00.  Frames were a gift.  Can't complain about the cost and I am so happy with the way they look.  It is just a beautiful reminder of memorable times spent at the beach.  They are perfect for my beach inspired bathroom.

One again, look at things you already have and may be tired of.  Is there a new way to use the piece?  Maybe it requires a little change, or some paint.  You don't have to spend a ton of money to give a room a nice facelift.  Sometimes just moving things around to different rooms will be a refreshing new look.  I have used all the same pieces, but many in different places.  The only thing I have bought for our new home are the four bar stools.  Use new eyes to "see".  Some call it recycling, some call it being "green", and I just call it fun.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

I like to walk the aisles of the Dollar Tree and look at all the interesting things and think how I could use them in a new or different way from their "original" or intended purpose.  It's challenging, creative,  and fun.  Give it a try.  You may come up with a great new idea to share with all of us.  donna