Whatever Works

Love Sea Glass? Check out Jersey Shore Sea Glass Carvings - jewelry review

I don't get out much so I don't really "do" fashion.  Most of the time I am in my mom uniform of jeans and a T-shirt and I'm completely fine with that.  

But last month I was planning on going to Blogger Bash and needed to dress myself up.  That was a very hard task because I have NO idea what looks good and what doesn't.  I miraculously found some outfits with the help of my awesome mother-in-law who shopped with me until we both about dropped.  But when I got home I realized that I probably should wear some sort of jewelry.  

That's where my friend Ellie and her fabulous sea glass talents came in.   

Little backstory: Ellie and I met at a birthday party at a mutual friend's house.  Through the magic of Facebook, Ellie and I have kept in touch and become much better friends over the past few years even though we only met that one time in real life.  

About a year or so ago, Ellie started taking bits of sea glass she found along the NJ beach and using carving tools to make them into gorgeous pieces of wearable art.  

I had been admiring Ellie's jewelry since she started and have enjoyed watching her come up with all the unique and beautiful pieces she creates.  So when I was looking for something exciting and different ot wear around my neck for Blogger Bash, Ellie was the one I contacted.

We discussed what type of piece would be appropriate for me.  Because I'm a blogger from New Jersey going to a blogging event in New York, I wanted something that would be representative of both my personality and my roots here in NJ.  Together we came up with the idea of a sea glass New Jersey made in green.  

When Ellie sent me my necklace, I was blown away.  It was so beautiful and perfect.  I wore it like crazy at Blogger Bash, and haven't stopped since!  It flows seamlessly between dressy outfits and my comfortable mom uniforms.  

My beautiful green New Jersey pendant came in a seafoam colored box with the Jersey Shore Sea Glass Carvings logo affixed to the top.  The box was filled with cotton and safely wrapped in bubble wrap to protect the delicate sea glass from breakage.  The necklace itself has a kelly green bail and came with a black necklace (which I chose). 

You can also see a collection of the pieces she has already done on her Facebook page.  Here are a few samples from her album:

Clear anchor

Blue heart

Vessel made to hold the ashes of a beloved pet. Carved from the top of a bottle.

Green shell

Each piece is custom made to your specifications.  You choose the color of your sea glass, bail, and necklace cord.  Prices are tiered from $65 to $95 depending on the difficulty and size of the piece Ellie will be carving.  

If you are interested in getting your own custom sea glass necklace from Ellie at Jersey Shore Sea Glass Carvings, check out her website www.jerseyshoreseasglasscarvings.com.  You won't be disappointed!

 

K-cup Christmas Countdown Calendar

Let me start by saying I am more than excited about this project.  

Like a lot of people, we are always over run with Halloween candy this time of year.  We usually make ourselves an advent calendar (or countdown calendar, whatever you want to call it) with the candy out of posterboard and some tape, but it usually takes up a lot of space.  This year I wanted to do something different.

While I pondered advent calendar ideas and made myself a cup of coffee - feeling guilty about throwing away yet another used K-cup- it hit me:

SAVE those K-cups and use them to make an advent wreath!

I am so pleased with how this turned out, I wanted to share it with you.

This is what you will need:

1 12" flat fiberboard craft frame

25 emptied & cleaned K-cups

hot glue gun

25 small rubber bands (I borrowed some from my daughter's bracelet loom)

50 3-4" squares of tissue paper (whatever colors you like)

Markers

Round stickers (optional)

After you clean and dry the K-cups (don't throw away that used coffee!  Put it out in your garden instead), arrange them so they will fit on the craft frame leaving a small space between each.  They will not fit fully on the frame and will hang off the edges.  Use your glue gun to secure them to the frame by placing a small amount of hot glue on the bottom of the K-cup in the spot where the little hole is.  That way when you press it to the frame the glue will go through the hole and make it more securely fastened.

Once all the K-cups are in place, fill them with whatever you'd like.  We used our leftover Halloween candy, but anything small would work.  Small notes or puzzle pieces might be nice.

Once they are filled, start covering your K-cups.  Use two layers of tissue paper for each cup.  Use a rubber band to fasten the tissue paper to each cup.  Work your way around the wreath until every cup is covered.

You can stop right there and just write the numbers 1-25 on the cups, but I liked using a few white circle stickers to give the wreath more character.

Now you are all set!  Your kids will love poking through the paper for a little treat each day and you can feel good that you are using up those K-cups instead of throwing them away!  Hope you like it.

This post is part of Motivation Monday.