Making a Stand

I guess I should say making a display stand! I am going to be selling my seaglass necklaces soon at a local Garden Expo and I wanted to use natural materials to create a unique, "from the earth" display. I had so much fun (with a bit of frustration) in the process. I had all the materials – from my driftwood collected, a dowel, drill, rocks, coping saw and then some patience :)

Drilling went as expected, I painted the dowel to look a bit aged and thought it would all just fall into place as planned! 

But somehow, the angles drilled weren't quite right. (so re-drill) The balancing of two different driftwood pieces was off. (idea! use rocks as shims or "props" as it turned out) Then how to attach the whole ensemble together so it is steady, straight (biggest issue) and still looks OK?

Doesn't this look a bit like a Foot Long Sandwich? Yikes....NO!!!!! 

I had been collecting some rocks that struck me as subtly colorful and I was considering doing something with them. They were sitting on my windowsill and I decided that they should be a permanent part of the display! Not just a temporary shim. They added color, interest but not enough to take anything away from the real purpose of this adventure.

The next display stand was going to have a base of an awesome piece of driftwood. Sand was still hiding in some of the crevices and added to the mess I had already created.  Although this dowel did not need a shim or any help to stand upright, the rock theme continued.

When I could sigh a sigh of relief that this project was not done in vain, and with the support of Pappa D, my very supportive husband, we brought the stands down to the beach...

Swing to the right, swing out of control! I did say patience was a factor. The wind was making this a lot more difficult than expected.

This shot just defines my seaglass, sand, driftwood & rock connection. They are all so interrelated and so much a part of my life!

Hope to give a link to the Fairfield Garden Expo soon! Would love to see you there!