I’ve been feeling very inspired by seashells lately, finding different ways to work them into my decor. One of my recent creations is this nautical seashell wreath, which would be a great way to use souvenirs from a beach vacation. Even if you don’t have shells and rope on hand, you should still be able to make this for just a few dollars.
Project estimate:
- Rope, on hand or $1 and up
- Foam board, on hand or $1
- Assorted seashells, on hand or $1 and up
- Pebbles, on hand or $1
- White acrylic paint, on hand or $1 and up
- Spray paint, on hand or $1 and up
- Hot glue, on hand
- Onion bag or other mesh bag, on hand
Total: Free and up!
Cut a circle out of a foam board for your wreath. It should be about 2″ wide.
Glue the rope starting on the edge of the foam board. Continue gluing until you have covered the entire circle and sides. Be generous with your glue. Paint white and let dry overnight.
The knot I used is called a “Poacher’s Knot” but you don’t have to use a knot if you don’t want to. I used it in lieu of a bow, making the ends look like tails of a bow. There are many different nautical knots on the Internet that you can make, check them out!
Tie the knot and generously glue it in place.
Cover all loose ends of rope with hot glue to prevent fraying.
Add pieces of rope to the wreath (as seen above) to give your wreath dimension. Paint all the rope you’ve added and let dry overnight.
Start adding as many shells as you like. I began under the pieces of rope. You can make clusters of shells or cover the entire wreath like I did. Again, be generous with your glue. After the shells were glued on, a wedged in a few pebbles. My seashells were not all perfect so the pebbles and paint helped me hide the imperfections.
The last thing I added was the netting. First, I cut it into a 3″ strip and cut it so that it was like a piece of ribbon. I glued and tucked one of the ends between two shells and wrapped it around the wreath. Because of the netting, I had to spray paint the wreath. The spray paint didn’t cover the shells and rope as well as the acrylic paint. Be prepared to apply at least two coats of acrylic paint, letting fully dry in between coats.
Terrie’s tips:
- If you prefer a natural look, don’t paint or paint any colour you choose.
- Instead of the rope I used, you could also use old cable (from cable TV), a thinner cord braided together, or an old extension cord.
- The little blue spots in the rope were hard to cover! Be prepared to apply several coats of paint if your rope isn’t white.
- Be sure to paint the edges, top, bottom and inside of the wreath.
- I used a sponge brush to get into tight areas.
