By Lana Torre
Planning a late summer getaway? Are you traveling to the ocean? Bring home the best of nature’s treasures– sand, sea shells and broken colorful gifts of sea glass and stones.
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My husband Jamie and I started a tradition to memorialize our trips. We always gravitate to the water and because we can’t bring the water home, we collect sand and shells. Labeled simply in glass jars, we have these treasures displayed on long shelves at our cottage. It is nostalgic to look at our collections and remember our trips Nantucket, Cape Cod, and Hampton Beach.
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When you bring your shells home, soak them in a bleach and water solution. Lay them in the sun to dry and they will fade to a soft white, and eliminate any critters living in them. I like to sort the shells by shape and then decide how I will arrange them in the glass jars.
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There are so many projects to do with your shells. Get the kidlets involved. They can be made busy for hours. Buy natural wood picture frames and have the kids glue a border of shells around it to display vacation photos.
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Drill small holes in flat shells and string together with natural twine. You can hang these from a cup hook on the porch and they will dingle-dangle like wind chimes. You could also use these lengths of shells to decorate a vacation Christmas tree. Gather a small handful of shells and place in the center of tulle netting. Hang these with binder clips at the corners of your tablecloth to hold it down when the late summer winds blow.
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Are you considering a concrete patio? Sprinkle shells of all sizes into the wet concrete, then wash off the ‘fat’. Bits of sea shells will remain exposed. You will have a unique and vacation like setting for family picnics.
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Find your nature’s treasures and get shelling. If you are stay-cationing this summer, there is a useful website where you can purchase shells, starfish, and sand dollars. Visit SeaShellCity.com. You can also have your vacationing friends bring home souvenir shells for you, or simply shop at a craft store for them.
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Have fun on your late summer getaway. Keep the kids busy and creative this summer. Put your feet up, pour a glass of iced tea, and figure out how you are to pay for all this fun!