Driftwood

While we were at the beach, and the family was playing in the ocean, my husband and I walked the beach and enjoyed just watching the waves and the seals playing out a ways. Then I started noticing the driftwood on the beach, a lot of it half-buried in the sand. It was smooth and beautiful and came in so many colors! It drew my eye and I started picking it up. I kept showing Chuck what I was picking up, and pretty soon he was picking it up, too. We gathered so much that we had to have the kids help us carry it back to the campsite! The next time we went to the beach, we took a bag to carry it in, and my son helped us gather more. Then the kids got into the groove, and we came back with a whole lot of driftwood!

This is just the smaller stuff. There's more than this

Some pieces were quite large and we had to rearrange the back of the Bronco to get it all in! Once we got it all home, I spread some of it out on the table in the backyard to let it dry out. When that was dry I spread another layer, until I had it all dried out. Some of the pieces we picked up were little tiny things. I told everyone I wanted a bunch of little ones to use for making souvenirs from the trip. Those I washed and put a little bleach in the water so they wouldn't stink. I drilled holes in them and made earrings and bracelets for me and my granddaughter. (My daughter-in-law doesn't like the feel of wood, so she didn't get any.) I got into my stash and found some shell beads to put in between the wood pieces. I strung the bracelets on stretchy plastic jewelry cord so I didn't have to have any hardware. They just slip over the hand. My little granddaughter loves hers and can't wait to wear it to school tomorrow.

Then I went to work on the bigger pieces. While we were walking around the little shops and booths on the boardwalk, I saw these wind chime type hangings made from driftwood and they were so cool! Of course, they don't make much noise, so they're not very chime-y, but they sure were beautiful, so I decided to make my own. I got into my stash again and this time I found a necklace that I picked up at a yard sale. It was a really ugly necklace, but the beads were interesting and I knew that someday I would find something to do with them, and here it was! Once again, I drilled holes and strung the driftwood with beads and shells in between them and they look fantastic! I put three strings hung from a long piece of driftwood, then hung it with a white cord. It looks real nice hanging on our front porch.

Not much noise, but it sure looks nice.

I still have a lot of driftwood left, and I plan to get more next time we go to the beach, so watch out! There will be more driftwood projects ahead. I might even put some of the jewelry in my Etsy shop, if I decide to start one. I'm still doing research, but its looking better all the time.

Oh, by the way....did you know that September is Fall Hat Month? What can you do with that? Do a project with your kids and send me a pic. I would love to see what you come up with. Exercise your imagination!

'Til next time...Gramma G.