Hanging on to Summer

The other day I showed you how I ‘shell-acked’ some shells from our Sanibel trip:

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Well, I still had this big pot of shells to do something with:

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I didn’t realize I had picked up so many of these pretty purple and orange scallops until it came time to pack for the flight home! But I liked them because they reminded me of my dining room:

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Or at least the direction I wanted my dining room to go in…I love color combinations that occur in nature.

When we got home, I knew this naked hurricane would be the perfect place to incorporate the shells into the room:

hurricane - plain

So back out came the supplies….Triple Thick Gloss Glaze and a craft brush:

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You can really see the difference Shellac makes in these shells:

before after shells

It draws out the colors and makes them much more vibrant. The shells with the orange stripe will serve as inspiration for eventually reshaping my dining room. I had a bottle of black sand Mr. Sugarplum and I brought back from a trip to Santorini, so I figured this was as good a place as any to use it:

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Um, yes it’s September and I just added sand and shells to my hurricanes. But it’s 90 degrees here…still applicable!! (I can justify anything!) I’ll pack them up soon enough and switch it out for something more ‘Fall appropriate.’

shell hurricanes

Pretty, yes?

hurrican before and after

Too bad no one actually sits at this table to enjoy them!

What about you…are you bringing Fall in, or hanging on to Summer a little longer?

Leave a Comment

7 Comments

  1. I am thinking of paintin street pebbles(of course the round and plain ones)and huge semented rocks. Can you suggest what type of paint I should use for this? I am from india so i might not get the brand you'd suggest but I can definitely get paint types in Indian brand. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    <3

    Posted 9.17.10 Reply
  2. Hi — this is more of a glossy glaze, as opposed to paint. It's clear. You could probably use Mod Podge or something similiar.

    Good luck!
    xo, cassie

    Posted 9.17.10 Reply
  3. and to think I paid Pottery Barn for shells last year (at least I got them on sale since it was the end of summer)! So cute.

    Posted 9.18.10 Reply
  4. Hey, that's a huge difference in the color! I normally leave the scallops without any finish but yours are so pretty and rich in your hurricane, I might try it too. Thanks!

    Posted 9.20.10 Reply
  5. Heather wrote:

    Love it. We just bck from the beach and my mom picked up a lot of shells, I'll send this her way! Would love for you to link it up to Fab Friday (open till Wed)
    http://www.savingmoneylivinglife.com/2010/09/fabulous-friday-featuring-you-guys.html
    Thanks for considering!

    Posted 9.20.10 Reply
  6. Great tip! Thank you.

    Posted 9.22.10 Reply
  7. love it, we came back from sanibel this summer and had brought back a ton of shells also check out what I did with mine
    http://candidkoosh.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-to-do-with-30lbs-of-shells.html

    kashya from candidkoosh

    Posted 9.24.10 Reply