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Sunday, August 14, 2011

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA-- SEA SHELL TOPIARY


I love making topiaries. I think they’re a very versatile decorative element for any time of year. Today I’m going to show you how to make a seashell topiary from some of those shells you collected at on your summer seaside trip. -- AP

MATERIALS: 2-1/2” diameter clay pot, 6” Styrofoam cone, small piece of floral foam, 5” length 1/4” dowel, primer and white spray paint, ball of white twine, assorted small shells, assorted small white and translucent flat buttons, hot glue gun and glue sticks, tacky glue, 2 sequin pins.

1. Paint the clay pot with primer, then white paint, allowing paint to dry between coats.

2. Apply vertical rows of tacky glue to the cone.

3. Pin the end of the twine to the bottom of the cone. Begin wrapping twine around cone, working from bottom to top. When you come to the top of the cone, cut excess and pin end.

4. Beginning at the bottom edge and working in horizontal rows, attach shells to cone with hot glue. Vary the direction of the shells, overlapping some.

5. Glue buttons randomly around shells in open spaces but leave some spaces uncovered for variety.

6. Glue buttons around the lip of the clay pot.

7. Glue floral foam into pot. Glue dowel into center of floral foam.

8. Place cone centered over pot and lower onto dowel. Remove cone from dowel. Fill hole in cone with tacky glue. Replace cone over dowel.

2 comments:

Liz V. said...

How nice. Maybe this week's ocean going friend will have better luck finding shells. I'm forwarding this.
Nice post on Criminal Minds.

ANASTASIA POLLACK said...

Liz, sometimes you can pick up a huge bag of shells at a reasonable price at your local crafts store. Not as good as free, though. Hopefully, your friend will have better success on the beach this week.

Glad you liked the 7 Criminal Minds post.