Holiday at the beach

Thought I would share a few simple craft projects that I came up with to set my Thanksgiving dining table this year. If you're like me and love everything beachy, these will work well for any celebration, they are by no means "Thanksgiving Only", in fact, they're not really Thanksgiving-y at all! Enjoy and Happy Turkey Day! PS- sorry there are so many pictures, I tried to do step-by-step images for everyone.
Craft #1: Decorative Seashell Votive Holders. These are SO simple and really added a nice finishing touch to my table.
Supplies:
Glass Votive Holders (purchased for $.39 each at a discount store)
Twine
Seashells
Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks
Scissors





First, wrap the twine around the top of the holder once, tying it in a knot to secure. You can also use a dot of hot glue if it's sliding around on you. Then simply take the ends of the twine and wrap around the holder once more in each direction giving yourself a total of 3 wraps. Give your twine a trim, hot glue a seashell in the center to cover the knot and you're done!



Craft #2: Starfish Napkin Rings. These are a bit more time consuming than the votive holders but equally as simple and they really looked nice with my new monogrammed napkins!
Supplies:
Cheap Plain Napkin Rings(you could even use an old piece of PVC pipe cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths. My rings were wood and found for $.25 a piece at a discount store.)
Starfish (2-3 inch- Seashells will also work)
Twine
Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks
Scissors





First, add a dab of hot glue to the inside of the ring and attach the start of your twine. Next bring the twine up over the the edge and begin wrapping it around the ring opening. Add small 1-2 inch beads of hot glue around the ring, following directly underneath the previous layer of twine. Wrap around and around, pressing each section of twine flush up to the previous one until you come to the other end of the ring. Finish the same way you started- cut the twine and add another dot of hot glue on the inside of the ring to secure.

Once the glue is dried, if you have bristly twine like I did, give it a haircut to trim away all the fly away pieces and then add a dab of hot glue to the back of your starfish and adhere it to the ring. That's it!


My finished table: