Ideas for preserving ocean treasures.

[reanna]

With it being complete beach weather, my 2 kids and I have been visiting the ocean on adventures quite a bit lately.
As with any child, they want to bring tons of treasures they find with them.(We have a standing rule though, we take nothing live from the beach)
Anyway, their dad always has a cow(like he was never little:eek: :eek: :eek: )about them bringing stuff home because it stinks.
I have found a wonderful little site that I thought I would pass along to all of you.
www.seashells.org

It is great. This quest started a few weeks ago when my son found a dead starfish and asked if he could bring it home. So, I got online and began to search and found this site.
Since then, we have de-funkified our beautiful seashells, preserved the starfish and the 3 beautiful sand dollars we were lucky enough to find empty of inhabitants on our trek down there last week.
The kids are happy, I am truly happy for them and their darling daddy can't complain because there is no smell:D:D:D:D:D

[Lady Tana]

Ahhh Reanna.... So excited to see this post... Screamin Eagle and I are leaving tomorrow for a little cottage on the beach (no kids either...wooooohoooooo... sorry..heehee) and i bookmarked that page so when we get there and I am attempting to carry off the beach I can make sure that the shells are all clean and non-smelly... (been there...done that) so I can bring more home :)

thank you so much!!

[reanna]

Well, enjoy your time at the cottage:D:D:D:D:D:D
Ooh la la:):)Maybe there will be one on the way after you spend all that time alone together:D:D:D lol tee-hee

Anyway, I'm glad it is going to be of help to ya!

[Lavender]

Thanks, Reanna! We have the same problem too with our beach finds. This will be great! I have a container of sand dollars that need cleaning! :D

[reanna]

Originally posted by Wildchild
Thanks, Reanna! We have the same problem too with our beach finds. This will be great! I have a container of sand dollars that need cleaning! :D

:):):)
You're welcome

[Spirahl]

Hey, that's great! I was an avid shell collector as a child. We would go to Cape Breton often as my Mom's family is from there. We'd also Go to Virginia Beach and Myrtle Beach a lot too. My folks loved the beach, being the good 60's teens that they were.

My Dad got a creative idea on what to do with my shells. He got a thin piece of plywood and smothered it in plaster. He'd added a blue dye to the plaster and put it on in swirls like it was waves. Then he set the shells into the plaster. He sealed it with something and then hung them (I had three) on my bedroom walls. I loved it!

[reanna]

What a wonderful idea Spirahl!!! Thanks for sharing. Would you mind if I used it?

[Spirahl]

Of course not! Hope that it works out well for you!:)

[reanna]

Thanks!!! :):):)

[arewynn]

i agree what beautiful ideas..i used to work out on the gulf
one night when i first started we had pulled a few sea horses from the sea,the captin told me that sea horses mate for life!!!
if you catch a sea horse it will search for its mate the rest of its life
there were two of them laying out in the boat they had some how moved next to each other and entertwined their tails i threw them back to sea.ive never caught anything like that again
heres a collection of some of our shells.in the one photo is a marble on the conche shell thats how large they are.
bright blessings
arewynn

[Jewlz]

I love shells! I have a bunch of them with some really neat rocks infront of my fish tank. They look really nice - they bring the water feel out of the fish tank and into the room and look wonderful with the reflection of the water and the air bubble patterns. Another great idea is making them into candles and because the candles then have a rounded bottom they will probably float in the bath! Sooo relaxing!
My Grandmother had one of those big pacific shells with a hole in it that make a noise. That brings back child hood memories!
We have the beatiful Paua Shell in my country. Have you seen it? Its has a horrible brown outside with a beautiful inside kindof like the shimmer a bubble has. This mass of swirling blues, greens, pinks & purples. So beautiful. I'll see if I can find a picture.
Enjoy your shell seaching!
Jewlz

[Jewlz]

Here, Ive found some pics of Paua Shell. They have been striped of their black outer coat to show what you can usually only see on the inside. Enjoy, Jewlz

[Lavender]

Wow! You're right...they are gorgeous! I love the irridescent blue tones.

[arewynn]

wow that looks like a abalone shell i have one on my alter
how do you clean the outer coating off? can i do that to my
abalone shell.hmmmmmmm
bright blessings
arewynn

[Jewlz]

I dont actually know how they do it. I think they sand it with a very fine sander. Sorry I'm no help there. You could look at some sites for info. I dont know Abalone shells, Do they do the same thing to them as to Paua? Good luck, Jewlz