Wow! I can’t believe it’s day six already of these Valentine tutorials!
I hope that you have enjoyed these projects, today’s is one of my favorites using seashells I collected on vacation!
Some materials that you will need are:
A glue gun
Craft tweezers (mine have rubber ends)
A 12″ x 12″ shadow box
a 14″ x 14″ inch piece of red felt (a couple of inches extra to wrap over)
Lots of small bivalve shells (buttons will work too!)
Some 1/8 and/or 1/4 inch ribbon
A doll needle. (pointed, large eye, about 2-2 1’2 inches long)
seed beads (optional)
In this picture you’ll notice the ribbon I selected initially does not work with the needle so I had to modify to 1/8 and 1/4 inch ribbons.
First, cut a square piece of felt 14 inches. It should be couple of inches larger than your frame size. Trace the heart in the center of your felt piece. Take into account you will add ribbon around it.
Start with larger shells around the edge.
Lay out your shells or buttons just to get a “feel” and make sure you have enough.
I glued about 4 inches at a time.
Lay the shells side to side around the perimeter. You may think to do them in one direction, but later I had to “make like the ocean” and just let them tell me where they should go. It’s all good!
Afterwards, I blasted it with an air can to get rid of unsuspecting sand grains that appeared during the process.
You may have noticed these shells have holes….
I filled them with white and red seed beads using Craft Bond Glue.
Next, thread the ribbon through the needle (I worked with the whole roll then cut at the end) starting at the top center stitch about an inch over and under with the ribbon. Don’t pull it too tight it should just lay flat looser rather than tighter. Continue until you get to the starting point.
Repeat with second ribbon, using the same openings from the first ribbon. The second ribbon should be loose, I twisted it a little to give a little texture and movement.
**Watch that the needle doesn’t go through the first ribbon on your second round, or the ribbon can split.
When taking apart the shadow box, I used the cardboard it came with to secure the now “heavy” felt piece with hot glue around the edges and especially behind the heart.
I gently centered the felt over the cardboard, and hot glued the overlap to the back. I cut my felt shorter, your margin should be larger based on measurements I gave you. : )
Lastly, I glued that cardboard to the back part of the shadow box the sits on the lip away from the glass.
I’m really happy with how this one came out! Don’t forget to post your projects on the flicker group!
Tomorrow….buttons! Oh have you seen what Sheri is up to at Sunshine in the Attic? Go on, take a look!
