FISHING NETS FOR DECORATION

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• Growing up on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, one gets used to nautical decorations in restaurants and bars. As early as I can remember, I was dealing with buoys and gulls rather than cows and bulls. I became a man in a world draped in fishing nets sprinkled with glass floats. As an “adult” my houses have always been littered with all manner of treasure and trash but nets have always been a constant. After all, what is an angler to do with old fishing nets? Between those and the ones passed down from stinky shrimpers, there has always been a wealth of nets in my home. Here are a few suggestions for using fishing nets for decoration.

3 DECORATIVE USES FOR OLD FISHING NETS

• Fence Flair: Whether a heavy shrimp net or a three foot bait net, consider hanging that old net on your fence or outside wall. Nothing looks better around the grill or the pool than an old net hanging around. Trust me, the older the better. If it’s got barnacles popping off then it’s perfect. Think about what fun things you can hang in it. An oyster shell? A broken paddle from Panama? Everything works.

• Ceiling Art: When you hang nets from the ceiling, you give yourself another place to store crap. Take a page from the Flora-Bama and incorporate nets with Christmas lights. It’s kind of one of the best ideas ever. They won’t even make fun of you for being a redneck and leaving your lights up too long…they stay up all year. Christmas lights (white or colored) both offer a nice low glow that’s perfect for reading song lyrics by but not so bright as to see facial imperfections.

• Plush Keeper: Around age two, both of my children had so many stuffed animals that we were going to have to stage a house fire or move them all to a van down by the river. You could barely walk through their bedrooms without tripping over any one of the multitudes of plush creations. I have seen buckets and weaved materials used to hold stuffed animals on the wall and out of the way, but the fishing net idea looks good with most of the work already having been done.

• Tutorial: This plush holder craft is quick and easy and it will create a space on the floor of your child’s room where any manner of activities can be enjoyed. Cut your net down to a rectangle with proportions of 4 by 2, with size reflecting the number of stuffies with which you want to fill it. In this case, I used the five exclusive Inside Out plush products from Wal Mart so my net needed to be about 1.5 feet by 3.5 feet. Attach the two top corners on perpendicular walls leaving a little slack so it hangs outward. Pull the two remaining corners behind the net and connect them to the wall at the same spot in the corner. It should be about the same height as your first two corners. This creates a pocket that will serve as your plush keeper.

• The characters from Inside Out can also be used with your kids in terms of character development and conflict resolution. Or maybe just for fun if your children are not familiar with conflict. Lucky. Let them use these plush characters to enhance their imaginative play surrounding emotions. It can help your children grow and develop language skills, physical abilities, social skills, and self-esteem while expressing their emotions in an emotionally healthy way.

• Set the figures in a pile and ask your children questions. Offer them a scenario and ask them to pick up the figure that would represent their response. Change the conditions so they need to change characters. Have them explain how it would make them feel and why. Be involved in the game and model appropriate responses. Predict what real life situations they will face and assist them with discovering coping strategies before they are faced with the actual situation. Here are some topics that resonate with most children, but you know what they are dealing with better than anyone. Be creative and have fun. Bullying, divorce, manners, conflict resolution, honesty, respect…..anything you can think of.

• Visit  Nailtravels and Wal Mart and pick up your Inside Out plush figures today for a suggested retail price .