« Summer Baby Shower Goodies | Main | Sea Shell Mosaics »
Faux Summer Seashell Jewelry
Published 07.23.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (4)
Is that last night's Pad Thai you're wearing?
By Brenda Ponnay
Here's a super-fun craft you can whip up in an afternoon. It's quick, easy, stylish AND totally fun for kids of any age. And when I say any age, I mean even the thirty-seven-year old kids.
And, it's perfect for summer as it looks like seashells.
All you need are some white foam take-out containers (if they had food in them, wash them first), scissors, a needle and thread (a blunt yarn needle for little kids), and some fancy ribbon.
First, you'll need to cut up your foam container into the pieces that will become your beads. Confused? Don't be! I even made you a movie. It's EASY!
Too bad you don't have my super-fast mode but don't worry, it's quick work. I cut my foam into tiny triangular shards because I was going for the ice princess look (it's been a little hot here). You can cut them into circles like puka shells or squares or even big clunky beads. The sky's the limit.
Thread your needle with a good length of thread and knot it. Now take your ribbon (velvet or satin would be very nice) and cut it into two six-inch lengths. This will be your necklace closure bow so just pick something you think would look pretty dangling down your back. Maybe even tie it in a bow to see how it looks. Then fold an end of one of the ribbons over once or twice and sew through the folded ribbon so that the ribbon will hold tight. I used a bead to cover up my sewing but it's not necessary. Then start skewering your foam pieces like so:
When you've threaded enough foam pieces to make your necklace the length you want, attach the other ribbon (folding the end over a couple of times first) and you're done. Tie it on and model it! You might even want to wear it out for date night! Think of the conversations it could spark! "Oh this old thing? I made it from last night's take-out container!"
The great thing about this kind of foam is that it's so versatile. My daughter wasn't too keen on my pokey ice-princess necklace, so I made some big round beads out of a clean foam meat tray. They were easy for her to thread and fun for her to wear.
For kicks, I decided to texturize my daughter's foam pieces. You can do this by pressing them briefly with a hot fork (I stuck a fork over a gas burner for a few seconds). The beads, or "chips" as we called them, turned out really neat. I wanted them to look like shells but you could do a criss-cross pattern with your fork too.
There are probably a million ways you can form and mold polystyrene foam. Just be careful not to inhale any toxic fumes, which really should be non-existent if you press the fork quickly and don't let the foam burn. One thing I did learn is that it is important to wipe your fork off immediately when you are done. I let mine sit in the sink for a few hours and now I can't get the melted foam residue off for the life of me. That fork has been resigned to the play-dough kit.
The best part of this craft is that it was easy enough for my three-year-old to do. There are no holes to fit a tiny needle through, you just puncture the foam with your (blunt) needle and away you go!
When you're finished, sew on your ribbon and you're done! Way to be crafty and stylish!
- Follow Us!
Vis RSS Feeds- Via Email
- On Twitter
- Show us some love and follow On Facebook
- Recent Posts
- Valentine Vanilla Pudding Cream Pie
- Free Vintage Valentines for Kids
- Valentine Gift: Scented Pencils
- Dangling Garland Valentines!
- Create Your Own FREE Printable Valentine
- Categories
- Ages
- Artwork
- Autumn Projects
- Back to School
- Christmas
- Contributors
- Easter
- Edible Crafts
- Father's Day
- Food & Treats
- Free Printables/ Downloads
- Gift Guides
- Halloween
- Hanukkah
- Holiday Cards
- International Holidays
- Jewish Holidays
- July 4th
- May Day
- Mother's Day
- New Years
- Passover
- Patriotic Holidays
- Rosh Hashanah
- Spring Projects
- St. Patrick's Day
- Thanksgiving
- Unusual Holidays
- Upcycled Projects
- Valentine's Day
- summer projects
- Archives
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
Please Vote for Alpha Mom's Panel at SXSWi Conference
About this column
This is a year-round Holiday column. Kids love Holidays. As parents we have come to appreciate how Holidays seem to help structure our lives. Plus, any excuse to have fun sounds good to us!
We'll admit it, now that we're parents, we secretly look for Holidays to celebrate and between National, Secular, Unofficial and Bizarre Holidays, we think there are enough days out there to keep us inspired every week.
This column will be a place where you can get inspiration for how to enjoy time with your kids. Crafting projects and ideas will be posted on Thursdays by our brilliant contributors (see below). Other fun ideas will be posted here throughout the week as the inspiration hits us!
About our Craft Contributors
Ellen Luckett Baker is the author of the long thread, a blog about handmade goods. She has always enjoyed making things, but the flexibility of staying at home with her two daughters along with the creative inspiration they provide has led her to craft on a daily basis. Combining her love of graphic design and sewing, she has created an Etsy shop selling machine embroidery designs and sewing patterns.
Ellen lives in Atlanta with her husband and two young daughters. She holds a B.A. in Art History and a Master's of Public Administration with a focus in Non-Profit Management.
Cindy Hopper was fortunate to be raised in a family who appreciated the arts. This background led to a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education. With a keen eye for design and color, Cindy has continued her love of art and is now passing her creative skills on to her three children. Cindy's family and friends are the beneficiaries of her passion for fun and meaningful creative projects. Cindy's personal blog, Skip to My Lou, has taken her love of a project to new levels. Postings keep the family busy -– from testing new recipes for holiday treats to designing and building floats for a neighborhood parade to making fabric rolls to hold crayons to creating themed parties. Cindy seems to have an unending supply of ideas for gifts, parties and rainy days.
Marie LeBaron is a 30 something stay at home mom in Utah. Before life as a mother, she graduated with a teaching degree in Early Childhood & Elementary Education, after which she taught four years of Kindergarten. After her first child was born, she decided to read books and sing silly songs at home. She misses the classroom, but she now gets to bring the fun and learning into her home and ours. You’ll see her kids a lot in these projects as they are her guinea pigs and for whom she's creative. You can follow more of her projects at her personal blog Make and Takes.
Brenda Ponnay is a stealthy secret agent who juggles parenthood to her adorable daughter by day and freelance graphic design by night. Whether it's painting, baking, drawing, making castles out of card board boxes or just doing the laundry with flair, Brenda Ponnay has finally discovered (at the ripe old age of thirty-six) that what really makes her happy is being creative every single day.
Brenda lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, three cats and thirty-seven pet birds. You can read about all her crazy adventures on her personal blog: Secret Agent Josephine.
Disclaimer
This column is only for entertainment purposes. Any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for advice by a trained professional. For a full statement of our site policies, please click here.
Comments (4):
Virtude said:
Fabulous! A great alternative to the rather pricey stick pearls- and recycled too!
Posted on July 27, 2009 05:10
Lawyergyrl117 said:
Great Idea! This will be an upcoming project.
Posted on July 28, 2009 10:38
Marie {Make and Takes} said:
I LOVE this craft! What a great way to recycle. And that necklace looks totally real! Even those yellow chips are awesome!
Posted on August 6, 2009 01:26
Mrs. Wilson said:
Amazing. I totally have to do that with my kids - they'd LOVE it!
Posted on October 21, 2009 11:56