Do your kids come home from the beach with pockets full of treasures?  To my 3 year old everything from a super small rock to a big shell are her treasures and they must all come home with her so she can sleep with them that night.  Yes my child puts them in a tupperware and sleeps with them.  Because obviously you sleep with your treasures.

While I was home sick nursing a nasty cold this weekend Sean and the kids headed up to Canada to visit Sean’s brother and sister in law.  They live right across the street from the beach so there were many treasures to be found.

Normally we just slowly collect more and more treasures and eventually I thin them out to make room for new ones but yesterday Sophie asked me to make a necklace out of the shells she found.  Sean and I started talking drills and dremels for the best way to cut holes in the shells and it just seemed like overkill to me so I headed to my sewing room to see what I had.  Sewing room to the rescue!  I shouldn’t be surprised there are way more things in that room than any one person should have, just ask Sean.

The best tools for the job are scissors, elastic thread, a sewing machine needle and an old self healing mat.  You could use your normal self healing mat I am just not sure if it will heal holes put into it like it does the cuts so I went with an old small one I had.  A small hammer would also work as a substitute for the scissors as you just need a little something to tap the end of the needle to get it through the shell.

All you have to do is get a pile of shells and choose where you want the hole to be.  Hold the needle in place and tap the end of the needle with the side of your scissors.  Once it has poked through wiggle the needle around to widen the whole a bit.  Repeat until you have holes in all of the shells you want to use for the necklace.

 

Grab your elastic thread and thread all the shells on and tie the two ends together.  And voila you have a Beach Treasures Necklace!  Easy right?  If you child is a little bit older they can even help with the shells.

Its a quick and easy activity that is a fun way to keep some of your favourite treasures long after your visit to the beach.

I learned something vital taking pictures of this sweet girl last night, Dad needs to be involved in all photo shoots he gets the best pictures out of her.  I wish we had a camera shooting him while all this was going on, he was getting his workout for these smiles.

There is a little sneak peek in these pictures of the new pattern by Caila Made, the Desert Rose Dress.  I hope to be sharing my many versions very soon on the blog, but for now you can enjoy this little peek.

Do your little ones ask you to make things with their treasures?  I would love to see them.