While on vacation, my father-in-law took us to Cochiti Lake. It’s a beautiful lake within the Pueblo de Cochiti Indian Reservation, surrounded by desert and mountains. While my husband and kids were out on the boat with him, I parked myself at a picnic table, and enjoyed the sounds of the birds and water lapping up on the shore.
I noticed lots of driftwood along the shore, and didn’t pay too much attention to it, until a big sweeper machine drove up and began sweeping up all the driftwood. Suddenly, I was on a mission to get a few pieces of the beautiful wood, before they were swept away.
I found 2 beautiful pieces and and put them to our Jeep. I didn’t realize my husband had gotten off the boat and was on the dock watching me. When I walked over to the dock, he said, “What were you trying to sneak into the Jeep without me noticing? Ha! I wasn’t sneaking at all, but he knew I would be squeezing as many things as possible into our already cramped Jeep, and it’s his job to figure out how to make everything fit. I reminded him that I never try to hide all my finds from him. We’ve always managed to find room for the things I want to bring home, and there was no way I was leaving that pretty wood behind, so we would make room for it, one way or another. He did (I knew he could do it!), and the wood made it safely home with me.
I wanted to make something with it, but didn’t want to hide the beauty of the wood, so I attached 3 randomly placed antique date nails on one of the pieces, for a very simple, pretty wall hook rack. 
We’re still finishing up the guest room/photo studio, but I hung it in there. My mom, niece and nephew are coming to visit soon, and my mom plans to stay in the guest room, so the hooks will come in handy for her to hang her things on.
Here are a few more photos from our day at the lake. My youngest son’s pooch wasn’t too happy when she saw my son leaving on the boat without her.
Hubby and the 3 boys on the boat.
I still have a twisted tree branch driftwood piece that I haven’t decided what to do with yet. It’s such a beautiful piece of wood, so I hope I come up with something really lovely to make with it.
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Blessings,
I like your driftwood. Sheila
Make a wind chime with it—hang some pretty things from it.
Hi Angie–
looks like y’all had a great time. The drift wood towel hook is a beauty. I like it.
I have no doubts that you will come up with something extra cool for your twisted drift wood.
Pat
Oh! and secondly, what is with the sweeper machine? Why do they collect the wood…to make the beach beautiful? Or to resell it themselves? I’m just curious. I found that interesting.
Pat
Love this! Simple yet beautiful!
Blessings~
I love it Angie! You must have been very “relaxed” on your vacation if it took you that long to start gathering up the wood 🙂
As always, another smart, useful and beautiful idea! And what a great “Souvenir” from your fabulous vacation!
I love your wall hook. I live by the beach in CA and that would look great in my house!
I love the look of driftwood! Hoping to find some during our beach travels this summer!
Jeanine
I hope you had a lovely vacation. You have a very handsome family! The driftwood hanger is beautiful. It looks like you had a lot of fun. I love the dual selfie pic 🙂 Looking forward to seeing your other driftwood creation.
Take care,
Kim
Angie,
Your driftwood wall hooks look GREAT!!!! As you know I love driftwood. Guess I should have sent you an e-mail…I have changed my party name to Show and Share.
Blessings,
Linda
Gahhh…. it’s perfect. I love the rough edges so much. And equally special that it’s a keepsake from your fabulous day out!
Hi! Very cool piece! Where did you find the antique nails?
Thanks Yanet! I have a large stock of them that I bought at an auction.