If you love the beach, I am sure you love sand castles, too! Today I want to spoil you with a few sand castle pictures I took whilst on a short holiday a few weekends ago.

My family and some of my friends went down south to Preston Beach, which is a small little community about 45 km south of Mandurah, south-western West Australia. As there is not much to do but to either play golf (duh! ) on a huge golf course littered with real-life Kangaroos and lots of … Kangaroo Poo, or to go to the beach, we decided to spend most of our 2 days lazing around the big wide open spaces on the beach!

The husband of one of my friends happens to build sand castles, and he always takes his “tools” with him when he goes to the beach, from a shovel to a trowel (hey, that rhymes!), and then gets right into building the most beautiful sand castles, much to the delight of all the children and quite a few onlookers, too. Of course they are encouraged to help (the children, not the spectators! ), and so are the mums!

So here are the results of the 2 days down by the beach:

Sand Castle Pictures – Day One

Sand Castle Detail

Sand Castle nearing completion

Finished Sand Castle

Well, what do you think? Is this a beautiful Sand Castle or what? I think everybody was really proud of the combined effort and result! Unfortunately, when we came back the next day it was all but gone, but that’s the way of sand castles by the beach….

So we came all armed and ready again the next day, to build Sand Castle Number 2 and make it even bigger and better! Have a look and judge for yourself….

Sand Castle Pictures – Day Two

Sand Castle No 2 - Building Phase

Our Sand Castle

I hope you’ve enjoyed these sand castle pictures and I also hope that this post has inspired you to get creative next time you are on the beach – it can be so much fun, and it is definitely very rewarding!

You might have read that I live in Perth, Western Australia, with my family. Perth is a beautiful city on the west coast of Australia, right by the Indian Ocean. The city itself has been built around the Swan River. There are so many stunning spots to visit that it can be very hard to choose on the weekends where to go to relax and have some time out!

A few weekends ago we went to “Heathcote” which is a spot on the Swan River, a little up on a hill, overlooking Perth. I was fortunate enough to take some really nice shots of the city skyline with a few sailboats going across – and I just wanted to share one of the best pictures with you. Enjoy!

Today I just wanted to let you know about some gecko figurines that you can hang on the wall or just place somewhere in the house. These geckos look absolutely stunning and lifelike, and I think they are the best ones out there; they are my absolute favorite!

Of course I am talking about the collection of gecko figurines from Golden Pond. If you have ever seen one of their gecko figurines for real, you know where I come from. They are adorable. I found some of them in Fremantle in the Markets (here in Western Australia), and I fell in love with them straight away.

I got one for my parents back home in Germany, and they also found it fabulous. They gave it a special spot up on the wall in the corner in the bathroom, so when you walk in first time you think it’s real! I have just recently been at my parents place but unfortunately didn’t take a photo of the gecko, – I should have, so I could show it to you here. I think I will email them and ask to send me a photo so you can see how great it looks.

If you like geckos and are looking to spice up your home in a very subtle way, then these are definitely the way to go. I am sure you will get to love them just like I did!

Seashells

What is it that makes seashells so fascinating? Is it their beautiful colors that come in so many shades and facettes? Their different shapes and intricate build? Or the simplicity of some seashells that are so symmetrical and perfect at the same time? It could also be that what they represent draws us to collect and treasure them – they come from the mysterious ocean, nobody knows where they have been and what they have encountered, so they hold a spell over us.

Whatever the reason, seashells do make the perfect home decor for people who love the beach and the ocean (that’s us!). There is a myriad of seashell decor you can add to your home to capture at least a little bit of the seashells spell. You can either buy your seashell decor online or in the shops, or you can get creative and put together some decor pieces yourself.  Most fun is probably if you have a collection of shells you have gathered on a beach, maybe during a special holiday, and want to create some stunning decor pieces for your home.

Whichever way you want to decorate your home with seashells, you can find some great ideas , material and other seashell decor pieces on my squidoo page on Seashell Decor.

Do you love to take photos of the beach, on the beach and around the beach? I try to take my camera with me every time I go to the beach, because almost every time I am there there are moments and moods I want to capture. Whether it is of the people I love strolling along the beach, or playing, or of a seagull sitting in the sand, or just of the sun setting over the ocean, beach photography holds something magical for me. I can feel a yearning inside every time I look at these photos I have taken at the beach.

If you feel the same, and you are an “amateur” photographer like me, why not start to decorate your home with the best photos you have taken on the beach? Whether it is a standalone photo of something amazing you have seen – shell? – or maybe photos taken in succession to make up a little story, you can be sure that if you add these photos as full blown pictures to your wall decor it will look stunning.

Make sure you take your photos at a fairly high resolution (high megapixel) as you might want to blow them up, and to do that and have the photo still sharp and clear you need a high megapixel resolution. Have the photos enlarged to the size you want, and then pick some really nice frames that go with them – I highly suggest white or whitewashed frames, or possibly some light blue, kind of rustic looking frames, because then even the frames tie in with the beach theme. You could even decorate the frames with a couple of shells from the beach – but don’t overdo it, because you don’t want to draw the attention away from the photo.

If you are going for more than one photo, make sure it is a “trilogy” – 3 photos, because this will look the most balanced. You can hang them either in a straight line, or a little cluster, or even a diagonale. See what works best in the spot where you want to hang your photos. If you have one single photo you could blow it up quite big and make a real statement with it on a single wall.

Now, I have to admit that I haven’t done any of my own pictures like that yet, but I am certainly planning to! So unfortunately I cannot show you any completed projects, but I can certainly show you some of my favorite beach photography I plan to turn into wall art some time in the future (note: you might see that not all of them are “just” beach; it can be very interesting to have the beach just as a distant background…)

Beach Photography - Wine By The Beach

These two wineglasses would make a great centerpiece on a wall, don’t you think?

And the following pelican pictures would make a great trilogy of pelican pictures.

Beach Photography - Sitting With Pelicans

Beach Photography - Fight Of 2 Pelicans

Beach Photography - 2 Pelicans

Or what do you think about this one? I think it has an eerie quality (could be just me, though). It is my daughter standing on the beach, close to sunset, with a pretty big dead fish by her feet.

Beach Photography - Sunset at the beach

Ok, here we go, this is my last one (for today!): SEAGULLS.

Beach Photography - Seagulls

I hope you have enjoyed my little display of beach themed photos – as I said, just go out there and start taking photos, you will be surprised what you can come up with! These days, with digital photography, you can snap away as much as you want, and then just pick the ones that really stand out.
I wish you Good Luck!

The other day I was browsing around the Internet just looking for some beach decor (funny ’bout that!) and I came across these sweet little “Beach Party” Wine Glass Charms” – and I had to tell you about them! Aren’t they just adorable? You surely agree, if you love the beach you won’t be able to resist these cute thongs!

Wine glass charms will make a party this little bit extra special, because they always get people to talk and comment about them, and they make it just so much easier to remember which glass is yours! Haven’t you been at parties or had friends over and people just put their glasses down somewhere and then suddenly they all look the same and you have no clue any more which one was yours? With wine charms you won’t have this problem any more. You just put them around the stem of the wine glass, and everybody knows exactly which glass is theirs. Very clever!

Aloha Wine Charms

Island Shirts Wine Charms

Hula Island have got more great wine charms for lovers of the beach, Hawaii and everything tropical – check out these “Aloha” Wine Charms or the “Island Shirt” Wine Charms.

Hula Island also have wine glasses, martini glasses and coasters all in the beach theme. It is a great place to shop for beach decor and Hawaiian or tropical themed decor and accessories (apart from my site, that is! ).

Last October I had my parents visiting me from Germany. They loved to go to the beaches here and walk along the shores of the Indian Ocean. On their leisurely holiday strolls they also found quite a collection of seashells (well, most of them were collected by two very keen little shell seekers, also called grandchildren ). Because of that fact, even quite unsuspecting seashells were treasured very much by my parents.

Now, I have to say that both of them are not very artistic (sorry, guys!). Not at all. So I was even more surprised when my dad emailed me a few months after their visit and attached a picture of what they had done with all these shells. It literally blew me away! Why hadn’t I had an idea like that?? – Here is what they did:

Seashell Art

Seashell Art

Now isn’t that absolutely amazing? Can you see how even quite ordinary seashells, when put together like this, can turn out to be a work of art? Now, my parents “glued” the seashells into a kind of white paste (you will have to ask at a craft store) which dried and the seashells stuck to it. They then had it professionally framed.

I know, this can cost quite a lot of money, but I have to be honest with you: Seeing the result, I doubt if it would have looked similar stunning if just framed with a cheaper frame. Sometimes it pays off to pay a little more, you will enjoy the end result so much more.

I take my hat off to my parents – usually I am the “artistic” one in the family!

Parrot Figurine

As I was updating my store today, I came across a parrot figurine I pretty much fell in love with straight away.

Isn’t it gorgeous? It would be a star display piece in any home decorated in the Tropical theme.

It stands 5 1/2″ tall and is handcrafted out of 24% lead crystal. I can only imagine what it will look like if the sun shines on it – a myriad of beautiful colors!

So if you are a parrot lover and have your house decorated in a Tropical theme, this parrot figurine would be the perfect addition. I believe it is those small but special handpicked accents that really transform a house into a home.

I have more parrots in my collection, and also some other Tropical animal figurines, you might just find something you like. Happy Hunting!

I had to write this short post today because I was updating my Beach Decor store, and I came across the Ultimate in decorative furniture: a pedestal table to absolutely fall in love with! If you are as much into beach decor and furniture as I am, then I think this sweet little piece  is a must!

Furniture: Pedestal Table

It is a three-legged little pedestal table finished off in intricate detail. It is made out of thousands of sea shells, and it looks absolutely stunning. I think this is a piece of decorative furniture that will enhance any home decorated in the beach theme immensely.

This is a pedestal table that should sit in a special spot where it can be admired on it’s own, and I think that it should also not be overloaded with bits and pieces lying on the top; just like in the picture, one small ornament that fits with the beach theme is enough to bring out its stunning beauty.

I would love to hear what you think of this little beauty!

The little thoughtful accents around the house are what make it a home. When you are decorating in the beach theme, seashells are really one of the “Must-Haves” when you accessorize throughout your living space. There is so much you can do with one ore two or many seashells:

• make a mirror (like I showed you in a previous blog post),
• fill a nice glass or acrylic vase with sand and place your “findings” from the beach on top, it looks stunning!
• find a nice bowl and fill it with bought (or found) seashells
• place a single big shell in a special spot on a display table
• have pictures of shells on the wall
• and much, much more!

Here is one of my very simple creations; nothing special, I just want to show you how easy it can be:

A bowl full of shells

A bowl full of shells

Happy accessorizing! )