Seashell Jars and Something Sticky {DIY}

Disclaimer: It is my intention that this be my last post about the beach, the ocean, sand, sun, beach chairs, going to the beach, memories of the beach, and so on. My intention. 

I just have a few super simple ideas for all. those. shells. you may have, and because writing about shells and driftwood is far simpler than writing about feelings. 

It may come as no surprise that I love shells. The kind that land on the shoreline, a tiny piece of them glistening in the sun, the kind that you approach with child like hope that it is whole, complete, worthy of being carried by you, tucked into the soft blue sheer fabric of your sundress, the kind that are deserving of being collected in buckets as your children run to you, shouting out that they have found a beautiful shell Mom as the sand leapfrogs out from beneath their running feet. 

Sometimes, my children have different ideas about what makes a shell worthy of coming home. I tend to look for the ones that I can add to my growing collection, the ones surrounding my pond and waterfall that we created one day on a whim almost seven years ago.  They bring me the broken, the sharp, the rounded, the rough, the smooth. 

And I take them all. Every single one of them. 

They are not all outside around the pond. Some seem too fragile. Some seem too sharp. Some seem too beautiful. Too meaningful. So I keep them. All of them. I  have shells sitting in buckets in my garage from...a very long time ago. 

I am not really crafty. I cannot make a shell wreath, don't have the patience to make shell candles, and don't want to throw rocks on a plate and arrange shells in the middle because, well, obviously. My bathroom has a sort of beachy theme going on with color schemes and such, and a few prints over the towel rack of the beach or a starfish and this jar full of shells that mean so much to me really looks fabulous on the counter top in there now. It was so easy, and looks even cuter than I expected. You can make this even if you don't live near a beach or have never been to a beach or love the beach but don't feel like dragging shit home from the beach, because they sell little bags of shells and sand and everything you need to make this at your local craft store. 

Since I clearly have an addiction of sorts when it comes to obtaining mason jars or making pretend mason jars out of regular jars, I decided to make a memory jar out of some of my favorite shells from this summer. I wrapped the lid in jute to give the jar a more nautical look, and used sand purchased from a craft store. Also? It's a good idea to soak your shells in a tiny splash of bleach and water overnight to make sure you rid them of bacteria. If the color in the shells fades at all, you can rub them with a small amount of vinegar and warm water and it will pop right back out. 

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 I had a small-ish piece of driftwood that I very easily turned into a magnet as well. I washed it, lightly sanded it, and put a thin coat of acrylic paint on it that I already had. When the paint was dry, I lightly sanded it in places to give it a more 'weathered' look, threw on a sticker from my sheet of beachy stickers I had gotten months ago in a dollar bin at Target, and rubbed the sticker with the back of a teaspoon to see if I could get it to sink a bit into the soft driftwood and look less 'stickery'. Last? A few magnets (of medium to strong strength) on the back and that is it. For real. So, so easy guys. Stick a family pic from the beach under this magnet on the fridge and look like the most awesome and loving and wistful mommy in the whole neighborhood. 

Even if you're making crafty stuff to stay calm until the kids go back to school, and not so much because you feel like printing a pic of the kids looking in seventeen different directions with clumps of wet sand in their hair blowing across their squinting eyes. 

I mean, you might be. Maybe. Doing that. 

I think it looks pretty adorable! 

Enjoy the rest of your long weekend! ~

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