Like many of you, I’ve been thinking about the Gulf Coast lately. Growing up in Alabama, I spent many vacations there and for the past five years or so our family has made an annual visit to St. George Island, a pristine barrier island in the Apalachicola Bay area. This island is home to many amazing species of birds and wildlife and it’s sad to think about these beautiful areas being damaged by the spill. I feel that we’re all culpable to an extent due to our dependence on oil (I drove my car 8 miles already today), but I’m sickened by the oil industry’s seeming lack of regard for our earth. Anyway, you can visit the National Audubon’s Society website to help the birds affected by the oil spill.
I put together this seashell shadow box with some shells collected from the the beach last year. These are coquina shells that are shaped like little butterflies. I used a shadow box and hot glue to adhere them to the fabric, but I think a tacky glue or epoxy might be a better choice if adhering your shells to a hard surface.
A note about my shells: I found these on the beach after the animals had left them. It’s important to note that you probably shouldn’t ever buy shells because you can’t be sure about how they were gathered.
I really like this idea! We live in Alaska on Prince William Sound which was of course, the site of the Exxon Valdez spill. We didn’t live here at the time, but I think something like this would be a fun keepsake of our time living along the coast. I’ll have to collect some things this summer.
Thanks for your thoughtful post!
this si so beautiful, what a lovely tribute.
I love this idea for coquina shells! This project brings back many great shell-collecting memories.
Thanks for the Audubon Society link, too.
So cute! I’ve seen a few scrapbook paper butterfly frames, but I love this idea! I have a huge collection of shells from when I was a kid. This would get them out of the box and into something beautiful. I can see it with a chocolate background and pink trim for my little girls room!
that is beautiful. thanks so much for sharing 🙂
This is a beautiful piece of artwork! I’m an Alabama native as well, so it’s near and dear to my heart.
Lovely!
Where do you buy the shadow boxes from?
this is so fun! thanks for pointing that out about ethically harvesting the shells. 😉
I adore this! I wish we found more shells like this in the Puget sound. Next vacation for sure!
I collected a bunch of these type of shells at the beach last summer because I also thought they looked like butterflies. 🙂
I love this idea and St. George Island!
Being a Mobile girl, we go to gulf shores often. As a little girl, I remember picking up these shells by the hundreds during the summer. I’m praying that life as we know it won’t be distroyed before my children are old enough to love the gulf as I do.
I grew up in Gulf Shores and can’t believe I never thought of displaying these like a butterfly collection! Beautiful–I’m going to have to get out my little box of shells tonight:)
I like to collect shells too. I like the way you displaiyed your “butterflys”. I have a lot of shells that I have collected over the years, and use them in a lot of my crafts. So nice to meet a fellow collector. Barbara