Summer Copy Cat Challenge

Although I can't afford much from the Pottery Barn catalogs,

I do love to look at their great vignettes and rooms for

decorating inspiration.  This Summer they have used glass jars

and rope to show off the vase fillers that they have available.

For Debbiedoos Copy Cat Challenge, I wanted to try to mimick

some of the elements of Pottery Barn catalog's summer vases.

The only thing I had to purchase for my copy cat attempt was

the shells.  I was impressed with the affordable bags of shells

that Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, and Wal Mart had.

To copy the Pottery Barn picture, I studied it to break down what

types of objects they had used to make a great display.

Clear Vases

Here is my hodge podge of  clear glass vases and containers before the elements were added...

...and after.

Candles

This star fish was added with thin silver wire

Sea shells were added to some of the candles with hot glue.

Sea Shells

Star Fish

These two starfish are made from foam.  You can see how to make them in Whimsical Starfish post.

Rope and Vintage Beach Pictures

Rope also got added to the tops of some of the glass containters.

A Touch of Silver

Well, my silver shells are silver in paint name only. 

They started out life as plaster shells from Dollar Tree.

Then got a couple of different colors of silver-ish paint layered on.

This was a fun and easy Summer display to do.  I only wish

I had done it earlier in the season...only a few more weeks

of Summer are left! 

Update:  I only got the display and photos done for the

copy cat challenge the late afternoon that the party started

so the above photos are practically night time shots.  The next

morning I took a few more shots to show the display

using natural daylight for the pictures.

I am sharing this at Debbiedoos Copy Cat Challenge

and at

Tabletop Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Cowgirl Up! @ Cedar Hill Ranch

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

Open House Party @ No Minimalist Here

Sizzle Into Summer @ DIY By Design

Potpurri Friday @ 2805 Blog

Seasonal Sundays @ The Tablescaper

Masterpiece Monday @ Boogieboard Cottage

Monday Metamorphosis @ Between Naps On the Porch

The Inspiration Board @ Carolyn's Homework

Faux Lobster Bouys

Another project that I attempted with the homemade chalk paint

I made with stuff I could find at my house is to repaint these

decorative lobster bouys that I found at Hobby Lobby.

I mean, I THINK they are supposed to be lobster bouys but they

are not painted the cute colors that the ones at Pottery Barn are.

They actually remind me of stubby pencils the way they were painted.   I also got the decorative fishing reel and (what I think

are supposed to be) dock scale weights on sale to make a vignette.

I had been watching the price of these items come down till at

last I found them at 80% off.  If I couldn't make them look like

vintage-y lobster bouys, I least I wasn't out much money.

Retrospectively, I don't know why I painted them all
cream color first.  Was I thinking they needed priming? 
Anyway, I used what I had on hand to make

 some chalk-y paint which was latex paint

mixed with powedered wall texture and water.
 The ratio was:

1 ounce of latex (or craft) paint

1 heaping tablespoon of wall texture

1 tablespoon of water

  Then I painted on a couple of brownish colors (same homemade chalk paint recipe) to have wood tones on there when I sanded them down.  Lobster bouys used to be made of wood.  It seems
that the wooden bouys messed up modern boat propellers if they
ran over them so now lobster bouys are made of foam.

The fun part was to add the new decorative colors.  I had "googled"

vintage lobster bouys and saw some good examples to go by.

This shows the approximate ratio of powder to paint.  You can play with the ratio to suit yourself.

I used the Frog Tape from our swag bags at Haven to tape off

sections of the bouys to make decorative designs.

I stayed with the blue and green colors that I had used to paint

objects on my Summer mantle so the colors would co-ordinate.

The larger bouy in the back has had its tape removed and been sanded down to make it look

time-worm.  The smaller ones still are waiting to be finished in this photo.

This is the middle sized bouy sanded...

...and all three of them sanded down to expose layers of color.

.

Some of my favorite bouys that I saw on the internet had

numbers on them so I added numbers to two of the bouys.

To transfer the numbers onto the bouys I ran a font that I liked

on the computer and cut it out.  Then I scribbled on the back

to make a type of carbon paper to transfer the number.

To transfer the numbers, trace around the outside of the

numbers/letters with a pencil.

The numbers were painted with the homemade chalk paint.

Here is a photo with the chalk paint ingredients before mixing.

You can make the numbers something that is meaningful to

you like a birthday or anniversay.

The lobster bouys I saw on the internet were mostly wooden and

had a hole drilled through the top to add a rope through. 

To mimick the rope look, I just glued the ends of rope to the

 plaster faux bouys and tried to tie them convincingly.

To add a little life to the vignette, I gathered some barely

hanging in there house plants into a driftwood-colored boat

planter that I recently got at Jo Ann's at 75% off.

Since I wanted to keep a rustic look to the bouys, I did not

seal them with a wax or other type of protective finish

but if you use this chalk paint "recipe" for anything that

is going to get "wear and tear", you would probably

want to add a finishing layer.

I am sharing this post at

Masterpiece Monday @ Boogieboard Cottage

Potpurri Friday #34 @ 2805

Vintage Inspiration @ Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Saturday Night Special  @ Funky Junk Interiors

The Sunday Showcase Party @ Under the Table and Dreaming

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On The Porch

Inspiration Board @ Carolyn's Homework

Seasonal Sundays @ The Tablescaper