We have returned from the sea and, oh, what adventures we have had! I have so much to write that I fear my head may actually burst but the children don’t go back for a couple of days and I have uniforms, lunch boxes and salt tangled hair to sort before they do! So today I am sharing a simple craft to round off the summer – a memory box collage of seashells to remind us of the best shell beach in the world EVER!

I’ll be writing more about our visit to Falmouth and the beach we fell in love with but for now let me show you a tiny portion of the shell collection we carried back to the boat from Castle Beach.

Perfect teeny tiny shells, some so small they are dwarfed by the tip of my smallest finger and all crying out to be made into beautiful things. I have SO many plans for these beauties so keep an eye on Thinly Spread for more seashell crafts if you too are a shell fan!

Today’s craft is so simple, it’s one I have used to create mementos of forest walks (using bark, pine cones and leaves), of garden visits (using pressed flowers, seeds and berries) and days out (using ticket stubs, trinkets and collaged words) and it is perfect for these tiny shells.

You Will Need

A small wooden picture frame

PVA glue or a hot glue gun

Seashells

A selection of paper and card with different colours and textures

Scissors

How to Make a Seashell Collage

• Remove the glass from the photo frame
• Cut a piece of card the same size as the frame and insert it as a backing
• Cut out  6 squares of paper and card in contrasting colours and textures

• Glue the 6 pieces onto your backing card – experiment before you stick them down; which look best beside each other, which will best complement your shells?

• Now experiment with your shells. How many on each square? All the same type or a random selection?

• Try them in lots of ways before gluing them into place

• Look at how the shells work with their background – we loved these tiny mussels shells on this wavy corrugated card
• You will need a generous blob of PVA for each shell (a hot glue gun works better but smaller children will need supervision, beware of burns!) and you will need to be patient while it hardens. It is a good idea to glue the shells down and then leave your collage to dry overnight so don’t put it in the middle of the tea-table so ‘someone’ moves it before it’s dry, they all fall off and you have to start again – voice of experience!