At Christmas time many families like to decorate their tree with some homemade ornaments. A coastal or southern lifestyle will usually include trips to the beach and all those seashells can be used as home decor as well as ornaments. Just use a little imagination and you can use your beach shells in crafts and activities for the kids.
These days money seems to be tighter than ever, so giving homemade gifts at the holidays is a popular option. Get the kids away from the television and video games, with a table spread with paints, glitter, ribbons and glue, and a bunch of seashells.
The white scallop shell, with it’s rippled flair can be an angels skirt. Sand dollars can be painted with a holiday scene, or sprinkled with glitter. The seashell named the “angel wing” can be used as such. Hit the local craft or dollar store to find Styrofoam balls and glue little shells all around the outside. This will keep the kids busy for a while!
A starfish, or sea star, looks great tied with a bow or ribbon, or decorate one to represent each family member.
Sometimes the shell, or sand dollar will have a natural hole in it to make hanging it easy, but if not, use strong glue to add a rope, ribbon, yarn or raffia.
If you have a lot of starfish, they can be piled on top of each other to create an entire little tree replica and used as a centerpiece. Or glue various shells to a cone shape and add the starfish to the top, like in the picture at Zimbio.
Seashell ornaments make nice gifts for teachers, neighbors or friends. And be sure to keep some to hang on your own Christmas tree. If you don’t know where to buy seashells, read my page about Where to Buy Seashells.
Related articles
- How to Clean Seashells (parenting-success.com)
- Seashells and Glue Guns: A Weekend Project! (beachtreasuresandtreasurebeaches.com)