The other day we were at the beach and, as children do, they started collecting shells along the walk. This is a common occurrence for us. But often the shells end up in a pile on the floor, or in a craft drawer somewhere.
So this time I was determined to put these collected natural treasures to good use!
My son had collected some driftwood sticks too, and we’ve used these previously as driftwood jewellery holders, so I thought what about combining the two? A driftwood hanging shell mobile!
A very simple craft, and you can make them as simple or complex is your child likes.
Handmade Shell Mobile
You will need:
Shells
Drift wood
Resene test pot paints
Wool
Hot glue gun and glue
Paintbrush
What to do:
1. Collect some shells and drift wood from the beach:
2. Give the shells a wash to remove any salt and sand, and dry them off.
3. Paint your shells all over in different colours. I went for a simple red, blue and yellow concept:
4. Add pattern using white and black. I painted a mixture of black and white dots and stripes. To do the dots I just used the end of a shish kebab stick.
5. Paint up a piece of drift wood in matching colours, and let it dry.
6. Tie a piece of wool to your driftwood.
7. Start hot gluing your shells on to the wool.
8. To hang your creations, just tie a knot at the top and make a loop to hang on something. I used a pipecleaner twirled and glued around the wool, which made a nice, sturdy loop for hanging.
For hundreds more crafting ideas check out our Creative arts and crafts section.
