Creative Things to Do with Seashells

Beach vacations with children always result in a bucket of shells that they insist they must bring home with them. I'll never forget being a young mother with two preschoolers who were ecstatic over their beach finds. Each day they would dump their collection in a bucket sitting outside our cabin door and when we packed to return home, in the trunk went the bucket of shells. Unbeknownst to me, so did the little critters inside who died and when the car was unpacked at home, a very unsavory aroma was permeating the trunk.

I later learned that it's necessary to treat those shells before you can turn them into great shell crafts or collections.

Treating shells

First remove any seaweed, algae or barnacles on the shell and then soak them in water and bleach for about 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and to remove any remaining matter, take an old toothbrush and scrub inside and out.

What can you do with all those beach combing wonders?

Flower Pot Decoration

You can attach shells to terra cotta pots just be gluing them on with tacky glue or hot glue gun. Trimming the border with small shells or gluing on one large conch or starfish shell can transform a simple pot into a seashore reminder! Decorate more than one size pot and group them together into a work of art display.

Framed shells

For special finds and shells you can display them by finding a variety of frames that fit the shell and painting the frames in colors of the sea, blues, aquas and pale greens. Then attach the shell to a white backing, stick the backing into the frame and secure. Framed shells for a special corner of your home. This is a great and easy craft for kids to make to give their shells to grandma or as gift for favorite teacher on back to school day.

Hurricane Glass Shell Candleholder

For a fun summer table setting, you can take a large hurricane glass vase, layer about three inches of sand in it, and wedge a blue candle in the center, then place some favorite shells all around the candle, in the sand. Continue the beach theme by spreading shells around the table settings and using lots of blue and white and yellow table cloths and napkins.

Shell Stenciling

One of our favorite summer shell crafts was to take a shell with a defined shape like a starfish or fan shell and by dipping it in paint, you could stencil plain brown paper or white paper, making gift wrapping for a gift. If you dust a little bit of sand over the stencil while it's wet, you get a textured feel to your stencil.

Remember, make sure you clean and treat those shells before you haul your shell loot home. But once there, don't let those shells just sit in the closet. Bring them out and help your children find wonderful ways to bring summer memories to life with shell art and creative shell displays.