Miss Kopy Kat: fishing float

Thanks for coming to tour my home with my Summer decorations

(finally) displayed. I've made and painted many of the items so I

will include highlighted text that takes you to the tutorials so you

can make similar items for your home if you would like.

We're friends so come on in the back entrance.

As you enter the carport area there is a baker's rack with

my blue bottle collection topped with shells.

Just a dot of hot glue holds the shell on the bottle's opening

then it is easy to pop off at the end of Summer.

The back door area has more shells.

New galvanized olive buckets have been painted to look

old (tutorial here). I'm pretending that the buckets are holding

burlap bags full of shells from the ocean.

In reality, most of the bucket is full of crumpled newspaper and

plastic bags. The burlap is hiding the stuffing so you can't see

it through the holes. Then only the very top layer is shells.

The basket hanging on the back door has shells in it too.

To fool the eye, a piece of foam core was cut to fit the basket

then wrapped in burlap to hide it through the basket's weave.

Then shells were hot glued on to the top edge of the foam core.

If you would like to see more details on how these back entrance

shell decorating projects (and more from inside the house) were done, please click over to "Secrets of Decorating With Shells" post.

Come on in to the kitchen dining area.

I just love me some shells. Most of them have come from

the bags you can buy at the craft stores (and use a coupon to

get them for even less).

Now we will move from the kitchen dining area to the more

formal dining area. If we had come in the house through the

front door, this room also acts like a foyer too.

(I moved one of the chairs so you could see the table better)

A large urn holds shells and has shells hot glued on it.

I got tired of all the dark wood furniture in this room and got

up enough nerve to paint this dresser/display piece with

two shades of chalk paint (for tutorial click here).

It is an older piece with wavy glass so I'm going to open the

doors so you can see part of my coral and sea fan collection better.

(Excuse the mess in the bottom)

The wave coral reproduction came from Target.

The faux corals were made from items in the floral section

of craft stores (coral tutorial here). The faux sea fans were

made from cedar clippings (sea fan tutorial here).

Also in the dining room/foyer is a buffet.

For summer it has a shell motif also.

My "beach boy" stands on a skirted pedestal between the dining

room and the living room. I found this funky "ribbon" at

Hobby Lobby. It reminded me of a fishing net.

The last room on the tour is the living room.

The coffee table holds a bowl of pretty Summer items.

I like to change out these pillow coverings seasonally.

For Summer I fell in love with this octopus print fabric.

(turkish corner pillow tutorial here).

I also like to change out the picture over the mantel seasonally.

It is not expensive to have different artwork during the year

because I just get art prints and use a technique to make them

look similar to a painting (from print to painting tutorial here).

The wood pilings on the end of the mantel are actually pool

noodles wrapped in wood-look contact paper. A diluted coat of

paint gives them that whitewashed look.

(faux wood piling tutorial here)

Bookcases on either side of the mantel hold more Summer items.

The seahorse, faux turtle shell and octopus on this bookcase

were not colors that I liked. I painted them with a DIY chalk

paint. (small batch custom color chalk paint tutorial here)

(Sea fan tutorial here) (Faux coral tutorial here)

I used the more colorful items in the double bookcase.

The buoys on the top shelf had a color change to make them

look older (tutorial here). I've tried several times to make glass

fishing floats. To me they never look as good as the ones you

can purchase in stores but I use them anyway.

Buoys, mirror, shell vase all painted with DIY chalk paint.

This mirrored console holds our radio and CD player.

Over the console are two frames with chicken wire that

are easy to change seasonally. (framed chicken wire tutorial).

These are two Summer sayings that I like:

I tried to make these saying boards look similar to the pilings

on the mantel so I covered foam board with the wood-look

contact paper to write on. I might have used too much water to

dilute the paint (to give it a whitewashed look) but then I

liked the way it beaded up on the contact paper so I left it.

Thanks again for visiting!!!

Here's a good "pinnable" image if you want to come again.

Come on in! Thanks for coming for a tour of my home to see

my summer decorations that are (finally) in place.

Right inside the front door there is not much of a foyer.

We are basically in the dining room already.

The centerpiece this year is pretty simple but abundant with

shells and starfish.

This year I hot glued shells to all kinds of things to give

them a more summery look...I say they are "shell-ified".

The rope circle around the base of the urn was once a
summer wreath itself! Now it has shells galore (some glued
on, some just sitting in place) to adorn it.

Behind the dining table is an antique chest/hutch that got a

summery white chalk paint makeover a few years ago.

This year it is holding my faux coral and faux seafans.

They are easy to make and allow the real coral and

seafans to stay in the ocean.

I'm opening the glass doors for you. It's hard to photograph

things behind the wavy glass. Beware, some mess, sorry.

I thought when I painted the inside of the hutch blue/green

with my DIY chalk paint that I would need to change it

when summer was over but it actually looks fine all year.

Also in the dining room is a buffet that is holding more

shell-ified items and has a shell print over it.

At the end of the post, if you would like to stick around,

I'll show you some tips on using shells for summer decor.

This white frame stays here most of the year but gets

the picture changed out seasonally.

The box was shell-ified by somebody else...I bought it that

way ($8) and sat one of my few big shells on top of it.

Next to the buffet on a skirted stand is my Beach Boy.

He gets to hold all kinds of seasonal decor through the year.

Beach Boy transitions us into the living room.

On your left is a wall that has another summer display.

Obviously, I have an issue with painting stuff white

but things just looks fresher and lighter to me that way.

The sideboard, lantern, frames and even the seahorse

have been chalk painted.

The wooden boxes' shapes reminded me of wooden buoys

so they got painted to (hopefully) look like that.

My "sea sayings" came back out this year to be on the

framed chicken wire. I thought I had more of the faux

aged sayings but shells were hung to fill the blank spaces.

The lantern glass is glaring so I'm opening the door

for you to see the originally-lime-green seahorse.

The battery-operated candles don't look that good during the

day but they automatically come on at dusk and look cozy.

Across from the sideboard is the sofa. It's pillows get

different covers put on them seasonally.

I know this area looks kind of bare. Actually my elderly mother lives with me and usually her recliner is
right next to the sofa...I pulled it out so it would not be in the picture.

I like to put Turkish corners on my pillows. If you want to learn how click on this post.

The focal point of the living room is the fireplace and

bookcases. The picture over the mantel gets changed out too.

Right now, it is a print that reminds me of our Alabama beaches.

Even though I re-use my summer accessories year after

year, they wind up in different places from year to year.

These faux Japanese fishing floats got bunched together

for this year to be the main mantel decor.

The floats that look really good came from Hobby Lobby...the brown ones and the blue one on the far left.
The other ones are my attempts at DIYing floats by painting clear Christmas balls and putting netting or
twine around them. I haven't perfected any one technique.

Other items I look forward to seeing again every summer

are the faux wooden pilings made from pool noodles.

The single bookcase is the the left of the fireplace.

If you want to see how these buoys from the clearance shelf at Hobby Lobby went from drab to fab click here.

The double bookcase is to the right of the fireplace.

This specimen-type shell display is SO easy to make. Stretch and secure fabric on a piece of

foamcore which has been cut to fit in a frame. Glue shells on the fabric.

So that's the living room...now for the kitchen table.

Surprise! More shells.

This cute basket was made from pine needles by my

talented sister-in-law...such patience.

If you want to see more of her work and contact information click here.

This wooden bowl holds the left over shells that

didn't get used other places. They are not arranged or staged

so I encourage visitors to rummage through them and enjoy

looking at the amazing shells of summer.

That's it for the summer home tour.

Here are some tips/tricks for using shells in decorating...

Almost all of my shells have come from Hobby Lobby ,

Michaels and Dollar Tree. The best deals are for the baskets

or bags of assorted shells and use a discount coupon.

I did a quick internet search and found that Amazon,

Oriental Trading and Etsy also have sea shells in bulk.

....................

When you are using shells as fillers for opaque containers

fill the containers most of the way up with plastic bags,

paper, etc. so you won't be wasting your shells where

they will not be seen.

If you think the filler material might be seen, make a layer

of flat common shells to cover it up. Then put your best

shells on top of the flat shells.

Another example of filling container before adding shells..

See-through containers are also great for displaying shells.

Here are some ideas from a summer centerpiece

on my dining room table a few years ago...

The shells were attached to the candle with a dab of hot glue.

Another way to use shells in clear vases is to put
shells in the bottom of the vase. Add water. Place
floating candles on top of the water and light them.

The water magnifies the shells. The flickering candlelight
makes interesting shadows on the shells. These would be
very pretty for centerpieces for a party or wedding.

You can also do this technique on a smaller scale too.

....................

Shells can also be attached to items to make them seem

summery. If you use just a small amount of hot glue to

attach the shells to a firm unevenish surface, they usually

pop off pretty easily when summer is over.

Here are some candle sticks that are going to shell-ized.

When you decide which shells you want where, hold the

shell against the surface and see where the shell touches.

The shell surface is uneven and it may only touch in a couple

of places...that's where you put a dab of hot glue. Hold it in

place until the glue can hold the shell on its own.

Luckily the shells are light and it doesn't take long.

The urn on the dining room table was shell-ified too.

If you want the shells on an item long term, you can use a

stronger glue to attach them to the item.

This yard sale mirror was painted white then had shells glued

around the flat surface with E6000 glue. On the top shelf is
a picture frame that has shells glued around the edge. Easy!

......................
If you want to hang shells (like I did on the framed chicken
wire) you can do that by gluing a curved wire on the shell.
My favorite wire to use is aluminum wire that you can find
in the floral section of craft stores or Dollar Tree.

The aluminum wire cuts easily and bends easily to the shape
of the shell. Cut the wire long enough to also bend and
make a hanging hook. Put hot glue on the part of the wire
that will touch the shell. Press the wire against the
shell and hold until glue cools.

............................................
Even the front door wreath has shells as a finishing touch.
The base of the wreath was originally one that I made to
be able to use by changing out the decor on top, it could
be used for different seasons and occasions. It is tired now.

I added another layer of a different color of deco mesh to
the tired base. If you want to make a similar one you can
follow the directions in the post Multi-Color Mesh Wreath.

You can see on the base that I used pipe cleaners to attach
the mesh. I am fresh out of pipe cleaners so I am going to
use zip ties to attach the darker mesh.

If you would like to see in more detail how to use zip ties on mesh wreaths, click here.

Much fluffier now. I could stop there and attach summer
things but I have some mesh that reminds me of fishermen's
nets so I have to use that too...also attached with zip ties.