Cottage Beach House: shells

Showing posts with label shells. Show all posts

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Patio Dining in Florida

Come on in to my lanai in Florida

The hibiscus my hub and I put in is finally blooming

It's morning and I'm having my coffee, poofing up the patio table before the kids get up.

Come and sit for a bit with me..

munchin on some fresh fruit.

It's a rather fun way to begin the day if you can manage to steel a few minutes before the crew awakes.

And then they wake up and say... ohhh how pretty. Because they are older now and appreciate it.

Like a picnic on the patio.

And Melissa from the inspired room is always full of interesting tips on layering, leaning and stacking...and I noticed that today she has a pretty mason jar with jute tied around it,!
These are just what I love to work with... jute, twine, sisal, and any rope around anything and everything for a nautical flavor.

My mason jar is filled with soft white powdery sand from Siesta Key.

Everyone likes to feel it. It is really just like powdered sugar.
Siesta Key was just voted as one of Sarasota's best beaches and I recently posted about our last visit to it here.

Now that they have woken up, I will let them

eat in peace.

Thanks go out to Sarah at a beach cottage for the mission to fluff it up a bit this Saturday.

Posting at

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com

Friday, June 10, 2011

I'm back in Florida for some R&R and Beach exploring

Flew down to the Gulf Coast today with part of my crew.
I am really hoping to do 4 things that I've not done yet.
1. Go to Sanibel Island and hunt for seashells.

Hope to find something great like the last time we went to Boca Grande

2....I want to go to the Hot Springs that are down here. ... Has anyone ever been to them? I just heard about them, it sounds delightful.

Doesn't this arial view below look cool?

And the illustration below showing that it is 230 feet deep!! 87 degrees year round

The Springs is the only warm mineral spring in Florida. It's water has the highest mineral content of any warm springs in the world, even more than the famous spas in Vichy and Aix les Bains in France.
Some say The Springs was the spot Ponce de Leon searched for, fought for and died for, believing that here, indeed, was the Fountain of Youth.

Something else on my list this week.

3.... have some Bahama Mammas which I can't seem to get up north. ( a delicious rum drink that really feels "island style")

While I was back home in New Jersey, i did manage to get all my slipcovers for the dining chairs down here finished. My sis was a sweatheart and helped me get them all done.

4... Iron them, slip them on and write words on them in fabric paint

.. so I squeezed the slipcovers all in a suitcase, because we flew this time, and they went as my luggage.
I'm sure I will have to sacrifice some Rest and Recreation time to iron them all, but I am so glad to have them all sewed up and can't wait to see the final result.... well ...all 7 chairs cause one is still back in New Jersey. ...An excuse to drive down again next fall. :)
I will post the "final reveal" when I get them all ironed and slipped on, and painted on.

What happened was last time I was down here, After doing a overhaul of my Dining sideboard/ hutch thingy and Dining table..( posted about here and here...
I started the slipcovers but never had enough time to finish them. I also ran into a small glitch that I should have taken into consideration but stupidly overlooked. That glitch was that I had not washed the drop cloth before I started sewing, and you really have to prewash, because it will shrink the first time you wash it. After that the cloth is fine. So I needed to start over after making 3, uggghh...because that is when I read the advise of prewashing, somewhere on someone's blog.
So learn from my mistake and wash your dropcloth first.
( I know I am behind the curve on this one, most of you will already know that)
But I was able to load one of the chairs into my SUV and bring it north with me to use as a fitter for the rest of the ones I needed.

I am going to try to find time to write beachy words on the tops of the chairs with fabric paints, for a little added flare. It doesn't wash out, I already tested it. I am really liking the additional texture that it adds. Don't you?
I did it on a few throw pillows that I made.

One side is a novelty boat fabric with splashes of aqua color, the other side is a dropcloth fabric with the seaside words written in white fabric paint.

Each one of my 8 dining chairs will need to get a different beachy word.
What 8 beachy words can you think of for this project?

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll keep you posted.

Join in on the party fun: I am going to try to get to them all...(I'm just a party animal)

Miss Mustard Seed

Chic on a Shoestring

http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com

Masterpiece Monday

Amaze Me Monday

Show Off Your Cottage Monday

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Sarah's Saturday Mission 4

I am so ready for this one.
Flowers...check
Coffee...check
Beach...Double check
Ruffles... check
Prairie boots...can I do Flip flops? it's 85 here.

Flowers. ...When I stepped off the plane, Hubbo was waiting at the airport to pick me up, hubbo had these flowers in hand. Sweetie.

With a sign that said Eileen!! ( He is a bit of a joker) :))

He missed me, because I was in Florida for 3 weeks while he was in NJ.

And then he was in Florida for a week while I was in NJ

It was a month we didn't see each other!

I put the flowers in some thrifted old milk glass vase (as per the Saturday club rules) :)

Sarah said fluff the flowers with some shells. I started and then I....

.... went a bit nutsy with the flower fluffing and the shells. Cause I have so many pretty shells . We have such a great beach.

Every shell found on my beach.

...forcing myself to stop.

Flowers and shells....Done.. Gee that was fun.

2. Coffee... every morning without fail, 3 cups to open the eyeballs... easy peasy ....Done.
3. Beach.. with teens on spring break? of course! Easy again...done.. and I think it will be every day this week !! A different Gulf Coast beach. Manasota Beach, Blind Pass, Boca Grande, Siesta Key....Done and Tomorrow

4.Ruffles... of course, A cover up for the beach. Mine happens to have ruffles, and OMG eyelet!!!
How prairie is that?...Done

5. Prairie Boots... I had to draw the line here and substitute my pink flip flops with the bow. It's a bit hot here for boots on the beach. I'm just a rebel from way back. I gotta break some rule...Kinda done

Sarah's notepad says DONE....KINDA DONE.....NEVER STARTED..... TOMORROW
I love it!
A beach cottage's Saturday club Mission 1V accomplished. (cept for the boots)

Monday, August 16, 2010

One Little Corner on the Front Porch

One thing that I enjoy about the Cottage is the fact that it is a work in progress. There is always some little spot that could use an update. Which is perfect for me because I like to make changes. It also allows for the occasional indulgence when coming across a "OMG I have to have that" moment at Home Goods. When the other part of my brain says, "And where will you put it??"
This little re-do is one of those moments.
While breezing through Home goods, which is my "go to" store on a boring Tuesday or Wednesday just to get out of the house and have some me time, I discovered this lovely table.

For me it was love at first sight, right down to the knobs!

So the logical side of my head says"What are you nuts, you have no where to put that!"

Oh but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the luscious shade of sea green, and the sandy colored swirls, and the distressed background paint!

I'm thinking.. if I move this little table and sell this keyholder ...

I'm thinking I can upgrade this little corner on the Cottage Beach House porch.

The keyholder is great and serves a real useful purpose but Shore Daddy, just loves to pile up the junk on that tiny little magazine table..... And that table is small enough to fit into a really tight spot next to the porch sofa....

Suddenly I am grabbing, yelling, so excited...

Sir can I get some help, that sea green, sandy swirly, distress painted table is going home with me!

Did you ever see that commercial for TJ Maxx with the lady running out to the parking lot, bags full of bargains, screaming.."Start the car, Start the car! Like she just stole something. I felt like her.

I am lovin it!

It'll hide that ugly old electric socket down there on the floor to the right of magazine table.

And on the same trip I found these signs. Impossible to resist.

So out with the keyholder.

It's for sale in my etsy shop.

I am on a roll.

Add to that, the beautiful dish my son got me for a birthday gift a few years back.

The colors are perfect in sea glass aqua and sand. Thank you, Son

Add some aqua sea glass and shells...

And then to walk into Home Goods a few weeks later and find the exact same colors in this adorable lamp, reminding me of a beach scene I snapped recently. The Home Decor fairies must have been sprinkling magic dust on my eyes!