Seashell Wrapping

In case you were wondering, "Mary Call" is
an inside nickname for my mom.

Life's been so busy (and tossing in a cross-country move next week isn't going to help) that I have a feeling these posts are going to be a bit sporadic for awhile. I did want to share an idea, however, that I had this past weekend for incorporating seashells into gift wrap for a present for my mom, since it was simple and came out cute. I had a friend visit for the weekend, and we went to the beach on Saturday (it was a steamy 99 degrees). Since my mom's birthday was also on Saturday, I had an idea for incorporating one of my favorite beach activities--shell collecting!--with wrapping her birthday gift.

I was already planning on tucking her present in a Michaels photo storage box that I had picked up on sale for $2.00 a few months ago (I had actually picked up two, and my mom commented on how pretty they were [she then failed to find them at her local Micahels], so it was an obvious decision!). Since the box had a nautical theme, I thought it would be nice to add some seashells as embellishments. I went to the beach with a mission to collect shells with holes in them, which are plentiful. As luck would have it, we arrived during low tide, so scooping up handfuls of shells/shell fragments to pick through was pretty easy. I tried to sort out a variety of pierced shell bits, and when I set out to incorporate them into my wrapping process, I selected some black-and-white baker's twine, which I had leftover from my Cirque des Rêves party, for stringing. I will admit, it took me a few tries to come up with the idea of simply lacing twine through the shells in a parcel knot (my first attempt involved tying the shells to the ends of the twine... which looked like something a five-year-old would do!). But once I figured out my layout (I actually did tie off the bigger shells on the vertical strand to prevent slipping), it was easy-peasy. It gave the gift a nice touch, and it gave me a reason to collect shells (something I find great satisfaction in doing, despite their tendency to become clutter). So, next time you're at the beach, you can collect shells, guilt-free, and stock up on wrapping embellishments! Double bonus indeed.