A few weeks ago we were in the Outer Banks. And one thing we like to do while we are at the beach is create a craft project, usually with seashells, so we have a memento of our trip. In the past we have made vases, framed art and decorations and we have used them to decorate our bathroom. Well, this year was not any different, except we had a hard time finding seashells. Luckily we found enough to do one small project, so we made a decorated platter.
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We even found the platter at a thrift store on the Outer Banks, so even that part of the project is a fun memory. Adding the shells is easy, we just added some tile grout to the plate and caked it on in about a 1/4 inch layer. You can see how we did that in the post about the vases we made a few years ago.
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Then we just added the shells and gently pressed them into the grout. We used a nice piece of driftwood for the center and kept filling in random shells until we were done. The next step is to take some sand from the beach and sprinkle it over the grout so that it hides the whiteness and makes it look like the shells are on a beach. Let your project set up for a few hours and then shake off any excess sand.
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We let ours continue to dry for several days while we were at the beach. When we brought it home I sprayed it with a few light coats of clear coat to hold the sand on and make the shells a little shiny. You can also use a matte spray if you don’t want any shine. Then I spray painted a gold plate hanger in a matte nickel finish to match the others in our bathroom and we hung it above the collection of Shark’s Teeth from Surfside Beach, SC.
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So we may not have found many shells this trip, but we have a nice memento of our stay in the Outer Banks, platter and all.
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It goes with our Shark’s Teeth from Surfside Beach and the shell adorned baskets that use shells from Ocean Isle Beach, NC. It’s a fun way for us to remember our mornings spent walking the beaches and looking for shells and other treasures from the ocean.
How do you display vacation mementos?
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