We had the great blessing of being able to have a Christmastime family vacation in St. Augustine, FL this year. My sister’s family, my parents, Mr. CraftyPaws and I along with our pups (unfortunately my brother’s family couldn’t make it) spent a week in a beachfront home and spent wonderful quality family time together.
From our many walks along the beach, we picked up lots of beautiful seashells, and when I got home I knew I wanted to try something new and craft a special keepsake frame with them for my parents. Using a spare IKEA frame, I prepped the base with some Liquitex Gesso and white acrylic paint. Then after spending some ridiculously long futzing time with the collected shells (and some supplemental craft shells from the Dollar Tree), I designed what I think turned out to be a wonderful, meaningful gift.
I tried various arrangements for the shells. Mostly I wanted the shells on the left and right sides of the frame to be mirror images of each other. I also wanted the biggest, roughest and dark shells in the four corners, largest on the bottom to visually weight the frame properly. Finally, I added a few unique shells from our beach combing adventures into prominent positions on the frame without regard for symmetry to highlight these special shells (each one has a little discovery story). When I was satisfied with the look, I used E6000 glue (this stuff is super strong but takes 24 hours to fully cure) to secure each piece in place.
Then to fill in the gaps between the shells, I used crushed pearlized shell pieces that are sold as vase fillers. The resultant very heavy, luxe and naturally elegant frame went perfectly with the family picture we took at our Christmas lunch at The Reef Restaurant. I just gifted this to my parents (today is 3 days after our return home from this vacation), and they both got teary eyed and seemed to really be moved. While this is a small, inexpensive new year’s gift, it truly comes from the heart, and their reaction showed me that it was what they wanted more than any of the extravagant gifts we gave them for Christmas.
The following is a process video of crafting this seashell frame:
This keepsake frame is being entered into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Something New Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Something New Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday Try Something New Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
ABC Christmas Challenge – A is for Anything Christmas Goes
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes Challenge
The Corrosive Challenge Anything Goes
What a fun idea to use the shells. Very creative and sweet. Thanks for sharing with us. I enjoy your wonderful creations, and I thank you for playing along.
Blessings,
Karen Letchworth
Word Art Wednesday
Awww thank you so much Karen. I really was so happy to see my parents’ reaction when I gifted this to them today. 🙂
What a great project. Love the way you positioned your shells. What a perfect frame for Florida. Thanks for joining us at the Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenges for our latest challenge. {Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenges}Good luck and join us again soon. Hugs, Barbara
Thanks so much Barbara! I really loved making this for my parents
Lovely creation but I am sorry ABC Christmas challenge is just that a Christmas project is required to be inwith a chance to win a prize..
so sorry your project is not a valid entry its a shame…
but lovely to see your creation xx
Samantha ABC Christmas challenge Co owner x
Thanks anyway Samantha! I thought it might qualify as it was a Christmas vacation photo. 😀
Such beautiful shells and what a wonderful creative way to use them! It sounds like you had a wonderful time with your family. Happy New Year 🙂 Hugs…Janie
Thanks so much Janie! Yes, we had such a lovely quality family time. 🙂
Thank you so much for entering the challenge at Through The Craft Room Door this week. Looking forward to seeing you again in the next challenge.
Hugs & Craftiness,
AngelaThrough The Craft Room Door DT
Taste Of Craftiness {My Blog}
Through The Craft Room Door
http://craftrmdoor.ning.com/
Thanks so much Angela!
Delightful keepsake frame to celebrate a wonderful event. I’m sure it will be treasured for many years. Each time someone looks at it and sees the gathered shells, the memory of the stories will dance in their thoughts.
Thank you so much for entering our ATG challenge at Through The Craft Room Door this week. Looking forward to seeing you again next challenge.
Regards,
Rijacki
TTCRD DT
Rijacki’s Workshop
Through The Craft Room Door
ttcrd.blogspot.com
Thank you so very much Rijacki! Yes, my parents have said they will treasure this for years to come. 🙂
A lovely looking card with smashing design and colours. Lovely! Thanks for joining us over at Creatalicious Challenges this time around.
Love n hugs
Marie, CC-teamie
Thank you so much Marie!
Beautiful frame, what a lovely keepsake.
Thank you for joining us at Simon says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.
luv
Debby
Thanks so much Debby!
Great project!!! I love it! Happy New Year!!!
Thanks for joining us at Corrosive challenge blog.
Ana Isabel DT Coordinator
Awww thanks so much Ana!
A wonderful keepsake and a fabulous way to display all those lovely shells.
Thank you for joining in with the Crafts Galore Encore January Challenge “Anything Goes”. Good luck x
Thank you so much! I was so glad to be able to use these shells for this keepsake gift. My mother has it proudly displayed on her kitchen counter where she sees it every day!
A lovely project!
Thank you soo much for taking part in our “anything goes with optional something new” challenge over at Creatalicious & good luck in the draw.
Hope to see you again in our new challenge as well…
Hugs,
Melanie
(DT-Coordinator Creatalicious Challenges)
(DT Crafty Friends)
(DT The Sketchy Challenges)
(DT Simply Create Too)
(DT Aud Sentiments Challenge)
Thanks so much Melanie!