We lost our beach cabin during Hurrican IKE and as the warmer weather rolls around, I miss it even more. It was our own little slice of heaven...to see my post on that, click
here.
All this to say that I've gone a little crazy with seashells this year in my decorating. I just love their natural beauty, simpleness, and stories. Don't you imagine they have great stories to tell? Where they began, traveled, who lived in them?
As I was browsing one day, I ran across
this blog. They have the most gorgeous shell bottles! I loved that they were made using vintage items. They were a bit rustic, like they had a story to tell themselves. As I studied them closer and read all I could on their site, my wheels began to turn. I thought, hey, I could make them, I had the sand, seashells, jute...I just needed the bottles and a soldering iron.
The search began for vintage bottles. I decide to visit one of my favorite little antique shops. They had a huge sign out front that they were closing and thus having a 50% SALE! And as luck would have it, they had a box of bottles.
SOLD - I picked up 8 {and should have bought the entire lot!}
On to soldering...no problem...my handy-dandy husband {HDH} could help me with this, in fact I think he even had a soldering iron.
Now...how do you solder?
He gave me a quick lesson but said that it only worked metal to metal.
Hm...I wasn't working with metal to metal, only glass to shell. So I went back to the above site and yep, they were soldering.
How did they do that?
{...apparently there's a resin to use that makes the metal you're melting "stick" to the other surface...}
TMI for me.
My HDH suggested I use another product that would probably work: Bondo.
What?
Like they use on cars?
Yep...it's a two part mixture that repairs the body of a car that has been wrecked. It can be molded and when it drys, it can be sanded and painted.
...that sounds a little easier...
We found this on a shelf at an auto parts store {on aisle #6}. I asked my HDH to go with me, just because I'm whimpy and had absolutely no idea what I was looking for.
See the little tube on top? It's the redish goop that reacts with the gray goop in the can. The mixture is about 1:30.
The mixture drys in about 3-4 minutes so you have to work quickly. The right side of the plate is already dry so through trial and error, I decided to work in small amounts.
I used throw away plates and plastic utencils, gloves are not really needed. HDH suggested I use them but I found they just got in my way.
*****AND the MOST IMPORTANT TIP*****
Work in a WELL ventilated area - like OUTSIDE.
{I used this while working on my kitchen table - the back door and windows open wide - and the odor was still quite strong!}
Using sand from our local beach {that's legal right?} and shells from my collection I was set.
I used a funnel to add sand to the bottles and depending on the opening of the bottle, added tiny shells.
Next..."glueing" the shells to the bottles.
On my first bottle, I wanted to make sure the shell was on really good, so I put a lot of Bondo on it...you know the theory, "... more is better..."?
...while it was still workable, I tried to "smooth" it around the bottle with the plastic utencil AND hold the shell in place. {Can you say ambidextrous?}
Hm...not exaclty the look I was going for.
On my SECOND bottle, I had a new plan.
Since the mixture dries so quickly I would just put enough of the goop to attach the shell and I would hold it for the drying time.
{looks kinda like melting chocolate ice cream doesn't it?}
Much better...and while it's wet, it can be wiped away if you have too much - just don't get it on your hands.
After I had all the shells afixed to the bottles I mixed another batch and added more around the top of the bottles, getting the desired look.
I played around with the different shells on different bottles, just to see what I thought looked the best.
After the 3-4 minutes setting time, the shells were definitely "stuck". Bondo is truly amazing stuff!
It's just like concrete.
However, any mistakes you may have made can be chipped, scratched, or sanded away!
Yippee!
Now for the "soldering" look. I played around with acrylic paint until I achieved the blackgraywhitebrown look I was after and painted the bands of Bondo.
The final step was to add jute. Putting a small dot of hot glue on the back of the bottle, I began my jute and continued to wrap until I had a desired look.
This project didn't take too long to complete and I'm very pleased with the results.
Here are few pictures with these guys around my home:
Wouldn't these be neat with a long lost note inside? or music? or another object?
Or what about a different topper?
The possiblities are endless!
Thanks so much for visiting...enjoy your day!
I'm joining the following parties this week, as always, thanks ladies!
Be sure to stop by for amazing posts and creative participants!
