Graphics: Michelle Somers
Who doesn't love collecting
shells? Your feet sinking into the soft sand, wind blowing in your hair,
the blue water so calming with the sound of lapping waves. To this day I
love collecting shells and living on the west coast on Vancouver Island
in Victoria BC makes it even easier. Whenever I head to the beach it's
always a stress release and a place where cares melt away.
So today I'm going to show you how to make your very own Rustic Beach Wall Hanging using oyster shells. You can use smaller shells like clam shells (they need to be big enough to drill a hole through them.) While you are on the beach you will also need to gather a piece of wood that is long enough to place your shells along it. Then you just need twine and eye screws and something to drill the holes into the shells. I'll show you what I use in the instructions to follow.
Items Needed:
• 1 piece of rustic looking wood that is somewhat flat for the top and bottom part
• 14 oyster or clam shells
• 5 pieces of long twine + an extra piece for the top
• hand held drill or mini drill to make the holes
You take your eye screws and wind them into the bottom piece of the wood. In this case I used 7 eye screws (you need two for the top part of the hanging) but feel free to make it smaller or larger to taste. Then you want to take each shell and drill a hole into it with a drill or a jeweler's cutting tool. I took a silversmith course with my sister and we found this vintage hand held drill at a flea market. You have to use a very fine drill bit for this. You have to do this outside because inhaling shell dusk can be bad for your lungs. I'd recommend a mask while you do this so as not to breathe in any dust.
You want enough shells to put on each twine section. So here I've used about 14 shells. Strings left to right have 3, 2, 4, 3, 2 but you can decide how you want yours to look. Once you have all the holes drilled into each shell you can use your twine to tie each shell on and you will want to double knot these because they are heavy. So you double knot your first shell then let the string hang behind it and then place your second shell on knot and continue until you are finished with all your strands.
Then take your final 2 eye screws and screw them into the top part on each end. Then take another piece of twine and double it to make a triangle. Voila you have your very own rustic piece of wall art. We hang ours outside on our deck as it adds to the west coast charm to our decor.
What DIY projects have you made recently? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below. #IBN30
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About Michelle
Michelle is one of the blooms and founder of Two Blooms Design Studio Est. 2002. She is in charge of production, designing all of our labels in house, photography, customer service, alchemist behind all of our scent blends, designer, creator and pretty much whatever else needs to be done.
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