{Sea shell crafts} Uses for bivalve shells

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Today I’m going to show you uses for shells such as quahogs, clams and cockles. They are large and sturdy enough for every day use. Pictured above is a sea shell napkin holder I made, click on the picture to go to the tutorial that I posted as a guest blogger at Mine for the Making.
Staying in the kitchen, I’m also using a pair of clam shells as salt and pepper shakers. I have them in different colors. The natural black ones I rubbed with food grade mineral oil to make them shiny. I spray painted the silver pair on the outside only.

Looks great at a beachy setting or picnic.
I also use shells in the bathroom as soap dish holders = no mess. The soap can dry and there is nothing leaking onto the tile. And as I mentioned earlier, they are sturdy and can withstand a dropping or two.

I also have a silver painted quahog shell on my nightstand, where I put my rings at night. I have one by the sink as well, so you don’t have to put the ring down and then look for it.

As you can see these are easy and inexpensive ways to use shells in your every day life. Every time I look at the shells I am transported back to the beach!
I'm linking to Nifty thrifty Tuesdays, Crazy Domestic, Remodelaholic Fridays, Frugal Fridays, Feature yourself Friday,  Friday Feature, Show and Share Day, Flaunt it Friday   ,  Fridays Nature Table, Tickled Pink, French Country Cottage, Everyting but the Kitchen Sink, Saturday Soiree, Weekend wRap up party, Chocolate Sunday Link up.

{Travel & Leisure} Hot springs around the world

To send you off to the weekend with some watery eye candy I will show you some of the coolest hot springs around the world. Imagine socking in one of the hot waters while it is cold outside. And don’t forget the scenic view.
The first spring is Dunton Hot Springs in Colorado. Dunton is in the mountains of Colorado and is the only town around for miles. It is a restored wild west town complete with saloons and horses to ride.





The next spring is Scecheny Baths in Budapest, Hungary. In midst a neo-baroque facility, this spring feed bath is a piece of history.



The Blue Lagoon in Iceland boasts more than 1.5 million gallons of seawater, heated by the same geo-thermal activity that powers Iceland’s volcanoes. The water stays at around 100F all year.

Images courtesy of Bing.com/travel

My personal favorite is the Therme in Mainz, Germany. It is a sports complex with an indoor pool, hot spring tub, an indoor and outdoor Olympic size lap swimming pool, and an outdoor spring pool with massage and waterfall. It also has a big outdoor pool for kids and a wave pool, as well as a big grassy area for sunbathing. You can also sun bathe inside, use the speed slide, or go to one of the many saunas or steam rooms. They have themed saunas, with different aromas in the steam every day, and they have a midnight swim, where you can swim in the dark under the stars. We used to ride our bikes there, jump in the hot pool, swim around a little bit, and then eat lunch there. After a short rest and another stint in the hot pool we would peddle home. It is the most relaxing experience. I really miss it.

So, do you have a hot spring in your area? If not, you know where to go now!
Greetings,

{Travel & Leisure} Florida Beaches-Caspersen Beach

The first beach we went to during our Florida travels is Caspersen Beach. It was very windy that day, so we didn’t stay long. I loved that beach though, I had two bags of shells within a few minutes.

A cloudy sky yet the water was still emerald green. There were hardly any people visiting the beach that day.

The stairs leading to the beach.

The fine sand on Caspersen Beach.

Water splashing on the rocky shoreline. I can look at that picture all day long.

A friendly sea gull. They were not scared at all of people. As you can see it only takes a beach to make me happy! For further reading visit my post here.
I'm linking to Scenic Sunday, Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Camera Critters.

{Sea shells} Florida shelling part I

Today I will show you the first batch of sea shells we collected during our Florida vacation. We went to five different beaches between Venice and Boca Grande: Caspersen Beach, Venice Beach, Boca Grande/Gasparilla Island, Manasota Key Beach and Casey Key Beach.
In the top photo you can see the pan with all the small shells we found such as scallops.

 

Here are all the southern Quahog shells I found. Let me tell you the story: when I found them on the beach they had lovely blue stripes on them. I love blue, and I had never seen blue shells before. Naturally I picked up as many as I could carry aehm, huff. I was very sore! When I unpacked them at home to clean them I saw to my demise that the shells were no longer blue, but had turned white! Needless to say I was very disappointed and puzzled. Any ideas, anyone of my shelling expert friends?

Here is some more of our loot. I find several bird feathers, one huge one, I think it belonged to a Pelican at one time. I brought it home for Chloe (my cat) who loves feathers. You should see here go at it!

My DH found all four of these huge conches. They were all buried in the surf and on the beach. Don’t ask me how he spotted them.

This one will be used for an outdoor nautical display.

This one is almost perfect. These things are really huge!

Some more shells and some rocks and corral.

Here you can see some more scallops and a turkey wing shell in the lower right hand corner.
We also found sand dollars and shark’s teeth, but that will be on a separate post as well as more details on the pretties we found.

January Outdoor Pool Swim

While most of the country is burried in snow we were fortunate enough to vacation in sunny and warm southwest Florida. We got so warm walking the beach shelling, we had to jump into the pool afterwards.
The outdoor temperature was about 75F, and the water was about 63F. We also wadded in the ocean and I so wanted to jump in, but it was a little to cold for me.
My husband was first to jump into the pool and try out the water temperature.

He called it refreshing. I called it cold. We went in anyways. We walked in though. As long as we kept moving around it wasn’t too bad. It felt great after a long car ride and walking.

We mainly went in to say we were at the pool in January. Our friends Alpha and Sunny the Lobster were chilling by the pool as well.

We did get tanned and I got sunburn on my feet of all places. Don’t ask me how I managed that!
Tomorrow I will have the first of the shelling posts up, so don’t miss it.

Until then,

I'm linking to Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday.

Guest blogging at Mine for the Making

Today I am guest blogging at Kara's 'Mine for the Making'. Kara's blog features thrifty crafting ideas and a cute Etsy shop.

I included a tutorial on a DIY sea shell napkin holder in my guest post, so head on over and check it out. Let me know what you think!

Back from vacation

Hello, we are back home safe and sound. It was a nice trip down to Florida’s west coast. We stayed in a beautiful home in a quiet area with canals running through the neighbourhoods. There were storcks that came right up to people’s doors and stood there next to the lawn bird ornaments. It was funny. I did not get a picture of that.

We had great meals, I love how open the kitchen is to the rest of the house. It feels very light and airy.

 

We had most of our meals at the dining room table with view of the outside pool. Some days we ate outside by the pool. Let me tell you, there is great fresh food in that area, unlike were we live (land locked).

We also relaxed in the reading room with a book or laptop. The great thing about the house was every room had big windows and sliding doors to the pool.

We took day trips to the beaches in the area. We found a lot of shells and treasure. Yesterday I cleaned and sorted all the shells. More about our shelling trips, adventures, and the area in upcoming posts.
Have a great week,

{Outdoors & Scenic} Rough seas

On an early December lake walk the water was a bit rough and it was breezy. Bella is trying to swim out to the buoy.

Lot’s of wrack on the beach. We always find treasures here.

No boating today. Just a warm cup of hot chocolate once we got home. Thanks for coming along!

I’m linking to Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday and Watery Wednesday.

Cabin in white

I thought I would show you this cabin in Montana, decorated all in trendy white, featured in the February issue of Country Living magazine.

I love how they used the snow shoes on the wall and painted them white. Normally lodges are held all in wooden tones, which to me can be a bit dark at times.

Shabby chic in the great room-this is so cozy and elegant, it doesn’t even feel like a cabin in the woods.

The study. Love the warm tones. The wood definitely cozies up to the white!

  A modern country table. Love the checkered tablecloth. The chairs are not my style, though.

Kids room in blue and white. I like the picture collection on the wall as well. Now this is a cabin after my taste! How about yourself?

Trends to try in 2011

Every year new trends come out, some good, some not so good. I have come across a few that I wouldn’t mind trying myself.

Wallpaper that was designed in honor of the endangered ‘bittern heron’. It’s ink is VOC free. Great for an accent wall or I would try to frame the feather for wall art.

Ruffles&white. I adore this bathroom. So bright and airy, all it needs are a few sea shells and it becomes a coastal gem. Curtain by Anthropologie, towel set ‘Shabby Chic’ by target.

 

Polka Dots. I’m normally not a frilly type person, but this room I like. It looks springy! Bed set by Ikea.

Rope furniture. I love this nautical look. The wing chair is made from lampakai twine. The pillow with sailor knots in blue gives a pop of color. The lamp is made of reclaimed materials. I’m sure many of you recognize the side table from here.

Ferns. Now there is an easygoing plant even I might not be able to kill. On the wall some ferns are painted on wooden tree stump pieces.

Flowers. Some vintage floral décor can add flair to a laundry room. Anything to help us to do the laundry, right?

Vintage vegetable canvas. Makes for unexpected decorating!
What new trends are you implementing right now?