Beachy Crafts for Summer #3

Remember that metal easel I got at a garage sale recently?  I wanted to try covering it in shell necklaces.

Well, it worked!  I am really happy how it turned out, plus it was fun to make.

It turned out how I envisioned it and it was easy to do too!

Step one: cover the metal with cotton twine, mine was the thickest twine I could find.  I started the twine with a dab of hot glue and wrapped the twine tightly, using a dab of hot glue occasionally to keep the twine tight.

Use hot glue to start the shell necklace placing the shells at a diagonal and wrap down at an angle….so you are not wrapping the shell necklace like you wrapped the twine.

Don’t worry about blank spaces as you are wrapping at a diagonal…you will have room to stagger another shell necklace if you are working on the diagonal.

I ran out of necklaces and I am glad because I like the whimsy of mixing the other shells into the mix after I wrapped the top and bottom “swirls” with the cotton twine.  I didn’t want to wrap the crossbar because it would make it hard to have space for the picture.  Plus the crossbar is hidden when it holds a picture.

I purchased the frame at a garage sale recently and filled it with an image I purchased at SouthPacific @ Etsy.

So gather up your shell necklaces and make your own shell encrusted beauty!