by Holli Long
Moving back to Southern California after twenty-three years in Georgia has given me inspiration overload! I’m not complaining, in fact, I’m a happy crafter. All of the beach cities have wonderful little gift shops with souvenirs galore! They are really eye candy for those looking for inspiration.
I used this inspiration to create these “beachy” Nesting Boxes. From the distressed wood look of them, to the simple jute accents, and the lovely shells I found beach combing, these boxes make me feel like I’ve come back home. And truly, I have.
I’m a “design as I go” type of crafter. I gather my supplies and let the inspiration go wild. So, I got together some of the better shell finds in my stash, my roll of jute, which I thought would be an appropriate embellishment, and my nesting boxes. I used my paint chips to find a nice color palette and thought it would be pretty to add some Extreme Glitter to the shells for a slight glitzy effect so I snagged the Turquoise and Hologram colors from the line.
Here’s the full list of supplies you’ll need to make this project:
FolkArt Acrylics
320 Jamaican Sea
450 Parchment
452 Raw Sienna
524 Calypso Sky
602 Country Twill
649 Warm White
FolkArt Extreme Glitter
2790 Turquoise
2796 Hologram
Other Supplies: Large flat brush for basecoating, stiff bristled stencil brush for spattering, paraffin wax, sandpaper, soft clean cloth, masking tape, jute, hot glue gun, assorted shells.
I base coated the boxes each a different color; for the large box, I used Jamaican Sea, the medium sized box is Country Twill, and for the small box I picked everyone’s favorite, Calypso Sky. I used a very fine grit sandpaper to lightly sand the boxes and lids.
I took a small piece of Paraffin Wax and rubbed it across all the edges of the boxes and lids and then across the front sides of the boxes so that when I sanded the topcoats the entire box would look old and distressed. I used a soft cloth to lightly rub the wax crumbs from the surface of the boxes.
A light top coat of paint over the wax; I used Parchment on the large box, Jamaican Sea over the Country Twill on the medium box, and Warm White on the small box. When the top coats were completely dry, I quickly sanded again, using a sanding sponge.
I also watered down some FolkArt Raw Sienna and used a stiff bristled stencil brush to spatter the sides of the boxes and the lids. I created a simple background for this project because I really wanted the shells to be the main focus.
It was quick to paint the shells with a few coats of Extreme Glitter. I used a soft bristle brush and let each coat dry completely before adding the next.
Trying to make my jute embellishment more exciting, I taped it securely to my work bench and knotted a couple of yards of it. I kept the knots loose because I liked the look of the loops it made.
I made the jute flowers by looping a yard or so like I was making a Christmas Bow, tying it in the middle to secure it, and then cutting the loops at the ends to let it flair out from the center. I added all my embellishments with hot glue, and want to thank my handy Hot Glue Gun Helper mat and tools for making this job so easy!
I hope this project inspires you….to look around, see what you like, and make it your own.
