Come sail away with me

OK, so I know this whole week is supposed to be about holiday gifts you can make at home, but Derek and I just completed a little makeover of our tiny apartment bathroom and I had to share.

In my defense, there are two DIY projects in here that you could totally make as gifts, so here it goes...

Since we currently live in an apartment, there isn't too much we can/want to do as far as home upgrades until we actually own a place, so small touches are key to making our rental feel like a home.

We have a huge amount of counter space in the bathroom and wanted to take advantage of it by making it a little nautical and fun.

First up, we swapped out the metal apt-issued towel rack for this awesome wooden shelf I found at an antique store for $15! With the addition of a hand towel, a $1 sailboat from the thrift store, some beach-found shells, and some watery pictures of my Grandpa in the Navy and my Papa fishing, this little area is complete for under 20 bucks.



Below the shelf I put this over sized plastic shell I found at the thrift store for $2. We're going to fill it with matches from all of the cool restaurants we visit for easy candle lighting and a fun memento. I was totally inspired by the clam shell in this post on Young House Love.



Over in the other corner of the counter, we started with a $3 sailboat picture I also found at the thrift store. I then got crafty on two projects that would be super easy for you to create at home!

Since we live in San Diego, finding some shells was literally a day at the beach. I washed them clean in bleach water and picked up this pretty candle and hurricane at Michael's (for less than $10) and used the shell as a filler.



I'm a lotion-o-holic and I like to keep my moisturizer handy but didn't like the look of the bottle on the counter. So with a .50 cent mason jar and a $2.50 roll of jute twine, I crafted a lotion holder that sticks with the nautical look! See below the pictures for the how-to.




Jute Lotion Holder

Materials:
Mason jar
Jute Twine
Super glue and/or spray glue
Drill
Lotion bottle

Directions:
1. Drill a hole in the lid of the jar large enough to fit the entire lotion pump through. Add some super glue to the rim of the pump, push it through the hole and let it set to attach.

2. Starting at the top of the mason jar, put a little dab of super glue and attach the end of the roll of twine. Begin wrapping the twine around the jar, pausing occasional to add some spray or super glue to keep it in place.

3. When you reach the end of the jar, attaching the last bit with super glue and cut off the excess.

4. Fill the jar with lotion and reattach the lid.

5. Voila! Nautical moisturization.