Seashell Wall Hanging

I recently went on a beach trip with my mom, and along the way I picked up a lot of beautiful shiny Jingle Shells. As a crafty creative person I knew I wanted to make something out of them. I ended up settling on an easy wall hanging, but the same simple steps could be applied to a chandelier, mobile, or wind chime. With a few walks on the beach and a couple spare hours on a weekend you can make a lovely piece to both add to your home decor and bring back memories of a fun vacation.

Seashell mobiles are not really the most original of projects, but I think my process here lays out a simple method anyone could do. The supplies are all either cheap or you might already own. Good luck!

-Jingle Shells (commonly found all over the eastern coast of the USA and tropical regions)

-driftwood or suitable stick ready to be hung

-hot glue gun

-clear jewelry twine or fishing line

-hammer

-very small nail

-hemp string

-cutting board or some kind of surface that can be nailed into

This wall hanging comprises of strings hanging down from the piece of driftwood. I want to have the strings hanging so that the longest strand is in the middle, with shorter and shorter ones on either side. I arranged the shells so that the largest ones are at the top with each one getting consecutively smaller. This particular mobile has 9 strands. I included a few with holes in them to add some variety and character.

At this point you're going to work shell by shell on each strand. Use the hammer and a nail to carefully punch a hole on each end of each shell. You should end up with each shell having two small holes on the ends. Keep in mind that the bottom shell on each strand only requires one hole.

This is the most time-consuming part of the whole process. Be careful with your fingers. Make sure you have your cutting board or protective surface underneath the nail while you hammer.

Now you're going to cut a length of your clear thread or twine. Knot it around the shell at the bottom of the line that has only one hole. (Check the first picture.) Next you can thread the rest of the shells on the line. When you're done at the end of the line of shells, feel free to knot the thread to secure the string of shells. Do not cut the excess thread from the top end.

Repeat the process of making holes and threading the shells for all the other strings. The last picture shows all the strings of shells.

At this point, go ahead and plug in your hot glue gun for it to heat up. always use extreme caution working with hot glue!

Cut a length of hemp cord. You're going to want to knot each end with a loop. (First picture) Now put a loop around each end of the wood. (Second picture) Pull the knot tight so the wood is pretty secure.

Use the glue gun to add some glue to the back of the wood on the string. (Third picture) This will hold it down firmly and prevent it from sliding. Have the knots facing upwards and snip off excess ends of cord.

Now you should have some string which you can use to wrap around the wood. This is what the strings of shells will attach to. Since we have nine strings of shells, I will want nine places where I can secure them to the string. That means wrapping it around the wood nine times, with the loops at the bottom spaced evenly apart. To do this, glue one end of the string to the knot of existing string. (Fourth picture) When the glue has hardened (just a few minutes usually) go ahead and wrap the string around and around, being sure to space each coil evenly with the right number of loops at the bottom. The fifth picture shows me holding the loose end to make sure I've got it right. When you're sure you have the right number of loops and are satisfied, glue the second end down. Add a another bit of glue to the back of the wood on top of each loop as well. (Last picture)

Now you have your wood ready to add the strings of shells. Start with the middle and longest string and tie the extra line around the loop of hemp string. Once it's knotted well, cut off the excess twine. Repeat the process for each string.

Finally you can add a bead of glue on each of those knots to ensure they hold. This kind of twine is usually made of plastic, so knots can slip sometimes. I like to make sure they stick with a little glue.

I love how this project turned out. It took about three hours from start to finish, including documenting my pictures for this tutorial. It is a lovely piece and I think it's a worthwhile project to turn a memory into a piece of art. The steps are simple and easy to understand, I think. With some planning you could even turn this into a unique piece different from what I've instructed. It's all up to you.

If I could do it differently, I think using a drill to make holes up through the wood could save the addition of the hemp string coil. The string does feel beachy to me, though, so I don't mind it at all.

Let me know in the comments if you make this project! I hope it sparks some inspiration.