At Home with Bounty

Make button-top seashells you find on the beach into keepsake shell earrings. If you cannot get to the beach, most places that sell craft supplies also carry craft shells. Work in a well-ventilated area if you choose jeweler's cement, as it has a strong scent. This project is not geared toward children and is best suited for adults.

What You'll Need:

• A pair of earring posts or ear clips with 4-millimeter cups
• A pair of matching 1/4"-1/2" button-top seashells
• A jeweler's vise or a ball of non-drying modeling clay
• A tube of beading glue or jeweler's cement
• Toothpicks
• Spray craft glue
• Iridescent glitter
• Bounty paper towels

Instructions:

1. Secure the base of the earrings in the jeweler's vise or stick the base into the ball of clay. Make sure the cup sticks up at least one millimeter. Do not put the cup right against the surface of the clay.
2. Put a folded paper towel on the table.
3. Open the glue or cement and stick a toothpick about 1/4" into the wet glue or cement.
4. Working on one earring at a time, pull out a drop of the adhesive and spread a generous layer on the cup.
5. Put the open tube of adhesive on the folded paper towel.
6. Dip the toothpick in the adhesive to get more as needed to coat the cup.
7. Pick up one shell and put a small circle of adhesive on the back of the shell. Use the size of the earring's cup as a guide for the shell's adhesive circle.
8. Stick the adhesive on the shell to the adhesive on the earring's cup.
9. Gently press down on the shell.
10. Repeat all the steps on the second earring.
11. Allow the glue or cement to dry completely on both earrings before wearing your new shell earrings.
12. Use paper towels to clean up any spilled adhesive; or, if you used clay to hold the earrings, to remove bits of clay from earring backs.