In the 1800s, sailors often spent long, loney months on the seas searching for the big catch or hauling goods from one coast to the next. To pass the time, they'd create what are now a coveted antique collectible, sailors valentines. They'd use assorted decorative shells to decorate old cigar boxes or arrange them in frames in intricate patterns. The natives on the island of Barbados also made the shell items to sell to sailors as souvenirs for their loved ones.
I began collecting seashells on vacations to Sanibel Island, Fla., the seashell mecca of the world, and fell in love with the natural beauty and hues of these jewels of the sea. But it wasn't until I uncovered my first sailors' valentine at a yard sale in Seminole Heights, a Tampa neighborhood, that I realized how magnificent they were put together to form symmetrical patterns. The work involved in some of these valentines is absolutely incredible.
This led me to begin creating my own sailors' valentines as well as a popular 20th-century variation -- using seashells to create crucifixes and holy water fonts. I tried various types of glue, a glue gun, even clay and spackling to attach the shells. But, frankly, the best adhesive I've found is plain old Elmer's glue. Creating the decorative boxes and other items has become my therapy. In the tradition of the sailors, I now incorporate accessories, such as an antique velvet heart, an antique ceramic mermaid, faux pearls from an antique necklance with a broken clasp, a cameo pin with a broken clasp.
I find both the boxes and shells at yard sales and thrift stores, paying no more than $2. I was thrilled yesterday to discover a huge bag of shells for sale at the Lighthouse Ministry for the Blind thrift shop yesterday for just $2. I had a cigar box I'd purchased at a yard sale for 50 cents that was just begging for shells. I also buy old shell necklaces to use because the small similarly sized shells are ideal for making patterns on sailors' valentines or filling in between the larger shells. I once snagged a plant hanger made entirely of shells at a yard sale for 25 cents.
After seeing a similar project in a home-decorating magazine, I began my most ambitious shell project -- encrusting an old chandelier with shells. I had hung a metal chandelier (yes, purchased at a yard sale) in my master bathroom and decorated it with crystals and antique beads. But it still lacked a certain panache. So I decided to turn it into a shell project. I used the spackling I use to antique my walls to adhere the shells to the chandelier while it was still hanging. Once dried, I painted the entire chandelier with Elmer's glue and then sprayed it with polyurethane. I haven't lost a single shell, but if I did I'd simply spackle and glue it back on.
I completed the chandelier by recovering the shades in an old-fashioned barkcloth material to match new curtains and trimming them with a piece of antique lace. I sewed a cord cover for the chandelier chain and attached it with Velcro strips.
I was pretty pleased with the result, if I do say so myself.