DIY Beach Tic Tac Toe -- a Crafty Weekends Craft & Link Party

Summer began last week. I am guessing people are getting ready to go to the beach and on vacations. Today I am sharing a simple craft that can be planned with purchased sea treasures or with found ones. The idea for this craft came from a tic-tac-toe game that I saw at our local Hallmark store. I didn't want to spend the money but loved the idea. The one at the store used sand dollars and starfish.

Coastal Crafts -- Book Review

 Disclosure: Lark Crafts gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

We have been having a heat wave here in Massachusetts this week. It ended today with some much needed rain. However it made me not want to give up the feeling of summer. Hazel is back in school now and I actually took a part-time job to fill my days a bit while she is there, but I still want summer back. How about you? Well I found a wonderful way to preserve some beach memories and they are from Coastal Crafts by Cynthia Shaffer.  

I fell in love with many of the crafts in this book. I love the candle on the cover, but could not find the right jar for it. I'm still looking. We do not need anymore pillows, so I skipped those for now as well. We did however enjoy making some stationary. Some of the book stationary are pictured on the back cover.

Mermaid Kisses and Sea Star Wishes Pajamas and Free Printables

Now Hazel and I frequent our local Gymboree store often. Someone Steve graduated from high school works there and through our visits to her we have gotten to know basically the whole staff. Hazel feels at home there and loves to go in to see if there is anything new in stock. She loves their clothes and has quite a few. A couple of weeks ago we noticed the Starfish Wish Two-Piece Short Pajamas .

Starfish Wish Two-Piece Short Pajamas

Hazel's Science Center

Last week I chaperoned Hazel's class field trip to Seacoast Science Center in New Hampshire. It was a fun place for the kids to learn even more about the ocean and really end their ocean unit. They ended it the next day with watching Finding Nemo. Hazel liked the science center better. The time at the science center began with a demonstration/class for the kids. First an employee presented about tide pools and the animals found at different levels of the tide pool and then they divided the kids into two groups to have some hands-on experience with the animals.

Starfish and Sand Dollar Wreath for a Touch of Summer

 Disclosure: I was sent these craft items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I added links to the particular products for your convenience, but not for any compensation.

So while at Cape Cod last week, Hazel and I were in one of our favorite shops and I saw a pretty wreath made with white starfish. It looked very simple. It was a chipboard wreath form painted white with white starfish glued all over it. I showed it to my mother and Hazel and said we could make that. The owner of the store even commented how he considered getting out his glue gun to make one. I think it was on sale for about $17 dollars. I remembered the wonderful starfish I had received from Oriental Trading and thought let's make one when we get home. 

Shell Pictures

 Disclosure: I was sent these craft items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I added links to the particular products for your convenience, but not for any compensation. 

Well, Hazel and I went to visit my parents this week and I got lazy on here. Sorry. I started writing a post last night, but never finished it. I'll safe it for next week. Of course visiting my parents always brings beach ideas since they live on Cape Cod. Although we did not go to the beach this trip, we did check out one of our favorite stores that always has fun shell artwork. We are inspired to do even more with these products that Oriental Trading sent us. 

Creative Mermaid Craft

A few weeks ago the free craft at Lakeshore Learning was this fun mermaid craft. We had seen one of the employees make the sample back in the beginning of May (or maybe the end of April) and could not wait for this fun craft and of course that was the weekend we visited my parents so we could not go to Lakeshore to do the craft. That Monday, I stopped by to see if there was a pattern for the tail and they happened to have the leftover pieces out and gave me the basic pieces. Hazel and I finally had time to make it and we made many and got rather creative. I splurged on a fun sparkly paper that I thought would be perfect for the tail. I was able to cut two tails from it. 

Beach Inspired Rock/Nature Art

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

A few weeks ago when we were at Cape Cod visiting my parents, Hazel and I saw some really neat nature artwork in a store. We thought we could have a go at making them. When we went to the ocean, we collected rocks. I tried to collect small rocks, but Hazel really liked the big ones.

Hazel's Creations

I was trying to figure out a cheap background for these and came across a discontinued sample of a home dec fabric at Jo-Ann Fabrics on sale for $1. I bought it and we made homemade canvases with popsicle sticks. Then we began to arrange them. Hazel wanted to use all the big rocks on our little homemade canvases, but of course it did not work. We actually went and bought some larger canvases so she could have fun with the bigger rocks and I made most of the smaller ones. While buying the canvases, we noticed the river rocks and glass gems were on sale for $1, so we bought some and used them as well.

Our Animals: Whale, Turtle and Crab and Turtle

The original designs we had seen at the store included a turtle, a shell wreath and a map of Cape Cod. We copied these and made some of our own designs. I have a cousin getting married on Cape Cod this fall and thought they might like to have one of the maps. I put a red rock where they are getting married on  the map for them and used a store bought canvas. I am thinking we may give one of the other maps to my parents and of course keep one for ourselves.

We used a low temp glue gun to attach the rocks to the fabric or canvas and use the glue gun to make the canvases. Then afterward I glued some more popsicle sticks to them to be a frame. I also added some blue glitter glue to make the whale more recognizable. 

I also used some small shells I had bought ages ago to make the wreath and put a small star fish in the middle. Overall we had fun and it was an easy way to make something with the rocks we collected (and bought) to keep our beach memories alive.