I love love love sea shells - they're pretty, you can trick yourself into hearing the ocean and they make me remember all the amazing trips we have been on. Before I was 26, I'd never traveled anywhere, and now that I'm traveling, I like to create as many mementos as I can. The problem is, if you're not careful, using trinkets, sea shells, and other souvenirs can be really tacky as decor items.
Also, my husband has an "allergy" to clutter, so although I like to display things, I like to be careful how I'm displaying them. When we bought our new house, I decided I would do up the powder room beach-style. Anyone who come over will most likely use the bathroom, and I can set it up beach-themed without it seeming tacky and over the top because it's contained to one room.
Every time we go to another country, we do a little bit of sea shell treasure hunting, and we always try to get a bigger shell. The problem was, I just couldn't figure out how to display them - it seemed everything I did was just....blah. Until I got some inspiration when I came across an old shadow box I had stored away just in case ;)
Honestly, if you have wood and a glue gun, you can pretty much do anything. My sister in law makes signs as a side business, so she made me these from scrap drift wood. Also, living in a construction zone has it perks - a limitless supple of scrap wood. I grabbed the middle piece from their garbage pile, cut it to size and glue gunned this shell from California to it. This was where I started.
Cuba was my very first trip and this is one of my moth favourite pictures. It brings back so many memories and feelings - you never forget your first trip. I got this little vile of sand and bought this shell (yes, I cheated), but had no idea what to do with them given their size. So when I did the other shell and wood, I did the same with these. I think it turned out pretty nice and it perfectly fits the spot I've hung it in.
We got this one on our first trip in Cuba, as well (yes, we got a few while we were there - we weren't sure we would be able to go on another trip again so we did what we could while we were there). For a while, this star was just hung on the wall, and it seemed kind of bland. I had some left over paint (a $1 "OOPS" bottle I bought at Lowes - It's like a grey/green) and thought I would frame it. After I bought the frame from the dollarstore, I brought it home only to realize it was too small. BUT I think this looks so much cooler than if it had been neatly framed.
And before everyone gets upset that we stole this star from the ocean, please know I would NEVER do that - we actually bought this at the gift shop.
I will admit - this one I saw on Pinterest, but the background was burlap and the frames were natural wood. I attempted the natural wood frame in my bathroom but it looked funny. Also, I had an entire book of this corkboard-type material, so I thought I would try it. I really like the way they turned out. And again, it's only glued on with a glue gun (but A TON of it). The kong shell on the left was purchased on the beach. I realize that it was most likely stolen from the ocean, but I wasn't the one to do it and the person who did probably needed the $3 we paid for it. The one of the right we were lucky enough to find washed up on the beach. It's a little damaged, but that's my facourite part of it. Both of these are from Cuba - but opposite ends. It's cool to see the differences in the shells from the same country but different areas. The one on the left is shiny, hard and "fresh." The right one is older (may have been on the beach in the sun for a long time) and is a lot more delicate.
I needed something for the back of the toilet and this took me a lot longer than I care to admit to complete. I just couldn't find anything I liked! I decided when I moved here that I wanted more plants in the house - problem is, I kill all plants that come into my vicinity. So yes, I bought some fake plants, but they're green and pretty so I don't care! Also, when I bought that jar of shells, I had originally gone to the dollar store to buy a vase and twine and blah, blah, blah to fill it with the shells we had, but I was concerned we wouldn't have enough to fill it. Then I found an already filled vase with all the right finishing. No, it's not real, but it adds to the ambiance. And really, with all the stuff that is real, you can't even tell the difference!
Originally, all of this was in a dumpy wicker basket I found, but then I found this wooden milk crate (yes, at the dollarstore!) and I couldn't resist! Actually - it was originally supposed to go in my scrapbook room but once I put it here, I couldn't imagine it any way else.
This was my final piece, the one that I found inspiration to make and I feel finished everything off. It's a shadow box I bought at Winners years ago, and hadn't used it for a long time. I'm not a pack rat, but I do have a select few things that I never get rid of - that's generally any and all picture frames I come across.
All I did for this was paint the background white (I think the original colour was a biege burlap-type thing, but I'd painted it so many times since I can't remember. Then, I used about a whole pack of glue sticks and glue gunned all the shells to the inside. I also painted the frame (which was a fake vintage green). All these shells were collected on one beach in Santa Maria Cuba. There were so many different kinds with so many different looks, textures, and colours, I really wanted to be able to show them off other than just dumping them into a vase. I am really happy with the way it turned out.
Now, my beach bathroom is complete and I love it! In fact, as I was loading the pictures on the computer, my 6-year-old son was looking over my back and said, "Oh, wow! That's a nice bathroom!" I said, "That's our bathroom!" He laughed and said, "Really?! It's so nice!"
I hope you liked my DIY Beach Bathroom and you gained some sort of inspiration from it! If you want to leave a comment or question, please do so below! Thanks!
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