Boat Oar Makeover

 

My husband pulled these old boat oars out of the shed to toss into the trash. I quickly rescued them for my next project. I started out using my electric sander to sand off the dirt, mildew and whatever else had made a home on these oars. 

With a little paint, sandpaper, and blue painters tape I turned these old oars into adorable shabby chic coastal decorations.

 

I love having an assortment of paint colors on hand but I hate paying $12 for a quart of paint. I recently discovered that Lowes can give you a 7.5 oz sample of any paint color for only $3!  It's the perfect amount of paint for small projects like this. 

From left to right: sea sage, tropical oasis, bird song blue, peaceful slumber 

Paint Stick Coastal Flag

I got this creative idea from Crafts By Amanda blog. She has a wonderful step-by-step tutorial on how to make this. My advice to you is to use 5 gallon paint bucket stir sticks and not the regular paint sticks. 

http://craftsbyamanda.com/2013/05/paint-stick-beach-flag.html

Here's the exact paint used in this craft. The oyster beige was used on the starfish.

This was a fun and basically free craft! I live in Florida so the starfish are readily available. I used hot glue to secure the sticks together by gluing a shortened paint stick across the backs of the sticks. Used twine to make a hanging loop. Done!

Thrift Store Find Makeover

The second I laid eyes on this seahorse figurine at Goodwill I knew I would use my handy dandy spray paint collection to make it fit my coastal house decor perfectly! Two coats of blue spray paint later and it's done! I love it!