Shell Displays

My husband and I recently celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary.  We spent a very relaxing weekend on Palm Island on the west coast of Florida.  It's a very small, island that you have to take a ferry over to get to.  There are no bridges, so you have to pay the $55 ferry fee to access the island.  But the secluded beaches are worth it!  Not to mention the tons of shells you can find!  I live on the east coast, so I'm used to the shell-less beaches we have here.  This mostly deserted beach is like a treasure hunt of beautiful things with so many different shells, sea life and sharks teeth!  We collected a ton of shells and decided that we wanted to make a display of some sort as a remembrance of our 10th anniversary.

To clean my shells, I soaked them in a mixture of bleach and water for a few hours and let them dry.  Then I rubbed a little baby oil on the shells to give them a shine and let them dry for a few more minutes. 

I found my glass container at Homegoods.  I prefer the vases with lids for these displays just because it is easier to keep the dust off the shells that way.  I found decor sand at my craft store.  The coral and shells I found on the beach, but if you don't live close to a beach you can always find some at your craft store as well. 

I simply poured in half the sand, placed my coral in the middle and poured in the rest of the sand.  Then I arranged the rest of the shells.  This is a simple, but beautiful display for any home.

This is a centerpiece from one of my friend's weddings.  I liked the bright blue rocks she added for a little color and interest.

Here is another lidded vase I used to display a large number of shells we collected on another vacation.