Slightly Coastal Oyster Shell Centerpiece And A Coastal Table

Do you ever see something in the store and say, “I could totally make that” ?  I do that ALL the time.  Sometimes I never get around to it.  Sometimes I try and it just doesn’t turn out right.  Sometimes I do the project at home and am THRILLED with the results.  Well, today is a thrilling kind of day, because this TOTALLY worked out for me!  I thought I would share a little tutorial so you can be totally thrilled with yourself too!

These oyster shell centerpieces have popped up all over the local coastal shops and even on Etsy.  Seriously?  I can’t even imagine how you could/would ship this.  The local retail for them in a insanely inspiring shop downtown is $78.  My cost, and afternoon on the beach with a 3 year old and his dump truck.  Not bad, huh?  Luke and I went on  a beach treasure hunt the other afternoon and he was so excited to gather up all the oyster shells in the back of his dump truck for me.

So, as promised here is the tutorial.  Honestly, I feel kind of foolish writing a tutorial about this because it is SO easy.  But, when I was searching the net trying to figure out how to start I couldn’t find one.

Step 1:  Gather shells (or order them) and separate them by size

I used pretty much all of these shells.  I have sixty shells here.  I liked sorting them by size so I could pick and choose shells as I went along easily.  It only takes a minute to sort them and I think it makes the oyster shell centerpiece project go so much faster.

Step 2:  Glue to larger shells on with hot glue gun

I used a simple hot glue gun for this project.  I picked the larger oyster shells for the bottom layer.  I placed them so lighter and darker ones were spread around the perimeter.  Simply put down a substantial glob of hot glue onto a wooden disc.  A craft store or even big box home improvement store will carry a small round wooden disc.  I had an old wooden coaster laying around so that is what I used.  I’m sure even foam core board would work.

Step 3:  Add the shells

I went to the next size of shells and just started working around the circle.  Again, I tried to spread lighter and darker ones around.  I put the glue on the shells already glued down to the oyster shell centerpiece rather than putting it on the shell I was placing.  Once I had worked around the whole centerpiece I went to the smaller shells.  When gluing the smaller shells I put the glue right on the shell I was placing because I sort of wedged and placed them in spots to make it look fuller.  From start to finish (not including my time on the beach…life is rough) the whole oyster shell centerpiece took about 20 minutes.  I didn’t glue down my milk glass candle holder because I wanted the option of using a different candle votive in the center. I did keep it in the center as I was doing the project because I wanted to make sure I was staying on track with spacing while gluing.

It was so easy!  It is the perfect centerpiece for my “new” weathered wood kitchen table.  If you have been around here for a while you may have seen my kitchen table when it was painted cream.  I loved it but was so itching for a change.  I wanted to use the same technique I used on my french console.  You can read all about it HERE.

It sits on the opposite side of the large great room in our house and I wanted to pull the gray in to the other side of the house.  I love how the table turned out.  I like it so much more in the weathered wood finish than the cream.

This is a picture of the table base.  I love all of the grooves and curves of this base.  It grabs the white wax so well and really gives it the weathered coastal look I am really gravitating toward.

After finishing the oyster shell centerpiece I was inspired to set a coastal table for dinner.  I picked up these Lenox Butler’s Pantry plates at my local thrift store for $.99 a piece.  I love them on the table but think they will eventually make their way to my master bedroom wall.  I used a starfish napkin ring from Bealls my boys gave me for Mother’s Day with simple napkins from Target.  The silver is my grandmother’s silver.  I love everything about it.

It was so fun to set a coastal table after spending the weekend at the beach.  The weather has become hot, hot, hot and we are spending our time sitting in the water and digging holes in the sand.  I hope you try this easy project.

Nancy