Page 59 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2018

LEISURE do it yourself
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster
photos by Mary Sunderman
Living in a coastal community certainly has its perks, and sunny summer days at the beach are just one of them. Bringing the beach vibe into home décor is a great way to embrace the character of the Gulf Coast all year long. For this month’s project we made our own seashell candleholders, which are a great way to upcycle your family’s shell collections from vacations and trips to our own beaches. For this project we created two different styles of candleholders — one made from natural shell shapes and colors and the other from all white shells, bleached coral and starfish.
Step 1: Collect Your Shells
You may have your own shells at home already, but we purchased ours from Sharkheads in Biloxi. They have a great selection of colors and sizes, and even had some other fun elements such as sand dollars, starfish and coral.
Step 2: Start Constructing the Base
You’ll want to make sure the base of your structure is big enough to hold the weight of all the additional shells and the candle itself, so choose something large with a reasonably flat edge that won’t wobble.
Step 3: Gluing Shells
Starting from the bottom, begin gluing shells to create height. While many craft stores do sell shell glue for this purpose, we found that quick dry permanent adhesives did the job a little bit better.
Step 4: Place Your Top Shell
This step is really important as you’ll need to make sure that the top shell is large enough to accommodate a candle and is glued securely. While the shell is drying in place, you’ll want to check on it periodically to ensure the shell is still laying flat and hasn’t tilted.
Step 5: Add Accent Shells and Decor
Once you have a general shape that you like, start adding in some fun accents. We used cut shells, starfish, sea urchins and even small corals.
Step 6 (optional):
Glue sand to your candle for an extra beachy feel.
Step 7: Add Your Candle
Add the candle of your choice and enjoy your new candleholder.
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net July 2018 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 59
Making Candleholders
Materials:
Shells Strong Adhesive Candles Sand (optional)