Seashell Shopping at The Hut

Today I'm participating  in the very first Shop Your House Sunday with our lovely hostess, Kendall at Finesse Your Nest.

The premise behind this new meme is to "Shop" your house (in your pajamas if you wanna!) and create something for free! 

Projects can be ANYTHING,  like repurposing an item, moving something to a different room for a new look, a recycled project, painting projects, organizing projects, tablescapes, rearranging furniture...the sky's the limit.




I can't tell you how perfect this is for me! I have so many projects that have been put on the back burner, especially since I started blogging. When Kendall first announced she was going to hold this weekly event, I left a comment that said something to the effect that it would force me to get some of these things done. AND, this week I did just that.

If you were around The Hut at Christmas time you'll remember that I made a seashell "tree" in lieu of our traditional tree. This is how it turned out:


Well, I hate to admit this, but after Christmas I moved it out of the way and this morning it was still sitting there on a little table in the dining room. We have a lot going on around here (you'll find out more later this week) and I've been meaning to take it apart, remove all the Christmas goodies and make it into a simple shell display. We have a LOT of shells around The Hut and putting them in vases and jars is one of my favorite ways to enjoy part of my collection.

I finally started and finished this project this morning with my morning coffee. Thanks Kendall for helping me get this particular project completed and yes, I did it in my pajamas!

 

This is the completed look and I must say, I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. The next time you're at the beach and your hubby is asking you what your going to do with all those shells when you get them home — think about something like this. It's a lovely reminder of days spent on the beach, especially during the winter.

I often see people do something like this, but they usually just dump the shells in a vase. When I start mine, I fill the bottom with either sand or crushed shells. Then I line the bottom sides with a few of my favorites. Next I put something larger in the middle to act as a holder of sorts. In this one I used a piece of coral. This way I can "perch" other goodies on it so that I end up with interesting nooks and crannies. You'll find visitors will peer inside to see what is partially hidden from their view.

See what I mean? Your eyes are drawn to those little crannies and it is much more interesting than just dumping in the shells.

In this photo you can see the tips of a couple of other shells that would have been lost had I used the dumping method.

The pieces you add will end up wedging themselves between the coral and the glass and actually be very stable.


I like to top the glass with a something like a shallow bowl to hold a candle. This serves two purposes — I have a unique candle holder and it keeps out the dust and pet hair, very important here at The Hut. You can also top it with just a glass circle cut at your local glass shop. But, be sure to top it with something, these are a pain to keep clean otherwise.

So, that's my project this week, very easy I know, but finally all traces of Christmas have disappeared from The Hut and I can move on to something else. I hope you all enjoyed this project and that it will give you the incentive to do some of yours. When you do be sure to link up with Shop Your House Sunday, I'd love to see the results.

Stop by Kendall's by clicking on the button in this post or in my sidebar to see who else participated this week.