Of oceans and shells...

The past month we have taken two trips to Long Beach and have spent some good beach time! This had fed my soul more than I can tell you!

On our first trip south we showed the kids how to hunt for shells. I guess we didn't really SHOW them...but we encouraged them to look for shells. It gave them something fun to do and boy did they search! We found some great ones that we kept for our beach jar (see below) and the broken shells came home with us for a project I had in mind! Coastal picture frames!

I got a few basic wood frames from IKEA then let Alia and Elijah paint them white. They are supposed to look slightly distressed so it didn't matter if the paint didn't completely cover the frame. Then we put glue all over the dried frames and the kids got to pick and place the shells wherever they wanted! I forgot to take a beachy picture on our first trip (although I did get their sandy feet-see below) so this past weekend I took the picture below.

These will be carefully packaged and send away to grammas and grampas...with love.

When we were in Kauai I fell in love with some picture frames I kept seeing everywhere. My amazing husband let me take a few of them home...and I knew as soon as I saw them that they would go in our guest bathroom. They've been hanging in the bathroom without pictures in them but today a few of them got sandy feet! ;)


I thought it'd be a bit weirdo to put actual pictures of my kids in the bathroom (not so sure why...maybe I'm the weirdo) so I decided just to put pictures of their sandy feet! And on the little shelf there are a few jars-one is of sand from Kauai and the other is full of shells from Long Beach. We will continue to add to our beach jar collection...I have some shells from Fermin Point this past weekend that are needing a home.



Here's the whole wall...the round picture will someday hold Ethan's sandy feet.



I also decided to make a picture frame for the kids...to serve as a reminder of things that need to be done when they are in the bathroom. I haven't found the perfect spot for it yet...but it's there :)

So..the next time you go to the beach...or on a hike...or to the mountains...take a ziploc bag with you and let your kids gather whatever they want. Then snap a quick picture! The picture frames make a fun project for the kids...and a great gift for ANY family member!