Easy Monogram Sea Shell Craft for Summer Fun
Do you need an easy Monogram Sea Shell Craft
for some summer fun with your indoors time?
Another good use for shore finds.
Today is a very important day.
It’s Kim’s birthday!
We wanted to make a project together to celebrate,
and she loves beach stuff, and even though she already has a large collection of pretty shore décor, we decided to make this monogram initial. With all the shells and starfish she’s collected over the years, from beaches she’s visited.
The Philippines. San Diego. St. Simon’s Island. Savannah. North Carolina.
Monogram Sea Shell Craft
Our Supplies:
- Ordinary brown cardboard to make a monogram about 12″ tall and 10″ wide.
- Scissors or Exacto knife to cut the cardboard.
- Printed letter of choice. We used a chunky block font.
- Elmer’s or Tacky glue. Some thin enough to brush onto the cardboard, yet thick enough to grab the crushed seashells. Regular thick glue or hot glue to attach the seashells.
- Crushed seashells.
- Regular small to medium seashells of all types.
- Clear acrylic varnish.
How we did it and what we should have done differently:
- We printed the letters out on two sheets of printer paper, because they’re larger than one sheet. We taped them together, then cut out the outlines. Tape the letter outlines onto the cardboard. We cut 2 pieces of cardboard for each letter, to make the backing thicker. (We should have cut the cardboard crosswise from each other, to help keep them straight after the project is done.) Glue the 2 pieces of cardboard together.
- Cover the initial with a layer of glue. Use the brush to spread it in a solid layer. If the glue is too thick to brush easily, dampen the brush with water and cover the whole initial. Pour the crushed seashells over the glue, and press down into the glue. Shake the monogram and crushed shells onto a piece of newspaper to get all the loose stuff off. (We should have brushed glue on only part of the initial so the glue doesn’t begin to dry before you pour the crushed seashells on.) Be sure the crushed shells along the edges are glued solidly, covering the sides of the cardboard for a more attractive finish.
- When the glue is dried on the monogram, begin arranging the larger seashells over the monogram, and then glue them on. We used hot glue, but we did burn our fingers a little. Either use silicone finger protectors, or use regular glue. I decided on the hot glue because my girls like speed, and regular glue would have frustrated them. As it was, I had to do the finishing touches.
- When our monograms were all done, some of the crushed seashells still dropped off the cardboard. To keep things neat, so mom wouldn’t complain about tiny shells messing up their rooms, I brushed clear acrylic varnish over the whole project in a thick layer. It seemed to do the trick to seal everything together.
