Craft Tutorial: Summer Beach Rock Wreath

I love turning a memory into something tangible.

Our day spent at Drake Beach in Point Reyes was such bliss.

All we did was enjoy God’s creation…

…as well as each other.

I knew I wanted to make something out of the rocks they collected at the beach, most likely a wreath.

But in the end, we only took home three (the large ones on the right). So I supplemented my wreath with rocks from the dollar store. I included blue glass rocks (also from the dollar store) to represent the ocean. In addition, I bought a wood wreath form from Michaels, used Gorilla Glue to glue the rocks on, and twine as a background as well as an accent. Not shown…acrylic paint.

First, I wrapped the wreath with the twine. I like how the white twine has a nautical feel to it. Tie a knot around the wreath, and start wrapping wrapping wrapping.

At the end, tie the two ends together.

Arrange the rocks and glass onto the wreath. I started with the three large ones we brought home from the beach, and added the dollar store rocks all around it, covering the bottom half of the wreath. The top half I covered with the glass rocks.

When I liked the arrangement, I started gluing. Following the directions on the Gorilla Glue bottle, I first got a wet paper towel.

You’ll need the wet paper towel to dampen the surface of the rock.

Then apply a thin bead of glue. Gorilla Glue will expand and look yucky if it oozes out the sides of what you’re gluing, so don’t apply too much. Then press the rock onto the wreath form. It will take a while to set, but when it does, it will stick really well. Continue picking up each rock and gluing it down.

For the glass rocks, add a very small dab, on one half of the rock (part of the rock will hang off the sides of the wreath so you don’t want glue there).

Remember to add a little gap in between the rocks at the very top of the wreath, to tie some twine for hanging. This blue twine is left over from my succulent planter project.

I thought it would be nice to add some red to the wreath, to represent the reddish cliff that was behind us on the beach. (the girls are chasing away a seagull who was nosing around our picnic blanket)

So like the twine for my succulent display, I dyed some twine in a mixture of red, orange and brown paint, rinsed it off, and then used a hair dryer to speed up the drying.

I tied the red twine and a piece of green twine, also left over from my succulent display, and added them to either side of the large rock.

All done. We will probably return to Drake Beach, but if we don’t, I’m glad to have the memories of that sweet day in my heart, and on our front door.

Linking:  Creative Jewish Mom :: Carolyn’s Homework :: Mad in Crafts :: Tip Junkie :: Fine Craft Guild :: The Trendy Treehouse :: The Frugal Girls :: Tidy Mom :: Whipperberry :: Sassy Sites :: Tatertots and Jello :: Homemaker on a Dime