Driftwood Beach Houses

It's been a long time since I've posted on my blog! I thought I'd share the process of how I created my latest driftwood beach houses. 

Every now and then I find a piece of driftwood that is really nice but just not wide enough for stone flowers, so I decided to chop it up for 3 driftwood beach houses of the same size. I then began sketching ideas and selecting color combinations.

  

I then start assembling pieces of wood to see if I can create a design similar, or at least inspired by, my drawings. I wanted these mounted to something but wasn't yet sure so I began placing them on scrap pieces of wood. I really liked them against white.

My assistant, a.k.a. Ken, cut some pieces of pine and rounded the edges for me to paint. I added all my final details and finalized assembly. The materials I used include driftwood, stones, beach glass, vintage hardware and a couple sprigs of willow eucalyptus. I then went down to the beach for a photo shoot, and here's the result!

Beach Stone Snowman Ornaments

 We've had gale warnings along the Lake Michigan shore these past few days and with really big, tall trees surrounding our house, I decided to hang out in the lower level workshop!

This week's project was making snowman ornaments.

I collect these round, white stones on Lake Michigan beaches in northern Michigan. I also use rough cut or repurposed boards because I like the more primitive look. 

The first thing I did was lay out all of my stones, arrange them by size and start assembling my snowmen. I glued on the eyes, nose and buttons.

The fun really begins when you start designing the composition of your snowmen. Each has an 'assignment' whether it be juggling, ringing a bell, exchanging gifts, stringing lights, etc. The props you select and the way you position your snowmen give them each a personality!

Here are some instructions if you'd like to make some snowman ornaments. Have fun!

How to make a beach stone snowman ornament

What you’ll need:

3 flat, round, stones of graduating size

Tiny stones for eyes, nose, buttons

¼” board, roughly 3”x5” (depending on size of your stones) with drilled holes in the top for a jute hanger

10” piece of jute

Stick pieces for arms

Glue (I prefer Elmer’s because it dries clear and matt)

Tiny pieces of wood, felt or other materials for a hat

Props if desired, i.e. bells, stars, mini gifts, etc.

  1.       Prep your board. Cut to size and sand any rough edges. Drill holes about ½” from top and side. Insert jute and tie a knot so it won’t slip through. I use rough sawn or distressed wood pieces because I like the primitive look. You may also use smooth wood and paint it any color for a different look.

 2.       Glue eyes, nose and buttons onto your snowman.

 3.       Place the snowman on your board and begin designing the composition of your snowman ornament. This is the fun part!  Depending on what you select as your props, your snowman will come alive. Is your snowman giving a gift, ringing a bell, juggling snowballs, etc.  Play around with the position of the head so that it’s looking up or down or straight ahead, depending on what your snowman is doing, this will give your snowman some personality. See the images for idea starters. 

4.       Add the little stick arms.

5.       Once you’ve settled on your composition, begin gluing everything to your piece of board starting with the stones and working your way out. I find using a pair of tweezers for the small items helps a lot.

6.       Set aside to let glue dry completely.

7.       Hang somewhere you can admire your creativity!

Turtle Study

 Turtles have always been one of my favorite subjects for driftwood art. On my latest piece I started with two great stones -- they were the perfect shape and the green/black color had just the right texture for turtles. I'd been saving a piece of sun bleached driftwood I found a while ago. I thought this was a great size for this project. 

The question was, the composition. I found a few different pieces of driftwood I thought might work and did some rough arrangements. I changed out the driftwood, the placement and the direction of the turtles. See these variations below.

   

And here is the final!

Porch Pillow

 I have a couple new chairs on my screen porch that I made new cushions for this year. The chairs are quite deep so I decided to make a lumbar pillow. I decided on colorful beach huts which I roughed out on some graph paper, selected my thread colors to match the fabric, and started stitching.

It was fun trying to make each of the beach huts unique. Once I finished the beach huts, I added sand, sky and water. I'll keep adding sky and water until I reach the size I want. Stay tuned for finished product!

Pandemic Pillow

 We all have our way of dealing with the pandemic -- mine has been this project.  It began when I came across this awesome shop on Etsy,  https://www.etsy.com/shop/WitchyWomansshop. They convert an image into a cross stitch pattern. I sent them a picture of the Big Red Lighthouse I had taken one winter and they sent back a pattern I knew would be a challenge!

I started this project in October 2020. The first image below was taken in November and the second was from December. I was making great progress -- and then I crashed. I normally find stitching therapeutically relaxing, but I just couldn't look at it anymore. I had to put it down.

I finally picked it back up in May 2021.

18 months and 60,000 stitches later -- I completed the pillow!

I think it'll be awhile before I tackle another this size....

Painted Driftwood Fish

Painted Driftwood Fish - Fish #1

I've collected a few great pieces of driftwood that look like fish. I've decided to paint them to use as decoration in my yard. Here, I take you through the process.

Step 1: Find the perfect piece of driftwood. This is the hardest part!

Step 2: Place on a piece of craft paper and trace the shape.
Step 3: Draw your design on the paper and cut out.

 

Step 4: Adhere your drawing to the piece of driftwood with a couple dots of double stick tape to hold it in place.

Step 5: Slide a piece of black or white trace paper under your drawing. With a blunt object, trace the design onto the driftwood.

Step 6: Now select your colors and paint.
Step 7: Admire your handiwork!

I have two more driftwood pieces that will become fish. Stay tuned.

 



Easy Painted Wood Sign

For those of us that have no natural drawing ability, I want to share an easy way to make a sign. This is what you'll need:
Piece of wood
Computer/printer
Tape
Graphite Paper with blunt tracer
Acrylic paints/brushes

Decide what your design will include and then go online to find the various elements i.e. letters and clip art. Select a font you like and then create a Word or Publisher document placing the letters as you'd like to paint them in the desired size. Select your clip art and size the images as appropriate and print these out as well.

Tape these elements to the piece of wood arranged per your design.

Now, using the graphite paper and blunt tracer, trace the letters and images onto your piece of wood.

Now you can color in all of your elements with your selected paints. And that's it!