Outdoor Wednesday - Gone Shellin'

Happy Hump Day! It's Outdoor Wednesday and this fun party is hosted by Susan at a Southern Day Dreamer. Be sure to pop over to see a full list of Outdoor Wednesday posts.

I thought I would share a few pics from our Spring Break trip to Florida.

Our first Saturday there, my sister-in-law, Linda took us "shellin". We drove over to Honeymoon Island State Park just before sunset and searched for sea treasures that had washed up on the beach during high tide. My oldest son takes in a gorgeous West Coast sunset.
Linda is a professional photographer and took this opportunity to capture some magic on camera. Linda lives only a few miles from the beach so most Sunday afternoons she spends some quality "down" time searching for shells and shooting scenes of the coastline and beach.

Here Mr. Panache and his little sister are getting up close and personal with a Hermit Crab. We found several shells that were still "occupied". Of course, we tossed those back into the sea. Our little excursion was fairly successful. We came back with a couple bags of various sized shells to be cleaned and bleached.
Spring and summer are perfect times to display shells in your decor. I use shells is a variety of ways and places. Just that little reminder of lazy, relaxed days of vacation seems to lighten my mood. The pictures that follow show some neat ideas for incorporating shells and sea treasures in your everyday decorating. Enjoy!

Display a few shells and Starfish along with personal photographs and an elegant silver vase. The shiny, reflective surface of the vase is perfectly paired with the these chalky white treasures.

Placing pretty cool-colored bowls filled with shells around your bathroom is the ideal method for bringing the beach home with you. The soft aqua of the bowl is the perfect spring and summer hue.

The warm weather months of spring and summer are meant to be relaxed and laid-back not formal and stuffy. Mixing beachy decor along with your classic or traditional art and accessories adds a touch of whimsy and downplays the formality just a bit.

Sometimes less is definitely more! And this bedside table certainly displays that mantra. Three large shells is all that is needed to add a touch of the beach to this bedroom.

A simple but elegant display - take a large clear vessel and fill the bottom with 3 cups of sand. Insert one large "statement" shell and viola - the perfect summertime accessory.

A large shell shaped bowl finds it's place by holding a pretty display of scented soaps and Starfish.

We haven't talked alot about coral but what a perfect paring with these sea shells. Coral is so "now" and it adds wonderful seaside appeal to any room.

Here, a groups of shells clustered together adds the right amount of texture to this monochromatic display.

A framed piece of art and a single Starfish displayed with a shell-shaped bowl of kumquates brings a touch of the sea to this tabletop display.

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Don't forget to visit Susan and all the other OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY participants for more inspiration! Until I see you again,

Happy Decorating!

~Alisa