Seashell Printer Tray Shadow Box + Coastal Vignette

*This post has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All content is my own and reflects my personal style and opinion. #ProjectAmazing #CollectiveBias  

A few weeks ago, my husband gave in to Pinterest (or as he calls it, “Manterest”).

It started out so innocently. At first, he scrolled for several minutes so he could get to the bottom (snicker) and see what all the fuss is about. Then, his eyes got wider. And wider. And then every 10 seconds, he was showing me something new he wanted us to make and getting more and more hysterically excited over all of the insanely “legit” DIY projects.

He’s a man after my own heart, that one.

So while we were vacationing at Myrtle Beach the other week, Robert actually came across a “Manterest” idea to display all of the beautiful seashells we’d found on our evening walks.

Place them in a printer tray shadow box! These babies were too pretty to be kept in a closet shoebox for sure.

So when 3M® asked me if I would create a fun summer craft for them, I knew exactly what to do.

I have this little habit of frequenting the crafting aisle of Walmart when I’m shopping for groceries. I really can’t help myself. It calls to me from the produce section every time. (How does that happen?)

So while there, I picked up a pack of Scotch® Mounting Squares and a Scotch® Precision Titanium Utility Knife to play with our cute little pile of shells.

Scotch® and Command™ products are now housed in the crafting aisle, so they’re much easier to find.

I found a vintage printer’s tray on Etsy for a steal too.

The tray originally had green paint on the front that I wasn’t a fan of, so I gave it a quick cover up with my favorite Duck Egg blue.

I didn’t want to use anything too permanent on the printer’s tray since I change my mind constantly in our house, so the mounting squares were perfect for a quick summer display. I usually have a stock pile of Scotch® mounting tape or squares and Command™ hooks for my commitment issues.

I placed my shells where I wanted them first and moved them around a bit until I was happy.

And I used a mounting square on the back of each shell.

I used the utility knife to cut any squares that needed to be a smaller size for the smaller shells.

Isn’t it cuuuute? I wonder what the little critter looked like that used to live in it. (There were lots of shells we didn’t bring home from our trip because they still had things living inside, and we didn’t want to kill them just to take their pretty homes away.)

I stuck the shells onto the back of the printer’s tray where I’d dry fitted them. I turned on Parks and Rec and crafted away on this thing for about 30 minutes. (Netflix is the perfect naptime crafting companion around here.)

It worked perfectly! And even two weeks after making it, the shells haven’t budged.

I don’t usually go all out on decorating for seasons (I’ve confessed it before), but I love having this special memory of our favorite beach pasttime on display in our living room.

It fits right in on our media cabinet with our oversized vintage map.

Olivia’s favorites are the “purple butterfly” shells because they look like Daddy, Mommy, and baby shells. Makes sense to me.

I had to let the English literature nerd flag fly a little bit too. I mean, come on. A coastal display needs some Treasure Island and Herman Melville  action. (My former students would totally roll their eyes right there. “Mrs. Shaver, Moby Dick is sooo lame.”)

I don’t think I’ll ever have the heart to take this summer vignette down. As much as I love fall, I’m thinking the shells will just have to stay and everyone will have to get over it. Right?

What do you think? Are you a seashell collector too? Or a coastal style lover?

You can check out more Scotch® summer project ideas at Project Amazing and upload your own.

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