Seahorse obsessed.

One summer when I was about 8 our family went to the beach. 
My mom found a seahorse in a little tide pool and we tried to keep it alive in our cooler and bring it home!  Unfortunately that didn't work out and the poor little thing died.  (I now never take live things from the ocean, promise!!! not even sanddollars)
Anyway, this spurred my fascination with seahorses.
They are so cool... wouldn't you agree??

Here's a look back at some of my seahorse antics.

Kissing a seahorse at the Ice sculpture show Lee and I froze to death to see :)

Seahorse I drew when we lived in Grenada.... which reminds me I should find this and frame it!

Read about the others in this "collection" here. 

A couple little guys I made also while living in Grenada.

I turned the white one into a necklace and the sea glass one I just have sitting on my dress to admire.
It might be one of my most favorite things I've ever made, read about it here.

 And now thanks to Stella & Dot's Sunset Beach Charm necklace I get to wear another, somewhat upgraded version :)  Love this little guy.

Read more about my business with stella & dot here.

Honestly though, I think I just love anything that has to do with the ocean.

I'm trying my hardest to get back to the sea....

Best Friend Birthday Gifts

My best friends are twins.
Yes both of them are equally my best friends and yes they are different people.

Their birthday was yesterday and they are the girls who have everything so it was a little difficult to think of something for them.  They are the sweetest girls, always thinking of others, and are so generous and always think of something sweet for my birthday.  This year they sent me flowers to work!

Thankfully we live in an age of Pinterest and you can find out exactly what kind of things people like! 

My friend Kristen pinned a prayer journal and a few verses and quotes that she liked so I compiled them into a book for her.  I knew a prayer journal would be perfect for her because they recently lost their father and she is getting married this weekend and has a lot going on in life, so a place to write out her prayers will be so nice.  And she can look back and see all the things that God has answered and worked out.

It's just a re-decorated a composition book!

 And for my other twinling I made her a bird's nest necklace with three little eggs because she has two boys and is pregnant with a little girl!!

My sister made one for my mom for mother's day and she of course got the idea from pinterest! 
What did we do without it?!

It is fairly simple and cheap to make.
I simple put three beads on wire and wrapped it until I thought it looked like a nest, then added a chain!
Check out pinterest if you want a 'real' tutorial.
Or let me know and I'll have my sister make you one ;)

Polishing Sea Glass

My stockpile of sea glass was looking a little cloudy so I went to the internet to find out how to "polish" it and found that it's pretty darn simple.
Vegetable oil and an old rag is all you need!
It turns white-ish because of the salt that is still on the glass, but the oil removes it and lets the true color show!
I think sea glass is more and more beautiful every single day.

Before

After!

These are all the colors I've found so far... still on the hunt for something red or pink!

Here are a few projects I've done lately with my sea glass, the easiest being my new ring.
I found out that my finger is exactly the size of a pop or beer bottle top.  amazing!

A necklace!

And a new wind chime!

it sounds so beautiful! 
I'm thinking about doubling the size of it... and I'm searching for an awesome piece of driftwood to attach it to!


Are you guys sick of my beachy/summery posts??
I only have 2 months left on this gorgeous island... and then I'll be posting all about winter and snow. trust.

Hardware store adventure take 2

Yesterday I told my story about getting free keys from the hardware store...
well I went back and this awesome yellow chain caught my eye!
It is meant to be you know... chain.  Chain for a lock or something.
But I saw a necklace.
You should have seen the guys face when he saw me holding it up to my neck...He was like... "miss?" haha and I said yes I need 2 feet of this! 

This is also my attempt at zipper flowers.  The fabric store downtown has drawers of zippers (probably from 1960) and the lady there also thought I was weird for picking zippers out according to color and not length (although longer is better).
I have no tutorial because there are already a million out there, but it's just a zipper and a glue gun.

I just pinned the flowers to the chain so I have the option of changing it up.

I like the funky color combinations, what about you?


Today over at Newlyweds Bliss you can read all about Lee and I's love story :)

Color Wheel Necklaces

Among a million other things, I love the color wheel.
I had my first color theory lesson years ago and I just loved learning about the mixing of colors and different color schemes. 

I was feeling inspired by this necklace I saw on pinterest.

Source: dwell.com via Ashley on Pinterest

And so I made two. 
Because doesn't everyone need  two rainbow necklaces?

This one is made of buttons that I found here in Grenada.  I need to stock up on these awesome buttons before I leave!

These necklaces make me smile.

Macrame Necklace

You've probably seen this floating around the internet and pinterest.
I did and wanted one so I got my supplies and made this is about 5 minutes. 
Easiest thing I've ever done, seriously! 

This is the tutorial I used here - http://www.macramelovers.com/blog/macrame-jewelry/macrame-necklace/
I didn't have the chain so I used my handy dandy jute twine :)

I've been super busy lately, my volunteering has started to pick up and I've been spending my afternoons with the sweet little kiddos, so not a whole lota time to blog/craft.... but I do have a few projects I've been working on so stay tuned!

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

sea glass seahorse

I think that's the start of a fun tongue twister.

Yesterday I saw this print on pinterest (see I'm not really over it.  there is still good to be found)

Source: printshop.urbanoutfitters.com via Angela on Pinterest

I absolutely fell in love with this seahorse.  Isn't it beautiful??
I knew I wanted to try to re-create the print, but wasn't feel in the drawing mood just yet, so I got my sea glass and some wire and went to work.

As per usual, I don't have an awesome how to tutorial.  I didn't know what I was doing.  I just shaped some 20gauge wire into a seahorse and then attached sea glass to the frame with 24gauge wire.  Which were the only two types of wire I have here in Grenada.  So you could use different sizes.  I however wouldn't go any smaller than 24 gauge, it might break easily.

The only problem is, I made this way too big to be used as a pendant for a necklace, it just kept growing!
My husband had the genius idea that the sea glass seahorse would be a great centerpiece for a sea glass wind chime! He is so useful to have around.

But I still wanted a necklace so I made another one, a beaded one.

and I'm not convinced I love this one for a necklace either.  but with limited bead supply this is what I came up with.  I think I'd like it better in gold. 
but I'm sure I'll find something to do with the little guy.

size comparison.

So... I have seriously decided to step up my sea glass finding capabilities.  I need more sea glass creatures!!

linking up with:
http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/
http://alliemakes.blogspot.com/
Somewhat Simple,
Paisly Passions. 
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/
http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/
http://justagirlblog.com/
http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/2011/08/show-and-tell-saturday-080611.html

What I Wear Wednesday

I asked my husband to snap a couple of pictures of me on Sunday after church because I hadn't participated in a WIWW for a while... and I hadn't worn anything other than bathing suits and cover ups for a while AND we were eating lunch by the beach so I thought it'd be a nice backdrop.
Well. remind me to take my own pictures in the future. or have a proper training session.









but I was able to crop this one to display this necklace I made!
I don't know how to tell how I did it.  I just kept knotting beads in random ways and it came out like this. :/ and it's strung on fishing line
I love the colors though, reminds me of sherbert.

linking up with The Pleated Poppy .

jewelry lust

sigh...

Source: etsy.com via Kelsey on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kelsey on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kelsey on Pinterest

Source: stelladot.com via Kelsey on Pinterest

Necklace DIY: knotted.

My friend Cat over at Budget Blonde sent me a picture from a Nordstrom store of a necklace made out of rope tied in knots, because she's sweet and thought of me (and my need for the outside world probably) and she knew it'd be easy to re-create something similar!

Well as my excuse always is, I'm in Grenada.
The only thing I could find was some jute twine :/ (but it was super cheap!! less than $2us)
but I am pretty happy with my first attempt at a necklace out of it and I made a bracelet too.





I learned how to tie a few different knots here.
Oh those boy scouts... always prepared.

Since this is the only twine I have... I currently have some soaking in bleach and another in food coloring to make some different colors... so more to come!