Sea Shell Votive Jars for a Party!

Rather proud of how our 50th Wedding Anniversary Party votive "jars" turned out.   I wanted to make something that would reflect my mom and dad's love of the beach and their many travels to all over the United States picking up seashells and sea glass along the way.

These sea glass, shells and vintage mason jar votives were pretty easy to make  - once we had all of the supplies assembled!

*raffia

*tiny drill  We used Kristy's jewelry dremel (and her expertise!) to drill tiny holes in the seashells to adorn the outside of our jars.

*Votive Candles - In glass, not just the candles by themselves.  I found white vanilla ones at Michaels for a very reasonable price.

*shells.  We did buy a few packages from our local dollar store, but between my mom and I, we have piles of them that we have been collected from beach walks in Florida, Texas, and Washington.  I tried to use as many local Puget Sound ones as I could. We filled over 30 jars and just did not realize how many shells it actually takes to fill them up!

*sea glass.  Or "faux" sea glass.  For the party, I used the tumbled glass that Allison and I picked up in Seattle at Bedrock Industries.  We specifically picked out colors to match the theme of the party; lavender, light aqua and a pretty Caribbean turquoise-blue...

*Mason Jars.   My mom had all of the vintage mason jars. (Cannot begin to tell you how many jars of canned peaches, pears and plums these have held!)   The turquoise pretty ones all came from my grandparents farm, as my mom just could not bear ever getting rid of them.  So for us, these jars also held a lot of meaning to our family.

My pretty sister-in-law drilling the holes for the raffia tie...

We layered the seashells and sea glass to about 2 inches deep before setting in the glass votives.  Then layered in more shells and glass around the candles to keep them standing up straight in the jars.   

Ta-Da!

Have a great Monday - thanks for stopping by Everything Coastal. If you get a chance, we would love to have your vote in the Business. Inspired by ASUS Contest - for every vote and every share we'll enter your name into our drawing!

Here's a quick link for the voting: Business Inspired by ASUS

P.S. The party turned out wonderful!

A Friday Beach Giveaway!

Need your vote!

We are expanding our catalog, and I am working double-time right now (it's why you haven't seen any recent blog posts from me!)  adding new products (getting rid of old products) to the existing Caron's Beach House site, as well as adding and editing our new website.  The new website will be AWESOME, so we are racing the clock to have it ready by the end of September for holiday shoppers.

Here's where I would love your help. Alex, my son and trusty assistant, found a contest with ASUS Computers -  "Business. Inspired by ASUS" where we could win $15,000 worth of new computer equipment!  Cannot imagine how much we could accomplish with larger monitors (I am over 40 ya know...) and faster computers.

Here's the link to vote! Business. Inspired by ASUS

For every vote and every share, we will enter your name into our giveaway to win a hand crafted distressed beach picture frame.  Perfect to show off your beach escapades from this summer!

*As an added bonus, for every vote and every share, we will send you a special coupon.

You can have your choice of Red, Aqua, or Black.  ($74.95 value)

Here's the rules:
1. Vote:   leave me a note on the blog or Facebook page to let me know that you've voted
2. Share:  Can share from our post on Facebook, or directly from the contest page.  Leave me a note on the blog or Facebook page to let me know where it's been shared.
3. Sharing and voting ends August 31st.
4. We will announce the winner on September 1, 2012  on the Everything Coastal Blog and on our Facebook page.  If you have blog, business or Facebook page that we can help promote - we will be happy to blog about it.

PLEASE make sure that we have your contact information!!


Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Beachy Bedrooms - A Collection

My bedroom is my refuge, even when it's messy.  I like it cozy with super soft bedding, lots of blankets and  knit plush throws.  With a touch of beach cottage whimsy, I also like my  retreat light, bright, breezy and always changing with the seasons, while keeping the same basic color scheme of aquas and sea blues, combined with chocolate browns and driftwood tones.

It's where I keep my family treasures, stacks of shelter magazines, piles of books and at least 3 pairs of glasses - lol!  (P.S. this is a super-cleaned up version of what it normally looks like!)

I've been collecting beachy bedrooms ideas on my Beachy Bedroom Pinterest board, for our expanding bedding category at Caron's Beach House, and thought I would share a few of my favorite coastal bedroom retreats with you.   What do you think?

From Cottage Living - yep, Tom would definitely have a difficult time getting me out of this room!

What can I say?  Need a book and a set of binoculars and I would not need to leave this room for a week!

Pretty in Pink from Coastal Living! Just makes me happy.

So fun!  Discovered at House of Turquoise, apparently it is Erin's Dream Cottage.  Pretty darn cute, I could move in too.

Who can resist Lily Pulitzer??  Not me!

Love this look from Coastal Living!  Maybe it's the twin oyster shell mirrors, or just the light blues and white bedding?

From Completely-Coastal - love love love the crab trio above the bed and the wicker-driftwood lamps!  

Wrapping up with this pretty seaside bedroom from Barclay Butera - discovered at Ciao! Newport Beach  Love the mix of nautical elements (trunk, telescope, etc.) with red, white and blues - not necessarily "nautical".

Remember, changing your bedroom accents and accessories is relatively inexpensive and can give you a whole new look.  

1. Add a "beachy" lamp  - don't get me started, I could think of a million ideas!  Maybe just a coastal designed shade on an existing lamp?  Think white linen, burlap, or wicker...

2. Add some natural wicker accents.  Baskets for books or magazines

3. Cover an inexpensive table with a beautiful cloth or even a sea-themed scarf for a new side table

4.  Use an existing cozy throw from your living room. 

5.  Mix up your art in a new pattern on the wall, or arrange your tucked away family photos in new frames. 

6. Don't forget to bring the outside in, with collected shells, sea glass or driftwood.  This is my must have! 

There are all kinds of ideas (with a little creativity!)  to make over your space without spending a dime - have a great Monday everyone.

Octopus Finds at the Fremont Market!

We had a whirlwind trip last week to the Pacific Northwest. First on the Oregon Coast, and then in the Seattle area catching up with our families and our close friends.  We spent lots of time eating fresh crabs, oysters and steamed clams, beach walking and roasting marshmallows around the beachfire.  Have so many things to show you from our trip;  might be a week of blog posts before I am all caught up!  (might also be a week of sleep!)

Last Sunday morning,  we woke up to one of those rare, stunningly clear days in Seattle.  Exactly the right kind of day to explore the Fremont Market.

So excited to jump on the ferry and head to Seattle to meet my daughter for coffee, girl talk and shopping.  I was the first car on the boat - just take a look at the view!   Kitsap Peninsula and the Olympic Mountains in the background, surrounded by clear (cold!) blue water.

After grabbing our coffee cups, Allison and I made our way over to Fremont. So excited to see what we might find!

Brightly painted cottage furniture (LOVE)

Beach signs. The blue "Boat Rental" sign came home with me...

Vintage nautical finds

..... love the treasure hunt!

Just take a look at these cool Octopus T's that we found!  Soft, and all hand screen printed by Black Bird Tees.

From their website:
 We have a passion for handmade, and strive to make every aspect of our business look and feel like it comes from a real human being. All of our raw goods are sourced from American-based, sweatshop-free companies, we use environmentally friendly inks, and we recycle all of our screens. 

Their t-shirts were absolutely adorable!  Bought the black and gray octopus design for Allison, just could not resist how cute it looked on her, paired with her tangerine orange skirt.  It even has a name - "Sucker for Ink"!

Here's a few more of their designs that we loved too!

Am seriously bummed though, we met one of the artists and he told us that this would be their last Sunday in Seattle; but you can still find them online at http://www.blackbirdtees.com.  Trying to decide which t-shirt to buy for me....


Have a great Saturday!

The Perfect Ending to a Pacific Northwest Day

Two scoops of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream,  and a walk along the Kirkland Waterfront...

Not a bad way to end a summer Monday night in the Pacific Northwest!

An Arch Cape Summer Sunset

Brilliant fire yellow-orange skies....

Turns into coral pink cloud inspiration...

every single second more beautiful than the one before...

Until the fiery ball drops into the sea...

Just the right ending to a perfect day on the Oregon Coast.  This Arch Cape sunset took my breath away, reminded me again to stop and breathe once in a while...

Note: NO photo editing, except for the "Everything Coastal - straight off of my camera. It would be a shame to try and mess with nature's beauty.