Inspiration

I am believer in my grandfather's old adage 'if you don't use the talents God has blessed you with, you will soon loose them'. As it had been some time since I tested my 'skill' with the hot glue gun, I decided I was in grave danger of loosing said 'skill'. As soon as I took out my dusty glue gun, the children ran for the hills.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Run for it .... she's plugging that thing in
again ... you know what's going to happen next .... run! run!"

And run they did! I decided not to traumatise them further and waited until after they were in bed last night to begin my project.

My inspiration - this catalogue. The hall bathroom is on it's way to a lighthouse theme for our sand and sea loving boy, and this wreath looked like it would fit in perfectly.

After scrounging through my boxes last week I realized I lacked only one ingredient for this wreath - the shells! I found a pretty assortment in a basket at Crafts 2000 for $2.99. Delightful!

One caution, the shells underneath the pretty ones in the basket look nothing like the shells on top - they are plain, somewhat broken, and perfect for future craft projects with the kids. Yes, Poppa, a sea shell art project for your wall could be in your near future! Be prepared to put in a heavy duty nail.



A second caution, the finished project is really heavy. Why I didn't think of this, knowing that the basket of shells itself was pretty heavy, I don't know, but a heavy duty hook was needed. Also, shells are more fragile than they seem - best not to ask how I know this!



My final caution. Low melt hot glue doesn't work with shells, and high temp glue guns are hot - really really hot! I tried to be careful, of course! Since the children were asleep I could not scream so I did a strange hot! hot! hot! glue dance over to the cold running water! Ouchie! I read last night that honey is great for burns so I applied some and most of my fingers are better today! I'm glad I don't have to be fingerprinted any time soon - it might be a while before I have any fingerprints again!

The end result!

Now that I look at the picture, it looks like it could use a haircut in some places and more shells in others, but The Storyteller loves it and has already asked me to leave it just as it is. Time to put the glue gun away!