Simply Neutrals #15 Sea Urchins and a Bed Make-over

 It's time for Simply Neutrals Tuesday - except it's Friday here. I'm on school holiday time!

I thought I'd share with you my bed makeover. It was a pine country style, and we couldn't afford a new bed, so I decided to paint it...




Here's the bed as it was before...

The first coat was flat white, then I distressed it by rubbing it in parts with sandpaper. Then I wiped it over with Porters Black Antique Wax, which was later polished off, leaving a satiny creamy finish. The roses were plaster casts bought on eBay.

It really changed the whole feel of the room to light and airy, and the bed doesn't seem so solid and heavy-looking in the lighter colour.

This week has been hot here on the South Coast of NSW. Today was 33 degrees Celcius, and I took my children (11 and 13) for a swim and snorkel at one of our favourite local beaches. The tide was out and the waves and rip was gentle, so we ventured out to our favourite wonderland which we call "The Valley of a Thousand Sea Urchins". The children have not seen it often as the conditions need to be safe. They were amazed and didn't want to return to shore after an hour in the colder water. My back was sunburnt! 

I wish we had an underwater camera! I have borrowed a couple of images to show you.

The left photo comes from a local blog:

https://morselsandscraps.wordpress.com/tag/seaweed/

It is like one we held, but ours had a fuzzy layer that waved under the water. It felt strange, and attached to my thumbnail gently. We put it back safely. 

The right photo comes from:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/8224831/Sea-urchin-could-lead-to-knives-that-never-need-sharpening.html

This is what the scene looked like, but our sea urchins were black. 

Interestingly, they have self-honing teeth that can cut through rock! They are considered a delicacy and are expensive to buy. I've not tasted them.

These are some dried sea urchin shells I have found on beaches locally:

To finish, an inspirational quote in a lovely simple frame...

Thanks Wen for hosting the Simply Neutrals Tuesday. You can join in the fun at Wen's blog AppleApricot

By the way, I have just managed to add Google Friend Connect to my blog if you would like to follow me that way.

Have a creative week!

Jesse