Hi Friends!

It’s no secret that I love living in  the Carolinas. In the summer is really nice to hop in the car ( with kids and too much stuff) and travel 3 or 4 hours to the beach. I am really excited because we have officially scheduled a beach trip.  It has been a long winter.  I have been daydreaming about lounging on the beach with my feet in the sand,  a secret drink in the shade of my chair and reading a really good book.  If you are a parent, you know that this is not how family beach trips go and this is  a complete fantasy.  Anyways.. It is so nice to have something to look forward to, even if it is a couple of months away.  Before the ink could dry on the family calendar I knew that I wanted to do a beach inspired post. I decided on creating a nautical inspired necklace holder with concrete and a vintage mirror.

Nautical Inspired Necklace Holder

I have been itching to make something with concrete and  I thought this would be a perfect project.  I purchased a small 10 lb bag of concrete from  Lowe’s and a seashell candy mold from the craft store.

I used a paintbrush and coated the mold with petroleum jelly.  In an old yogurt plastic container I mixed the dry cement with water to make the mixture for concrete.  I did not measure how much water I added, but I would guesstimate  4 tablespoons. The mixture was the consistency of peanut butter.

I allowed the concrete to set over night. Once I removed the shells from the mold, I picked out some copper paint to add embellishments on the shells.

Here they are painted. I am a lady you likes metallic paint. I love copper and all the cool effects that you can create with a dark copper paint. These concrete shells would be pretty as decoration or in a bowl with other shells.  However, I had bigger plans for these guys.

Remember that mirror inside my vintage suitcase, you didn’t think I would toss it did you?   The old mirror form inside the vintage suitcase will be the base of my necklace holder.  I used permanent bonding adhesive to attach beads to the back of each shell.  This will provide space between the shell and the mirror.  I allowed the beads to bond with the shells for 12 hours.

After the beads were fully attached to the cement shells I positioned  and used the adhesive to attach the shells to mirror.  I allowed all pieces to bond for another 12 hours.  I also attached picture hanging wire to the back of the mirror with the adhesive.

I am pretty proud  of  the outcome of this nautical inspired necklace holder.   The concrete shells were fun and easy to make and the vintage mirror creates a cool affect. My DIY Rope Necklace looks quite at home on the cement necklace holder.

If you are interested in me writing for you, please contact me at paperandfox@gmail.com

Thanks, Carmody

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Carmody Tisdale