=*Superwoman*=: Free Beach Decor

Yay! I finally have a project to post!

Though we are still not out of the woods, things just may turn around for us in the next few weeks. I'm crossing my fingers.

This whole experience has forced me to think of creative, free ideas for my home.

Old woodburning kit + driftwood from the beach = free beachy decor!

(Oh man did I get some odd looks while happily dragging my driftwood off the beach and tossing it in my car.)

This is the driftwood that I found:

But as you can see, some kids must have started using it as firewood, because there were a few crusty spots on it.

So I took it into the bath tub, sprayed it down to remove all the sand, and scrubbed those burn spots until it was as light as I could get them.

I cut out "<---- BEACH" with my Cricut.

LOVE that thing!

See how much lighter that burn spot is?

Anyways, I cut out the lettering on contact paper, then stuck them on the wood.

I traced around it with a pencil.

Can you see the pencil marks on that picture? I know it's a bit hard to see...

Then I carefully started burning on the pencil marks. Be very careful with a woodburner. I have accidentally burned myself, and it hurts 100x worse than burning yourself with a curling iron!

Then I decided that I didn't like this projection on the left.

So I placed that tip in my vice grip, and snapped it off.

Anyways, then I needed to make holes in the back to hang this up on a wall with.

I used 1/2" spade bit and bore into the wood about halfway through.

I did that on both sides...

Then I made all my measurements, marked where the nails would go, hammered them in, and placed the driftwood up on the wall.

Tip: When hanging anything on the wall where a stud is not present, angle the nail at 45 degrees. It increases the holding power. I've never had anything fall off the wall because of this trick!