macrame vases

I found another use for the macrame hangers I made a while ago.. or I should say my daughter did. This is what I came home to - a vintage bottle and recycled jar hanging like this with the last of the camelias.

See how to make them here

Have a great week!

small space garden ideas

Even though it's still technically winter, Spring is in the air with some beautiful warm days this week. It just makes you feel like growing something!

It doesn't matter how small your outdoor area is you can always have a garden. Our back deck and front verandah are our garden, full of hardy plants and herbs living in pots, containers and recycled tins.

I love the Scandinavian deck pictured above with the metal containers filled with geraniums and lavender. 

Here are some more ideas I've collected that don't take up much space. I love the way some of these have repurposed recycled materials.

Isn't this a great idea for growing veggies and herbs?

I love how this old tyre has been turned into a hanging garden.

A clever use of guttering and looks good too.

I've often admired this balcony on a B & B on the south coast of NSW. Bouganvillea is so hardy and such a gorgeous colour amongst all the green.

Another brilliant idea with pallets that cuts down on weeding.

A vertical garden using something usually used for shoe storage.

What's growing at your place?

via 1. dusedrommer.blogspot.com 2. housetohome.co.uk 3. diyshowoff.com 4. juneauempire.com 5. loveinabandb.blogspot.com 6. unknown 7. instructables.com

simple macrame diy

In this fast pace, high tech world we live in it's great to see some old school crafts coming back. In the 70s (were you born yet ?) I had a macrame plant hanger in my room and remember having a go at making some kind of macrame wall hanging. 

Inspired by all sorts of macrame hangers I've seen in shops I figured out how to make one that's really simple and quick using things you probably already have around the house. 
Maybe an idea for kids to make in the school holidays.

1. Cut 8 lengths of string about 1 metre 42" and knot together at the top

2. Hang on a wall hook, divide into pairs, then tie knots about 42cm 16" down the string

3. Knot the strings in a criss cross pattern

4. Place a recycled tin inside. At this stage I laid the whole thing on a table and continued knotting, repeating 4 or 5 times. Tie all the strings together at the bottom. 

This size also fits a glass jar.

Remove the tin and fill with potting mix. I used cuttings of Japanese money plant, which are surviving well inside with plenty of light .. any kinds of succulent would look good. 
Top with white pebbles or shells.

I'd like to try a more complicated design sometime soon.

Hope you have a great week! 

joining
finding silver pennies

beachcomber shadow box

Whether you live on the coast or not, here's a simple way to re-create the beauty of nature and hold onto memories of happy, relaxing days spent at the beach. 

These shadow box frames are available at art and craft shops. I painted mine white but it would look fine left natural. 
I removed the backing and glued some beachcombing finds, shells, feathers, driftwood, rope and pebbles randomly to the board using strong wood glue, it seems to work well on the heavier pieces such as pebbles.

I secured the board back into the frame. 

Stand on a shelf or hang on a wall.

Happy beachcombing!

Find more ideas with beach finds here & here.

joining

finding silver pennies
between naps on the porch
savvy southern style
romantic home

gone fishing

Remember when I was inspired to make some nautical buoys?    

Brightly coloured numbered buoys are used by lobster fishermen to mark where their lobster traps are located. 
I like the nautical feeling they add to a seaside balcony.

A job for the carpenter of the family, he measured some off cuts of timber to size and used a drop saw to cut the angles.
I used a white primer / undercoat, when it was dry I taped them with masking tape where I wanted the stripes and colour to be and later stencilled on some numbers. I sanded them with an electric sander for a weathered look and also because some of the paint seeped through the tape ;) Next time I'll use thinner coats of colour.

I wanted to photograph them somewhere near the harbour. I thought  this sailing club with the lovely old charcoal weatherboard building would make the perfect backdrop.. and wasn't it nice of them to hang the striped bunting for me?

My daughter and I are heading up to Byron Bay on Wednesday. Thought it was a good idea to have a break from technology, so I've scheduled some posts for later in the week. I look forward to sharing some of the beauty of Byron Bay next week. 
I'll no doubt be sharing some pics on instagram though @beachcomber26.

See you later!

Cheryl

x

succulent beach shells

Don't you love succulents? I love how they're so easy to grow from cuttings and seem to thrive on neglect. I have some that have been happily growing in a shell without any soil and just a bit of rain water.
They come in so many beautiful shapes and shades of green and don't take up much space, which makes them great for a deck or balcony. Combined with shells, sand, seaglass and driftwood they make an easy care coastal garden.

Most of my succulents are growing in ordinary potting mix. I'm not planning on leaving these here permanently, so for now they are just planted in sand. According to my research on google.. correct me if it's wrong, the best soil for succulents is one that drains well - 2 parts potting mix, one part perlite, one part sand.

See some older posts on succulents here & here.

Remember to enter the jewellery GIVEAWAY drawn this Friday 

Happy gardening!

Cheryl

x

joining

savvy southern style
funky junk interiors

happy easter

In the spirit of recycling and using what you have, apart from a $6 bunch of Easter daisies from the supermarket... here's an easy Easter decoration to make that takes about 5 minutes.  

Have a lovely break!

Cheryl

x

joining

romantic home

simple style

Summer goes on and on in this part of the world. Surely this is the last of the hydrangeas.. It's nice to see them still flowering. 

I've been keeping an eye out for some metal tins and was lucky to be given these beauties from my mum's garage. Something I think I'd given to her a long time ago..

I pictured these with numbers stencilled on the front and had seen something like this on pinterest. The stencils I have didn't bend around the shape, so I drew them with pencil and painted them white with a small brush. The numbers could be printed out and traced onto the tins instead.

This little folding table is one I found on the side of the road. Painted white it looks a whole lot better and is useful inside and out with the revamped IKEA chair.

Hope you had a good weekend wherever in the world you are!

Cheryl

x

nature shelves

Hi.. welcome to another week. 
After a record high temperature in Sydney on Friday of 45-46 degrees celsius (114 fahrenheit)! we've been enjoying cooler weather this weekend. At least the nights haven't been too hot, so we can be thankful for that. 

This is something I've been thinking about making for ages. A place to keep small treasure and beach finds. The idea is from a book I've had for a long time and still love the simple coastal style of it. 
Easy to make.. I used some old wooden bed slats I found a while ago, i knew they'd come in handy one day. I bought the rope from a discount shop.

I measured the pieces of timber to length and marked where I wanted holes to be drilled, then handed them over to the live in carpenter ;) 
The bottom shelf is the longest, mine is 62cm 24". The middle shelf one inch shorter and the top shelf one inch shorter than that.
The holes need to be drilled slightly larger than the rope. 
I painted them with primer and a few coats of water based paint.  

I measured 4 lengths of rope then threaded it through the holes, knotting below the shelves, then knotting them all together at the top. I did this on the floor, it takes a bit of time to get all the lengths even. The distance between the shelves is about 21cm 8". 

I like them filled with simple, natural finds - pebbles, shells, feathers, string and rope. It reminds me of the walls of a boatshed or beach hut.

Have a great week!

white coastal christmas

Hi.. how are your Christmas preparations going? 

It's going to be a white Christmas here, coastal white, that is. 

Trying not to get caught up in the madness, aiming to keep it simple, natural, calm & relaxed. That's the plan anyway!

Christmas time means white hydrangeas

white shells with silver

white candles

candlelight, starlight

Some simple stockings that were quick & easy to make. I used tea towels I bought a while ago, just for the beautiful fabric. Thought I'd think of something to make with them one day. 

I drew a pattern with chalk onto brown paper. 
Folded the tea towel.
Cut the stocking with the back on the fold.

Pinned & sewed together. 
No sewing needed on the top edge and back.
I sewed a piece of string to the top of each to hang.

Only 15 days to go

Keep Calm!