How to make a driftwood sailboat

My father in law just celebrated his 60th birthday. My sister and law and I planned a little gathering to celebrate this milestone. We went with a beachy/sailboat theme since we were giving him sailing lessons for his birthday. I was in charge of decorating, and one of the things I came up with were these driftwood sailboats.

After about a half an hour of beach combing, I picked up nearly all the supplies I needed. I grabbed various sizes of driftwood and as many long skinny straight sticks as I could find. The rest of the supplies, I had on hand. I used muslin and a glue gun to piece them together.

I live in the Pacific Northwest. It's springtime...everything is wet. The driftwood was no exception. I wanted to expedite the process so I took my driftwood and sticks home put them on cookie sheets and cooked them in an oven on 250 degrees for about 2 hours.

The only real benefit from the cooking it seemed was that the bugs got cooked out. Yummo! Other than that, it didn't seem to dry the wood out any faster. It only succeed in making my house smell like a stinky beach on a super hot day!



I then paired up the driftwood and a stick, and sweet talked my hubby into doing the hard part.



He took calipers to the wood stick, measured it and found the right size drill bit (he tried one smaller than the measurement) and drilled a hole making sure he didn't go all the way through to the bottom. You need a real tight fit so the stick fits snugly in the drilled hole.





Don't you just love man hands doing all the work?!



I must apologize at this point for not having any pictures of the process of making the sails. Each driftwood piece is different, so I just measured how high up I wanted the sail and then how far out I wanted it on each side and cut at an angle on both pieces (you will end up with two triangles). I nearly failed geometry so you probably shouldn't trust me when I say it was a right triangle. Honestly, I have no idea what kind of triangle it is! I tried to always make one triangle just a bit smaller than the other.
Then I put a string of hot glue down each side of the mast (on the straight part of the sail) and secured the muslin to each side. At the bottom of the sail, I put a smaller stick that expanded almost the whole width and then rolled and glued the bottom part of the sail onto that making sure I used a fair amount of glue to attach both sticks in the center where they met.


I like how casual and beachy they are.








I also thought I would show you a few other details of the day. Isn't this cake amazing?! It had so many fun details from the handmade candy life preservers, to the various nautical flags. Wish I could take credit for making it, but I can't. My sister in law has a friend who makes these. Let me know if you are in the Seattle area and want her information.

This is pretty much how my four year old was for at least half of the party! He couldn't hardly wait until we cut into the cake.


I also decorated with lots of raffia, bottles filled with sand, and shells.


The bottle pictured on the right was his present. A scroll with the details of his sailing lessons rolled up inside like a message. I mod podged the birthday message on the outside of the bottle and even burnt the edges (seriously still amazed that I didn't light my house on fire this week!).



The banner was made with die cuts and scrapbook paper that was sand and shells.

Hope planning your next birthday party is smooth sailing!
I will be linking up to these parties

27 comments

Kaysi said...

That is super cute!! I love it!

Anita @ GoingALittleCoastal said...

These are just so cute! A friend of my hubbys picked up a pretty long piece of drift wood for me over the weekend. I left it in the garage since it was so wet. So, are those bugs in mine too?! It's too long to fit in my oven. If I stick it in the sun will they come out? I'm just a little bugged out about it! Yikes!

Unknown said...

Anita, I would guess that that guy has some bugs living in it. Aren't they gross? What if you put it out in the sun for awhile to dry it, then put it in a garbage bag to kill whatever may be living in it?

Kelli said...

What cute ideas, I don't have any drift wood close but I think I could make these out of found wood in our forested areas. Thanks for the cute tutorial! Your FIL is lucky! I found you thru Tea Rose Home.

~Kelli @ Smidgens

papermoon said...

I have just come across your great blog, i will defo be returning...very creative :o)

The Charm of Home said...

How adorable. Love your sailboats! I also love the sailboat themed birthday very creative!

My Little Notebook said...

Super cute! We have lots of driftwood around here, so I will definitely give this a try. Thanks for the great tutorial.

Rory from Tools Are For Women Too! said...

I'm a new follower via My Backyard Eden.
These sailboats are great! I'd love for you to show these off on Modern Craftswoman Mondays. Rory

Room to Inspire said...

What a great idea! We recently went to Deception Pass and the kiddos come home with their first drift wood. This would be a super fun project. Thanks for linking up to Be Inspired today.

Chelsea

Sachiko said...

I love this idea and I know for sure that my boys would love it too! Thank you for sharing!

Almost Always said...

these are simply beautiful! i ma going to have to make a couple for my mantle..i ♥ them!

Kristine at The Painted Hive said...

Oh, these little boats are so perfect. I love the rustic feel of them.
I like your background...I was actually the one who sent a message to the Background Fairy requesting it. She was so great and posted it up in a couple of days. I still haven't even gotten around to putting it in my blog yet!
Kristine
xx

Nikki said...

So cute!!!!!! Minus the bugs...I don't do bugs lol. Thanks so much for linking up to gettin' crafty on hump day :)

Fawnda@Fireflies and Jellybeans said...

very cute! I love that you cooked the bugs out! :)

Remodelaholic said...

Found your site from a party link, I love this idea, I would love to feature it on my blog. Let me know if you would be interested. Thanks

Cassity @ Remodelaholic

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville said...

I LOVE the driftwood boats! Thanks for linking up to Thrifty Thursday!
Leigh, Bloggeritaville
www.lbratina.blogspot.com

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

Love the driftwood sail boats. Great idea. Would be perfect in my nautical room.

michelle@somedaycrafts said...

Those are amazing!!! Seriously beachy!!!

Leanne said...

I love the sailboats. The bugs are a little gross. LOL What a fun idea for a party. I'm visiting from New Friend Friday.

Becky@Beyond The Picket Fence said...

Wow--i love the boats--look like some long-forgotten treasure of childhood. I have a read a post today about someone putting pinecones in the oven and now driftwood. Thanks for linking up!

FLOWERSHOPGURL said...

Hello, I love your sailboat theme! And I really love how you made the sailboats, a really great idea, the cake looks yumo.
Hugz,
Kim

Sheri@childmade.com said...

Love these! They are so natural! Plus, I'm sure my son would love them. Thanks for sharing ... I've posted a link.

Unknown said...

I'll bet he really appreciated all the effort you put into that party. Great job!! It's a great theme, and a love the sailboats and the raffia in particular. :_)

Aubrey said...

very cute idea...I'm sure he loved his birthday party! The cake looks awesome!

Robin hill farm said...

I love them! You did such a beautiful job!! :)
Beth.

Unknown said...

I am highlighting this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com tonight!

Unknown said...

These are fantastic! Definitely worth having your house smell like a stinky beach for a bit. :)

Stopping by from Someday Crafts' beach party.

Happy weekend!

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