Seashell Shadow-box

So are you sick of seeing this fabric yet?  haha. 

I was looking for some way to create inexpensive art, while also bringing blue into this area.

I had this shadow box that was literally, collecting tons and tons of dirt on the garage.

I purchased it... oh, at least 5 years ago, with good intentions, yet I pulled it out of the garage looking like so:

Notice even the price tag is still on it?  I guess it is a good thing I bought it back then, because the me now, that has been newly dubbed Cheapo-Courtney, probably wouldn't invest $20 in a frame.

Anyway, I cleaned it up - No small feat!- and ripped off the mat.   It didn't really go with the look I was aiming for. 

I then lined the felt on the back with my ol' standby blue stripes.  I do realize I need to go back in and adjust that fabric.  It doesn't look as bad in person, but the above photo really makes me see the gap in the two scraps.

I placed white scrapbooking paper over a sheet of black, and went to work with these:

These shells were found along the Texas coast, on Galveston Island while my sons did a little of this:

Ah, good stuff.

I laid out the shells and played with the arrangement until I found one I liked.

I then taped down each shell with extra sticky packing tape.  For the heavier shells, I braced them with sewing needles (pins), that in my mind can also be used as 'specimen pins'.   :)

I then sealed it up, and hung it.

Wa-la.

Total cost (if you consider money spent in the last 4 years- haha) $0.  :)

-Courtney