Summer/Outdoor Living
Inexpensive Beach Decor
You don’t have to spend a boat load of money at a specialty party store to get decorations for a themed party. I came up with several DIY ideas for a beach house party and you could probably think of more.
Here’s how I decorated for a beach house party on a budget.
Nautical Napkins Rings
To make some napkin rings worthy of your beach house party all you need is some smooth rope, medium-sized sea shells, some tape, scissors and your trusty hot glue gun.
Begin by measuring out the length of each napkin ring and taping where you want to cut so the rope doesn’t unravel. Make your cut in the centre of the tape so that you have two finished ends.
Hot glue the each rope end inside the shell.
These napkin rings look great on nautical-themed colours like these red and blue striped napkins.
Sign of the Times
I wanted a sign for the front door that would signal to my guests that they were about to enter a beach house. A wooden sign would have been ideal, but I figured out how to make a wood sign sans wood.
You will need:
- wood-grained contact paper
- scissors
- cardboard for backing
- jute rope or twine
- embellishment such as a 3D butterfly (optional)
I started with a piece of wood-grained contact paper roughly 8 1/2-inches by 11-inches in size.
Photo copy the contact paper onto regular paper so you’re left with the wood grain without the shine. Regular paper also makes it easier to print a message from your computer. If you don’t have a photo copier like this, you can make the copy at a Staples store.
On your computer, write the words you want on the sign, choose an appropriate font (I used “Ink Free”) and size of lettering, in this case, 72 . Make sure the words are centred on the page.
Then, feed the wood-grained paper through the printer from the paper tray and print.
Now, your sign needs a solid backing, such as cardboard. I used an old shoe box and cut it to the appropriate size.
Glue the sign to the cardboard and trim the edges.
Use a hole punch to make holes in each of the top two corners and attach a rope hanger.
I wanted my sign to look like found wood so I cut triangles out of the sides.
If you want to add a bit of colour, you can attach a butterfly to the top of your sign.
Message in a Bottle
I love making party favours for my guests. For my beach party, I thought a message in a bottle would be appropriate.
You can find these mini bottles with cork stoppers at most dollar stores. I got mine at Dollarama.
You will need mini bottles with cork lids, mini sea shells, white sand and a funnel.
I printed out some “messages” I found online onto a plain sheet of paper and cut each one out.
To ensure that the messages were easily retrievable, I attached a length of tape to the top of each message.
Using a funnel, put a small amount of sand in the bottle. Add a couple of mini sea shells on top of the sand and add the message. Make sure the tape sticks out the top of the bottles before putting the cork lid back on.
I placed the finished bottles in a small tub of sand and I must say, they were a big hit at the party.
Click here to find more inspiration for your beach house party.
***
If you enjoyed this post, sign up for the Dollar Store Style newsletter. Every month you’ll get a new article, my pick for a Find of the Week, a Quick Tip for decorating, a Product Review and so much more.
