Fab 8 - Summertime.... Life's a Beach

7.12.13-

Can't believe another month has passed already. Time is flying by!  

{Guess that's what happens when you're having FuN!!} 

My Fabulous blog Friends & I are back to share 8 great ways to celebrate that Life's a Beach. Ways to incorporate the theme into your home, decor & wardrobe.  

Stop by and visit all my AMAZING Bloggy friends and check out how the Beach has inspired them!! 

1. Emily of The Benson Street 

2. Adrienne of Free Time Frolics

3. Ashley of Flats to Flip Flops

4. Rebecca of The Crafted Sparrow

5. Andie of Maybe I Will

6. Melissa of Hollyhocks & Honeybees

7. Candice of She's Crafty 

8. Kaylnn of Among the Young

I'm excited to share with you something that has come to mean a great deal in our family. A way to preserve cherished memories & add a bit of charm to your home decor. 

It was started 18 years ago while my Husband & I were honeymooning in San Diego.  

{Yes, 18 years. It's flown by.} 

We collect sand, shells & sea glass from beaches that we visit together & as a family.  We have had the opportunity during the past 18 years to visit some pretty amazing places both close to home & far away.  When we pack our bags for a vacation we always include a couple of plastic baggies to collect sand in.  

-Treasures from the Oregon Coast, our family vacation in 2012- 

It's kind of become a time capsule for our trips & sweet memory jars to have around.  The are all displayed proudly in my husbands office up on a shelf.  All shapes, sizes & varieties of jars are used to hold our trip treasures.  Makes for a great conversation starter too not to mention some great looking decor. 

 An aerial view of some of the softest sand I've ever felt.  Ahhh... hope to get back there someday with the kids.  These were collected on some fabulous business trips with the hubby.  White, soft, gorgeous sand.  

 Sand a bit closer to home, a bit darker & rockier but still the same fun memories attached.  I thought it would be fun as the kids got older & could write for them to write the labels for each bottle of sand that we collected. 

 How they look all stacked & displayed in the office. 

 A from the top view of all the fun finds as we explored the beach in Lincoln City, Oregon last year.  Lots & LoTS of amazing things. Not to mention the coolest looking jar too.  We started going to antique or thrift stores in that area, we're visiting, to look for a jar to buy to keep our treasures & sand in.  Makes it a bit more memorable that way. 

It's been a fun addition to our collection.  

 On the left- Florida & on the right is from Turks & Caicos.  I could NOT BELIEVE the sea glass I found on this trip.  Usually it's a small miracle to find any in California but the Carribean is plentiful! 

 {Especially after it's had a hurricane the year before}  

OH. My.GOODNESS.  As much as we collected & saved you should have seen all the pieces we left behind.  I especially love this piece of chipped blue china we found on the beach during lunch one day.  

Another amazing secluded & sea glass galore beach in St. Thomas.  I collected sea glass while the hubby snorkeled in the bay.  Such a beautiful beach. I hope to get back there again one day. 

 The thing I love about our collection is the variety that is on display.  It doesn't always have to be at a beach that we collect sand, dirt or treasures from.  The point is the memories & treasures that are bottled up for a lifetime to remember. My only regret is not scooping up some sand while we were in Jamaica.  It's been the only place we didn't collect some.  We were hiking the falls & forgot to grab some when we were finished, still makes me sad. 
{Guess we'll have to plan a trip to go back} 

Like on our trip to Canada. Both our first time there, not an once of sand in sight to collect 

{it might have been that we were there in February & it was FReeZiNG we didn't want to venture outside much}  

but I found this amazing glass lid jar at an antique store outside of Niagra Falls, with Toronto printed on it & just knew it had to come home with me to store some treasures.  So a picture & mini menu from a restaurant in Toronto, a pic from the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, a pebble from the log cabin site & a Canadian penny are tucked into this time capsule. 

-Oh, Canada!! I loved seeing their flag waving on this trip & singing their national anthem in my head- 

Another fun tradition we do in our family is collecting postcards from where ever we vacation, or our Grandparents do & where my husband goes on business. It started when I saw a cool card display in a Pottery Barn catalog.  The display was too much for what I was wanting to spend so I just kept it in the back of my mind to do one day.

I came across a going out of business sale at a favorite local shop & they were selling everything, even the card holder displays they had so I jumped on it & bought one to bring home.  This display is almost stuffed full!  It holds cards from many family vacations, my inlaws  & parents vacations & the many, many business trips my hubby goes on.  

{He always sends each of us a postcard each time- how sweet is that! Yea, he's a keeper!!} 

We have even started {as a way of ducumeting our trips} to hae  each of us buy a postcard, jot down a favorite memory & mail it home to oourselves.  It's always a fun little surprise to open up the mailbox & receive our postcards to our selves.  This is such a fun display to have up in our home.  Lots of memories & sweet messages on each & every card.  

-See how I incorporated it into our 4th of July decor this year HERE- 

 Hope I've inspired you a bit that as you vacation this year look for ways to preserve & save memories from your family vacations or at least to start a new collection this year & for Summers to come.  
My hubby & I are headed to some new places we've never been soon & I can't wait to add to our collection. 

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day! 

{M}