Driftwood Fish - DIY

Dear Chicago House,

I have been down to my secret beach again and collected another bag of driftwood. Look what my treasure scraps turned into this time. Driftwood Fish!

They were so easy and fun to make.

All you need is a white sharpie paint marker

Add a dot for a eye and then any sort of pattern you like. Some of my driftwood pieces had a fishy sort of shape to start with but others not.

Miss Chicago teen got in on the action and created Jaws

I liked the mouth she drew so much I borrowed it

I thought I'd frame them as a collection but I'm note sure this works so I have held off on getting the hot glue gun out.

What do you think?

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

p.s Check out some of my other driftwood creations - Sally the driftwood seahorse and my driftwood orb

Categories: Beachy, Craft Projects, Crafts Project, DIY, How to, How to's, Treasure, Tutorials, Wood

Coastal Themed Vignette

Dear Chicago House,

Faced with another icy, snowy morning today I am dreaming of warm, balmy days and breathing in the salty air of the ocean instead of subjecting my lungs to arctic blasts. And to help transport me to how about this coastal themed vignette I recently put together in Mr Chicago's home office.

I painted the abstract ocean watercolor quite a while back

and decided to cut it in half and frame each piece.

The fabulous fish was created my Miss Chicago teen ...more about how she did that here

The shadow boxes are filled with shells ...simple and elegant.

Let the dreaming commence

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Categories: Art, Beachy, Craft Projects, Decor, decorative accents, Pretty, teenager, wall art, Wood

How to make a Driftwood Seahorse

Dear Chicago House,

Mr. Chicago house and I had a little wander down to our favorite secret beach last week and collected a lovely bundle of drift wood.

With a bit of creative magic I used it to whip up Seahorse!

isn't she lovely...I have called her Sally, at the moment she is gracing a wall in my office.

Would you like to know how to make one...read on

How to make a Driftwood Seahorse

What you will need:

• Pieces of straightish driftwood, I had about a shopping bag full and had lots left over
• Stiff Cardboard
• Pencil
• Ultility Knife
• Hot glue gun

1.  Sketch your starfish shape on your cardboard, mine  is about 36" by 16". I copied the shape from an abstract watercolor of seahorses
2. Cut out your shape using a utility knife. You can see from this picture I taped two peices of cardbord together to get the height I wanted.
   
3. Sort through your driftwood and start laying it over your cardboard, this process is really trial and error. I tried to keep the placement tight over the seahorse's belly but was quite happy to have a more ragged look over the back. I kept the driftwood pieces mostly parallel.
4. Once you are happy with your choice and placement of the driftwood, fire up your hot glue gun and start sticking everything down. I started at the tail and worked up.
5. For the eye I used a driftwood walnut (Mr Chicago house can take credit for that!)
   

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

p.s. Sally the driftwood seahorse was featured on an episode of Unlivable on the FYI network >> read more

Categories: Art, Beachy, On the Wall, Tutorials, wall art, Wood

From wood scrap to beautiful fish

Dear Chicago House,

In your garage was a scrap of wood, a scrap of wood that became a beautiful fish sculpture.

I'd like to take credit but I can't. That all goes to Chicago teenager who not only got busy with hand tools but  also painted this beautiful abstract pattern creating a one of a kind fish sculpture.

 

To make one here is what you will need

• A piece of scarp wood. The piece she used was left overs from a deck board repair  2 by 4 and about 12" long.
• Hand saw
• Sand paper
• Acrylic craft paints

What next?

• With a pencil, draw a very simple fish shape on your wood - avoid curved lines as these are difficult to cut with a hand saw. Straight lines work best.
• Get busy with that hand saw and cut along your lines - this was hard work and did require a little assistance from Mr Chicago's muscles!
• Once you have the basic fish shape sand the wood really creating rounded edges and a nice smooth surface for painting
• Using acrylic craft paint create any abstract pattern you like...triangles really work well

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX 

Categories: Beachy, Craft Projects, decorative accents, Pretty, teenager, Wood

Drift Wood Orb Tutorial

Dear Chicago House,

After a lovely vacation on the beach I am drawn (once again) to creating beachy thing. I think it is my destiny, to one day, to live on the coast.

I saw a lovely drift wood orb in Crate and Barrel recently and as soon as humanly possible went to my secret Chicago beach to collect some drift wood, ready to make my own version. Lake drift wood is just as good as sea drift wood.

Ta da!

It took a little patience and did result in quite a few hot glue gun burns but what can I say I should wear gloves!

What you need

• Short lengths of drift wood, get way more than you think you will need. I ran out mid project and my orb sat unfinished in the garages for ages. I did not want to cut any of the wood I collected preferring the natural look of the ends.
• An inflatable beach ball
• Hot glue gun with lots of spare glue sticks.

Blow up the beach ball. Working from the top down create a lattice work of  drift wood, hot gluing as you go. The easiest way is to build the basic structure first and infill with smaller pieces as you go.

Once the ball is totally encased in wood deflate and remove.

How easy was that?

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Categories: Beachy, Craft Projects, decorative accents, Tutorials, Wood