Hi friends! With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I thought I would share with you what the twins and I made for my mother, our one-and-only, long-suffering, beloved-above-all-others Mimi. Considering the fact that I have no idea how I could have made it through the past two years without her, I wanted her present to be extra special.
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I’ve caught Mimi admiring our Painted Nature Collage on more than one occasion, and the twins absolutely loved creating that particular masterpiece, so I thought we’d do a version of it just for her using dyed seashells. The idea for dying seashells with Easter egg dye came from this post from the Educator’s Spin On It, so hop on over there for instructions after you finish here!
Will and Sydney were SO excited to be making something for Mimi. They kept running to the front door to see if she was here, and Syd held entire conversations with an imaginary Mimi throughout the process. Seriously. She was narrating her actions the entire time! “I pushin’ down the clay, Mimi! Look at tha hands! Eeew, it’s dirty, Mimi! Mommy gotta washit!”
Just like in our original nature collage, we removed the glass from an ordinary white picture frame and then pressed Crayola Air Dry Clay
into the blank space where a picture would normally go. Unlike last time, this time I removed the thin cardboard backing and replaced it with stiff foam core board. Then I used Gorilla Tape
to secure the board to the back of the frame. Hopefully this will prevent the clay from cracking as it dries.
After we got the clay all pushed down, the twins proceeded to poke holes in it very meticulously with their fingers. Pure concentration!
After that was taken care of, I gave them a box of shells that we had dyed together earlier in the day and let them have at it. They were both extremely focused on this task, and Sydney especially had to have each shell “just so.” She would often place a shell carefully on the clay, stare at it, and then say “Nope” very matter-of-factly and move it somewhere else.
It was really adorable to watch.
I love this one. Although I was trying to photograph the “shell tower” Will was building, I caught Syd’s face admiring his handiwork. Priceless!
After they were satisfied with their shell creation, I carefully put the frame on a shelf to dry. It takes a few days for this project to fully harden, so if you want to make one for a gift, be sure to start a few days before. Also, be sure that all your shells or other objects are pressed firmly down into the clay so they don’t fall out after it dries.
I love it, don’t you? The perfect gift for the perfect Mimi. Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!
Love it! It’s beautiful! Can’t wait to hear how Mimi loves it!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I’d love to do a version of this with some of our beachcombing finds.
And as always, I love how you include quotes from your kids. It’s fun to read the cute things they say.
Really pretty idea!
Absolutely love this project. Not only is it fun and interactive, but it’s beautiful too! I might just have to try something like this with our painted rocks. Thanks for the inspiration my friend. Pinned!
Really pretty but you can only use small seashells I see. The beach near us seems to only have large ones
Hi Faigie!
In my humble opinion, the greatest thing about art is you can do whatever you want! I would LOVE to have a free collection of large seashells to collect- I would supersize this project in a heartbeat! Or, you could use pretty rocks, gems, other natural items, sea glass…the possibilities are endless! Thanks for reading and have a lovely day.
Stephanie
When you think about it, that’s got to be the right answre.
Stephanie this is adsolutely beautiful and such fun to do with the kids. What a fun way to remember a beach vacation too. Thank you for mentioning our Sea Shell Project!