driftwood project Archives

Driftwood Thanksgiving Turkey Centerpiece

Creating a Driftwood Thanksgiving Centerpiece

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Why not a driftwood Thanksgiving centerpiece inspired by the colors of Autumn? It’s pretty easy to make and quite lovely on a holiday table. Fill it with flowers, fruit, nuts and berries or even leaves, pine cones or perhaps beach inspired.

Materials Needed:

Balloon (look for “Punch Ball” balloons at Walmart for a strong balloon)
Magic Marker
Heat Gun such as HiPur Former Adhesive Applicator by Franklin International or Professional Glue Gun
Titebond WW30 or WW60 (for use with HiPur Adhesive Applicator) or Ad-Tech Wood Glue Sticks or All Temperature Wood Stik (look for glue sticks that will hold up in all temperatures)
Approx. 100 pieces driftwood 3″ – 12″. If you need driftwood pieces, we have driftwood in stock. 2-6″ pieces or 5-12″ pieces.
optional nail gun
optional nails

Using a balloon will help give you the shape you need for this project. I use the “Punch Ball” balloons for their strength and durability and I use them for lots of different projects and since I wanted a round shape for my “turkey” centerpiece, I brought out the balloons. I started with blowing up a balloon to about 12″ round but you can make it bigger or smaller depending upon how big you want your centerpiece.

2. Once you have the balloon about the size a round that you want, use a marker to indicate a half way mark around the balloon. This will be approximately how high to build up the sides and will help keep it looking fairly uniform.

3. It can be difficult to glue the driftwood pieces onto the balloon and hold them in place while the glue dries so you may want to work with small sections at a time – maybe 3 or 4 pieces – let the glue dry and then pull them away from the balloon while you create another section. Once you have created enough small sections to go all the way around, it becomes easier to actually start gluing them around the balloon.

You may also find it helpful to sit the balloon inside or on top of a bowl while working with it. These balloons also come with a strong rubber band attached which can come in handy if you want to suspend the balloon in mid-air while working on your project.

4. Once you have your basic “bowl” shape then just start filling in areas with pieces of driftwood to make more of a completed bowl shape.

5. Pick out a piece about 10″ long and 1 1/2″ thick that will be your neck and a smaller oblong piece to be your head that will sit atop the neck. And find a piece to be what I call the “gobbler” which will be attached to the neck underneath the head.

I initially found all three pieces and used both glue and nails to attach both the head to the neck and the gobbler to the neck. I later discovered the perfect piece to use for the head and took apart the pieces in order to use the new head. Sometimes you get lucky and a piece is just perfect.

6. Find two driftwood pieces about 5-6″ long and fairly straight to use as the legs. These pieces will help balance the basket. Glue them on the bottom about 3-4″ apart to stabilize the basket and to look like the turkey is sitting on its legs.

7. Now you can start adding the tail. You want to attach longer driftwood pieces on an angle so you may have to add an additional driftwood piece or two to the back end in a horizontal position to use as a brace to help support the longer pieces. Start with your longest pieces in the center and taper the length as you go down both sides.

8. And this is where I attached the new head. I did end up using a power tool and cutting both the neck piece and the head piece so both were straight cuts and I could easily glue the two pieces together. You have to admit, the new head is perfect. But there is only an eye on one side but it makes a great driftwood Thanksgiving turkey centerpiece.

Throughout this project I used a professional glue gun – Steinel HiPur former Advanced Bonding System by Franklin International which required specific hot melt adhesive. These adhesives are not cheap but the glue will hold up in Florida’s hot weather, indoors or outdoors where cheap glue will fall apart. The glue is also opaque and I find myself using an exacto blade to remove unwanted glue here and there but the good news is there is a lot less “webbing”.

Well, here it is – the final centerpiece. I used dried flowers in one arrangement and fresh flowers for the other and as you can see, it really makes a beautiful driftwood Thanksgiving centerpiece. It might even look great on a mantel.

Need a Driftwood Christmas Tree for the holidays? Check out our Tutorial for Creating Your Own Driftwood Christmas Tree or check out this Driftwood Christmas Tree from Amazon Deco 79 Driftwood Tree, 13 by 21-Inch or this cute driftwood reindeer Deco 79 Wood Deer, 18 by 11-Inch.

Make a Whimsical Driftwood Birdhouse

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How to Make a Whimsical Driftwood Birdhouse

Simple tutorial will show you how to make a whimsical driftwood birdhouse for indoor or outdoor use. Add charm and character to your garden with a whimsical driftwood birdhouse you make yourself.

Supplies

Driftwood pieces – 5-12″ round and flat plus assortment of other pieces. If you need driftwood pieces, we have driftwood in stock. 2-6″ pieces or 5-12″ pieces.
18 oz. oatmeal carton or similar cardboard carton
Titebond WW30 or WW60 (for use with HiPur Adhesive Applicator) or Ad-Tech Wood Glue Sticks or All Temperature Wood Stik (look for glue sticks that will hold up in all temperatures)
Heat Gun such as HiPur Adhesive Applicator by Stienel or Professional Glue Gun
wooden stand (optional)
wooden round 5″ – 8″ (optional)

I used an 18 oz. oatmeal box but pretty much any similar cardboard box, round or square, will work. Remove the advertising so you just have the brown cardboard.

Cut out a hole for the door and any additional “windows” you might want.

Then just fit and glue your pieces around your form. You can use flat or round, long or short – just cover your form.

Once the form is covered on the sides, you can start on the top. I wanted mine to be off-centered and longer on one side which would give it a more whimsical look so you can see I started with a long piece on one side propped up by a shorter piece on the other. From there I just started filling in areas. It’s like a puzzle where you find the best pieces to fit and pieces that will add some character here and there.

Here is a view from the back. Once again, I just started layering smaller, flatter pieces on the roof until I had it completely covered.

In the front top I added a post that protruded out so the birds would have a perch and other little unique pieces that just fit well on the top. I then added a “front porch” so to speak and a piece on the right that ended up looking almost like a handle. I found a unique driftwood piece that was like a curly little pig’s tail and added that coming down from the top and one more piece to balance the left side and I was finished with my whimsical little birdhouse. It was hard not to keep going by adding more little pieces here and there.

The final thing I did was use the Driftwood Weathering Wood Finish on the base so it would look more weathered. You can see the difference in the very top picture where it blends in very well with the regular driftwood.

And there you have it. So cute in a garden or just on display. Since I used Titebond WW30 HiPur Hot Melt Adhesive, I can use my birdhouse outside.

How to Make a Driftwood Windchime

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How to make a driftwood windchime using driftwood pieces and inexpensive silverware, sea glass and marbles. Here’s two different easy driftwood windchime versions – both make delicate chime sounds in the wind and either take just a few hours to make. You can get creative and use seashells or other items that might inspire you.

Here’s what you will need:

driftwood pieces (4-5). If you need driftwood pieces, we have driftwood in stock. 2-6″ pieces or 5-12″ pieces.
silverware (4-6 pieces – use soft pieces for easy flattening)
14# fishing line
24# beading wire
ear hoops from the beading department
flat drain from Wal-mart
sea glass pieces (available at Wal-mart)
Aleene’s Jewel It glue to glue fishing line knots
drill and drill bit for silverware
regular and needle nose pliers to mold wire around sea glass and bend fork
scissors
saw for driftwood pieces
hammer to hammer all the silverware pieces until flattened

1. First use a hammer to flatten all the silverware pieces.

2. Drill a small hole at the top of each piece in order to pass the fishing line through.

3. On one fork piece, using the pliers, twist each prong in each direction and curl under the end to form a small loop as shown in the picture below. You will use each loop to string fishing line from the fork to loops on the strainer.

4. Add an ear hoop to the underside of the strainer and using the fishing line, attach your choice of silverware as the centerpiece to your windchime. I like to use a large silver spoon only because it tends to “hit” more of the other pieces moreso than a narrow knife or fork.

5. Add 4 more ear loops to each opposing sides of the strainer. These will be for the driftwood pieces.

6. Add 4 more ear loops in between the existing ones. These will be for the sea glass pieces.

7. Now add 4 more ear loops in a circle half way between the outside rim and the center. These will be for the additional silverware pieces. Add as many loops as you have silverware pieces. You should now have 12 loops in additional to the center loop.

8. Now cut your driftwood pieces to the lengths that you want.

9. Drill holes in one end of each piece. Insert a length of fishing line and tie off. Just estimate a length of fishing line as you don’t want to put it together quite yet.

10. Using the images above, wrap the wire around the sea glass pieces to hold it in place and form and loops and shapes shown. These will hang easily onto the ear hoops. You just want to make sure the sea glass is wrapped securely. You can make it as long and elaborate as you wish – wrap two or more if you want.

11. Now you want to put it all together. It’s easiest if you can put a fishing line loop from the fork handle and hang it from something before you start to hang and knot each piece. Start with each fork prong loop and attach fishing line (about 8 inches) from the loop on the fork to a loop on the strainer and repeat for each fork prong loop – making sure it hangs level.

12. Then decide how long you want each piece of silverware to hang and attached each piece.

13. Now attach each piece of driftwood.

14. Attach the seaglass pieces.

15. Finally, go back and apply glue to each knot to make sure they do not come apart.

2ND DRIFTWOOD WINDCHIME VERSION

Below is another version using a different strainer, clear marbles (also from Wal-Mart), a dime store windchime I took apart, and driftwood pieces I made myself following this method How to Make Your Own Driftwood. I actually like this second version better. I ended up using a small baby spoon in the center and glued several of the marbles on the top of the strainer. The strainer was larger. I also used a stronger beading wire. There’s so many options you can use to make your own version.

Dimestore windchime I took apart and used the chimes

I found two different versions of this strainer – the wooden one obviously cheaper and easier to take apart. This worked great. Just follow the same instructions for version one but use this second, larger strainer as your base and take apart the dime store windchime to use those chimes in place of the silverware. I did however use one silverware fork for the top piece and another spoon for the very center of the chime. And finally, I used marbles in place of sea glass and attached 5 marbles as a decorative element on the top of the strainer which I thought added a nice touch.