DIY Shell Artwork

It was a scene of DIY activity and accomplishment at home this weekend. My husband got stuck into hanging blinds, polishing the silver and the brass handles on the campaign chest and I set about hanging pictures, creating some artwork with the masses of shells I have bought over the past 12 months and doing a lot of rearranging and generally being utterly indecisive.

The silver antique pieces were bought by my husband on his last trip to the UK. The same trip that yielded the infamous antiques, and these I love! He bought various pieces for me and the kids with money left to him by his grandmother. The silver cups you can see are actually golf tournament trophies won by his Dad. They are all really beautiful.



This is how we've been living for the past 5 months, and my poor, long suffering husband has been very patient and non-complaining.



Finally the blinds arrived, well, the hold up was me deciding or not deciding - more's the point. I was tossing up over various patterned fabrics, but it all got too difficult so I settled on a simple silk.



Trying to hang blinds and generally do decorating tasks around the house seems to instantly attract small children who insist on playing games and brining all their toys into the space you are trying to work in, which generally become both hazardous and annoying!

Unearthed one of my many boxes of ribbon from underneath the house (oh how I've missed you!) and am trying to decide if I need to add a trim on the blinds.

Played around with furniture and picture arrangements. I've since taken these down.....

I bought a selection of Ikea Ribba frames a few months ago, knowing that I wanted to make some shell artwork. But they have been sitting in the cupboard gathering dust since then, waiting for me to get the energy and motivation to do it.

I had intended to make some shell covered mirrors for our ensuite, but stopped at the point you see below, because it all seemed too much of a challenge and given I can't make up my mind about anything at the moment, I knew I could be there all week. So I moved onto a smaller and more manageable project.

I love shells/coral displayed in our home, so I buy them in bulk whenever I can. I love them piled up in glass jars and urns, displayed on their own and made into artwork. I adore the work of Karen Robertson, but they won't ship from the US, so I thought I'd have a crack at making my own.

I had bought a selection of scrapbooking papers in various patterns and shades of pale sea green and aqua, but none of them were right, so I ended up using the remnants of the silk I bought for the romans in our bedroom. Plain cardboard just didn't have enough texture. The silk works well as it's a much darker shade of the paint on the walls and really makes the shells pop. 

I started with the Ribba 10" shadowbox frame.

I covered the MDF backboard in the silk background fabric and glued on with quick drying tacky clear craft blue.

I arranged the shells on the board after a lot of experimenting, rearranging and deliberating.

Then attached them with a hot glue gun. 

I tried to balance out the shapes, number of shells and arrangements. Here's the finished product.

I have put them up in our bedroom for the moment, although not entirely sure they'll stay there. I'm wondering if they don't look better all together in a foursome rather than split in pairs. What do you think?

The bamboo desk is a recent Ebay purchase. Who knew you could find nice bamboo furniture on Ebay here in Australia and ready painted! I had bought it for the nursery, but it's in our bedroom until I can find a more suitable console.

The mirror is from Orson and Blake. The blue and white vase from Orient House.

All images by Melinda Hartwright.