the space between

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easy craft idea {driftwood fish}

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Who’s planning to spend some time at the beach this summer?

Would you believe it if I told you that we moved to Key West in January and I haven’t been to the beach once? True story.

That could have something to do with the fact that we moved here from a Caribbean island with the most beautiful water on earth.
cas-abou-beach-curacao

Or, more accurately, that I’m not really the lay on the beach type … I’m more of a scour-the-beach-for-seaglass-and-driftwood girl so I can whip them into easy craft ideas.
driftwood craft ideas

And this easy craft project is proof that there are projects that can take less than 15 minutes and have a huge presence in a room.

I’m super excited to be participating in a series called Craft Lightning, where a group of bloggers is putting together a great resource of beautiful craft projects that can be completed in 15 minutes or less.

Now, if you count the time I spent meandering the beaches of Curacao, this project doesn’t qualify. But if you are a driftwood collector and have a backdrop and a glue gun and a spare 15 minutes, this is the project for you. 🙂
driftwood craft project

The first step is picking a backdrop for your craft. It could be a frame with craft paper in the back or a painted piece of wood or anything, really, that fits with your style and is flat.

I had just the perfect thing for us … another piece of driftwood. 🙂  It started as a 16 foot long board I found at the beach in Curacao and last year made into a desktop. After a quick chop down to size I had the perfect backdrop for my easy little craft project.
driftwood fish craft project backdropPlease just ignore everything else in that picture, this side of the house hasn’t gotten much attention since we moved in. 🙂

And I’ll take this opportunity to apologize to our neighbors who have no idea I have a blog for whipping out the circular saw after 9pm. My bad. 🙂

Once you have your backdrop, plug-in your hot glue gun and layout your pieces of driftwood in the shape you desire.

I knew I wanted a fish shape, but how about a tree shape for Christmas or a heart for a child’s bedroom or even a monogram would be fun! You’re really only limited by the sizes and shapes of your driftwood.
easy craft projectThen just glue each piece one at a time.
driftwood craft project And hang.
driftwood fish craft ideaWe just screwed eye hooks into the back of the wood and secured a heavy gauge hanging wire, then screwed a heavy-duty hook into the wall … we have wood slat walls, but depending on the weight of your project you should probably look for studs. 🙂

Super easy, right?!?!
simple craft projectAnd this piece is 37 inches wide and 25 inches high, not only is it the perfect statement piece for our new board and batten wall, but I love that we can create something so unique and meaningful to us in less than 15 minutes and for nothing more than the cost of the hot glue.

And if you’re wondering exactly what ‘statement’ this piece is making I think it’s “I love driftwood, and fishes and chippy wood and pizza” … or something like that. 😉

Update:  I finally discovered the art of whitebalance. Sorry for all of the yellow-ey pics above. Geesh!

easy diy driftwood fish

If you, too, love driftwood check out how you can make your own driftwood Christmas tree, driftwood and seaglass Christmas craft or other random driftwood craft ideas.

And be sure to check in with Angie of Country Chic Cottage and Carolina of 30 Minute Crafts to find so many more easy craft ideas that you can do in 15 minutes or less.

Do you craft with beach finds? Or would you rather just lay on a comfy beach chair soaking up the sun?

Comments

  1. One one hand, I’d love to live next door so you would make me one of these as a housewarming gift. One the other hand, the circular saw at 9pm would have me putting out my for sale sign!
    Kelly

  3. I’d never mind the after 9 saw…do it myself…not often but yes I do! I’m so happy to finally get the tutorial…I have limited amounts of driftwood…being landlocked…but i can take some old wood pieces, beat them up, distress them and get almost the same effect (I think) 🙂 Gonna try. Love to the furry babies!!
    Kristy

    • Yes!! And I think the different colors on the wood are fun, too!! The girls are doing great! Although not really a fan of all of the power tools. Nothing a few extra treats can’t cure. 🙂

  4. So copying this!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE it. You are brilliant!

  5. I love this. So simple and so beachy. Now I just need a trip to the beach so I can collect enough driftwood to do this for myself! Thanks for sharing. ~ Angie

  6. I love the way you used the driftwood here to make your fish sign, Karah. I checked out the other, too, the tree is great and the signs, wreath, all of it!

  7. Love it love it love it! I saw you on Sand & Sissal’s FB page and I’m so glad I did. This is such a cute project! Thanks so much for sharing with us.

    Debbie

    • Yay!! Thank you so much Debbie, I so appreciate you stopping by and leaving such a great comment!

    • I just tried to comment on your blog and got this message: Spam Free WordPress could not retrieve the password from the server. It may be necessary to do one, or all, of the following. Turn on the Old Password Fields option, turn off Nonce Security, or to turn on Generate Comment Form.

      I have no idea what it means so I will tell you here that your son’s half bath is awesome and that planked wall is perfect. Great tutorial on accomplished that look!!

      • Hi Karah, thanks so much for letting me know! One of my plugins needed to be updated, so hopefully that will take care of it. 🙂

  11. Karah I soooo love that fish! I live near the water and collect driftwood all the time… I am loving your driftwood fish!
    Susan

  12. I love this!! We have tons of driftwood on our lake beach in front of our house… I have collected a ton already with my little boys but I am going back out this weekend looking for more!! Thanks for the tutorial. I am pretty strictly a fast craft gal too.

    • Yay, this would be the perfect fast craft for you driftwood!! So glad you like the idea, thank you so much for visiting. 🙂

  13. Well I already told you how much I love the fish but I will tell you again. I LOVE this fish. I think I could live with driftwood art alone and that’s saying a lot because I have a lot of art.

  14. That fish is a sweet idea! I have some driftwood/maritime decoration in my bathroom, so it would fit perfectly there! …and I have still some driftwood, maybe it’s enough for a fish, I’m going to try it 🙂

    Love, Midsommarflicka

    • I’m so glad you like it … I think it would be perfect with maritime decor in the bathroom!

  16. No beach for us this summer (more mountains), but I adore the fish. Plus, you already lived by the beach before, so maybe you just needed a beach break?

    🙂 Jessica

  17. What a beautiful project. I love it! The drift wood pieces you found are so unique and different. Love how it all looks together. Now I want to go “fish” – ha – my bag of drift wood out of the garage 🙂

  20. I Love, Love, LOVE this!!! The colors and different shapes of the wood is so cool.
    ~Katie

  22. Karah, I’ve seen this all over. I’ve pinned it. I’ve thought it was darling. Just getting over to say how flipping cute (and YOU!) this is. Thanks for showing it off at Simply The Best! You have just been diy’ing your little heart out. Hope the Summer is treating you well so far 🙂 Shannon

    • How fun that someone in Serbia saw my pumpkin! I had to get your comment translated but that you, I’m so glad you like it!!

  27. Divine, cant wait to make my own – I just made a Christmas tree out of drift wood, Fish ” nxt ” 🙂

  29. Love driftwood art. Just want to touch it’s weather softness, as will kids. Please remove or bend over the sharp nail sticking out of the largest piece of blue wood.

    • Hahaha, I hear you, luckily I have my piece hung 5 feet high. I’m one to love the rusty nails and will keep them whenever possible, for me they just add to the individual character of the piece. Good reminder to keep these pieces hung high, thank you for that!

  30. Love your fish!! Just found so much wood on the beach after a storm passed! Trying to make a turtle, but I may make this instead! Love the variation in color!!

Trackbacks

  1. […] at The Space Between, Karah doesn’t find her rescues on the roadside…she finds them on the oceanside! […]

  2. […]  DIY Driftwood Fish via The Space Between  – I love driftwood and the first time I saw this photo I was in love. The texture, the colors, the […]

  3. […] Driftwood Fish Tutorial at The Space Between Blog “Who’s planning to spend some time at the beach this summer?  Would you believe it if I told you that we moved to Key West in January and I haven’t been to the beach once?  True story. That could have something to do with the fact that we moved here from a Caribbean island with the most beautiful water on earth.  Or, more accurately, that I’m not really the lay on the beach type … I’m more of a scour-the-beach-for-seaglass-and-driftwood girl so I can whip them into easy craft ideas”…. Read more […]

  4. balance makes the heart grow fonder {$100 giveaway} the space between says:

    […] like a super duper easy DIY, or a more complex, multi-step project, or even a back breaking, […]

  5. […] So, for a fun little break in the action, when Toni asked me if I’d like to participate in her Summer Camp link party I said “heck yeah”!  Design Dazzle is a great blog for anyone looking for ideas for things to do with your kids for all seasons.  Last winter I shared an easy little upcycled Christmas tree craft idea and for part of this Summer Camp series I shared my super easy craft idea, the driftwood fish. […]

  12. […] But the reality is that I’m the girl who glues driftwood to more driftwood and hangs it on a wall as art below yet another piece of driftwood.  I actually like the visual reminder of where we are (btw, if you’re new here, we live in Aruba (I know!), this little sign reminds me to be so thankful for where we are now and to not take a moment of it for granted because we know this little slice of paradise is not meant to be ours forever.  You can check out the tutorial for the driftwood fish here. […]