Seashell Ornament Crafts

Use seashells to make ornaments

Empty seashells found on the beach are the calcareous remains of sea creatures that wash ashore after they die. They range in size from tiny shells smaller than a human fingernail to the largest known seashell, the Tridacna, a type of clam native to the South Pacific. The Tridacna can grow to four feet in length. Use your collection of seashells and some hot glue to make a variety of ornaments.

Angels

Use the convex side of a fan-shaped shell, such as a scallop or clam shell, as the front of the angel's body to create her gown. You can also make the body from a long limpet style shell or a cone shell. To make the wings, use a piece of wired ribbon gathered in the middle. Hot glue it to the back of the shell. Alternate wing ideas are wings made out of cut pieces of paper doilies, paper cut in the shape of wings or use smaller fanned shaped shells, one for each wing. To make the head, use a small shell or a round unfinished wooden ball or pony bead and paint the face on the headpiece. Halos are simple to make with gold piper cleaner or a thin piece of copper, silver or gold wire twisted into a circle. Make the hair with paint, cut yarn pieces or craft doll hair.

Wreaths

Make wreaths small enough to hang on the tree or to put on wrapped Christmas gifts. You can make a backing for the wreath out of balsa wood cut in a circular shape. Sturdy recycled cardboard is a less expensive option. You can opt to use no backing at all if you can free form the wreath and glue the shells together with a hot glue gun. Paint the backing to match the seashells or cover the backing with coordinating fabric. Craft felt works for this project as it is easy to trace the wreath shape on, cut and glue in place on the backing. Cover one or both sides of the wreath backing to make the ornaments.

Animal Heads

To create an animal head ornament, use a larger shell for the face shape and add smaller shells to make the ears, manes, horns and other head features. Use a picture of the animal if you need a guide for the details. Use paint to get the facial details or add humor with wiggly craft eyes. Alternate methods to make the added facial and head features include items from nature such as twigs or small stones or bits of sea glass found on the shore. For a softer look, make hair, feathers and manes out of fabric or yarn. To make the ornaments glittery to reflect the tree lights, paint the edges with gold or silver paint or add glue and fine glitter to highlight the edges and facial details.

References

• Nature: Seashells
• All-About-Seashells: Types of Mollusks