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I made some of the easiest coastal Christmas ornaments yet.
A few weekends ago when I went on my little shore excursion, I came home with a random collection of sea-ness. I posted about the adventure here.
I even found a fully intact light bulb that I turned into an ornament here.
And used some sea urchins to make super cute snow(wo)men ornaments here.
For all of the little shells I was left with I went with a super simple upgrade. Drill a hole, glue on some glitter, add a red ribbon hanger and voila.
Cuteness!
Now, the drilling was not fool proof. There were quite a few shell (and even one drill bit) casualties in the process. I ended up using a drill bit intended for use drilling concrete. It worked to get through the shells, but sometimes the little suckers still just fell apart.
After drilling I brushed glue around the edge of the shells and just coated it with glitter.
Super simple. And just the right amount of bling to turn basic natural items into ornaments for our rustic little coastal Christmas tree.
I also took a few shells that weren’t the pretty white color and painted them red and beglittered them for a few more coastal Christmas touches.
While doing this process I also figured I could use the glue and glitter to cover up some bauble blemishes.
Have you guys all seen the beautiful ornaments that Miss Mustard Seed has made? Including this one…
I ended up with a similar result on my green baubles, and the glitter covered up all the scratches that had been there. Score!
I also glittered the top piece that holds the hook in because it was gold and my glitter was silver. I just coated it with glue and let the glitter set.
All of these items were so simple it’s hard to even call it a project. The glittered green baubles have my favorite trait of intentional imperfection and I always love when I can use natural elements in my decor.
I also played around with using sand as “glitter”. I did it here with my salt dough starfish and I also used it on some silver baubles because it actually showed up better than silver glitter. I used the same glue and glitter technique as with the green ones and then I also created some holly on the beach baubles.
Hello reflection photography! 😉
The silver baubles actually started as scratched green baubles. I tried to cover one with torn book page pieces but it didn’t work out that great. And the glue/water mixture took a lot of the green covering off of the bauble. So, I just used water to get the rest off, and actually “clean” off all the green from a few others. That would have been an even easier upgrade, to just leave them plain silver.
TIP!!! Keep that in mind if you find scarred baubles at discount shops or yard sales. You could either use the glue glitter technique or maybe even just wash off the entire scratched finish to unveil a beautiful new bauble. How easy is that?
So, what do you think of the creations? Do you like the addition of the glitter to the shells or just prefer them au natural? Do you think it’s the right amount of bling or just tacky? What about the sand as glitter?
I am sharing this project here, here, here and here. Check ém out!
Modern Country Lady says
I love what you did! So clever- and I actually prefer your results to what Mis Mustard seed produced.. stttt don’t tell hahaha.
maria says
glitter makes everything better! I’m having a link party on my blog and I’d be tickled pink if you’d link this up! http://caribbeanmissionarywife.blogspot.com/2011/12/t-time-48-and-link-party.html
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
Thank you for the invite. Happy Holidays from one island to another. 🙂
Johnnie Lanier says
I love the green one with silver glitter! Thanks for stopping by today. Blessings…
Printable Decor
Saved By Love Creations
Megacrafty says
I really like how these all turned out. Glad you mentioned something about drilling through the shells. I’ve had a hard time with that before myself and was wondering how your process worked.
SO interesting that you can just wash the scratched finish off those ornaments. Very cool to know… and adding some glitter like you did is definitely a great fix for the scratched surface.
I’m thinking of doing a roundup of ornaments from crafty challenge participants. Can I use a picture or two of yours and link to your projects?
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
Yes, of course, please use some of my pics. 🙂 I actually just posted my finale this morning and put all the project links and some pics in that one post, might be an easy place for you to find what you’d like to highlight.
As you’ll see in the post today, you may need to give me some guidance on my final budget number. I really have no idea what to allocate for cost toward items I used that I had on hand.
But, I absolutely loved the spirit of the challenge and as I pointed out in today’s post it really kicked me into gear this holiday season. I’m so glad you came up with the idea! Thank you, thank you!!
emily says
I love glitter too! I’d like to invite you to come over and join my special ornament link party… open the rest of this month.. I also have a FAB ornament giveaway you can enter. Hope you can check it out!
http://nap-timecreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/ornamentsparty-giveaway.html
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
Thank you Emily, I’m all linked up. 🙂
Lori says
Fantastic idea! I just love the shells with glitter. I’m a new follower too, so I don’t miss a thing. Warm wishes
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
Thank you Lori!
abeachcottage says
Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing, they all look lovely 🙂
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
Thanks!
Rebecca Scott says
What a fun, clever way to keep old ornaments when they get worn! It’s sad to throw them away and have to buy new ones when the only thing wrong with them is scratches.
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
Thank you Rebecca!
Renee @ Rustic Crafts says
What a great idea for repairing scratches and it looks so beautiful! I would love to have you share this at my Christmas link party over at Rustic Crafts ~ http://rustic-crafts.com/?p=3698
I hope to see you there!
Renee
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
Thanks so much Renee. I came over and linked up and tried to leave a comment but had trouble with the Captcha code?!? Happy Holidays!
amy says
Oh. my. goodness. You’re a girl after my own heart. I’ve taught my 3 year old to repeat “Glitter makes everything better,” and I loooove beachy decor. I’m crazy about your ornaments, and I totally love the glitter on them. The sand effect is neat too. Great post, great projects…thanks for sharing at Shine On Fridays!
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
hahaha! Thanks for the sweet comment!
Lindsi B says
Isn’t that the truth! Glitter DOES make everything better! Would you please share this with my readers for Fun Stuff Fridays? http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2011/12/fun-stuff-fridays-4-3-weeks-long-for.html
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
I’m all linked up, thanks for the invite!
Melanie says
Very nice- great ideas. Thanks for linking to Things I’ve Done Thursday!
Melanie
http://www.bearrabbitbear.com
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says
Thanks for hosting Melanie!