If you have been following me for any length of time, you KNOW how much I love a great thrifted find. AND how fun it is to create something fresh for my cottage in the desert. This week I have created a DIY Shell Shadow Box Made With a Thrifted Find. To me it is similar to something that you might find at Pottery Barn or even Kirkland’s.

Best part? It was just a fraction of the cost. I am excited to show you how I did it…

When I found out about this challenge in January, I started scouring my local thrift shops and Goodwill.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to make/create. (I always count on my creative juices to help me while I browse.) But, I knew as soon as I saw it, I would just KNOW.

Then, there it was! A broken, tattered shadow box filled with pig figurines. Pigs are not “my thing”, but the shadow box? Yes, please!

 

And for only $5.99, I was ready to get working on a new whole look and feel for this piece.

I am moving in two weeks to a new (to me) apartment. The colors and tones are more warm, earth tones. Very different from where I live at the moment.

My mind has been reeling on how I can create my style in a new place without the color palette that my brain craves.

*I donated the pigs back to the thrift store.*

Since gray and white are my cottage colors, I bought white craft paint at Walmart and Valspar Coastal Jetty Gray paint at Lowe’s. Then a few sponge brushes at Michaels Craft Store.

Using the gray for inside of the cubbies and not wanting to show any sign of the stained wood, I painted four coats of paint.  This was for both the frame of the shadow box and the rim of each cubbies. It did take awhile to get it just right. As a matter of fact, a lot longer than I anticipated. But in the end, it turned out just how I had pictured it in my mind.

Once the paint was dry, it was time to fill the cubbies of the thrifted shadow box with a few pieces from my own shell collection.

The fun part about this is that each shell or rock has meaning to me. My family and friends know how much I love shells or rocks. Especially if they are from unique or foreign places. A couple of the white shells are from the Baltic Sea, near where our son-in-law had lived for two years. Other shells are from Bermuda, Tahiti, Roratonga, Cancun-Mexico, Hawaii, Guatemala, Ubatuba, Brazil, the East Coast and the West Coast of the U.S.

This is a lovely way for me to display my “treasures” in my new place, with my own style.

My favorite place to visit (besides my grandkids) is the ocean, Whether it’s crowded, cold, windy or foggy, I could sit on the beach, smell the clean air and listen to the ocean all day, everyday.

In some small way, this is how I can have a part of the ocean with me in our desert cottage. I just love the way my  DIY Shell Shadow Box Made With a Thrifted Find turned from drab to fab with just a couple of hours of work. Definitely something I can use in any space in my new place.

For even more thrifted DIY projects, visit the 30+ At Home DIY Participants below. You are sure to be inspired by their creativity and ingenuity. So, sit back with your favorite drink, snack, music and enjoy…

 

 

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