Over half term we spent the week in Wales, miles from anywhere, hardly another sole in sight - let alone a charity shop. And do you know what, it was ok! I survived. It was better than ok in fact. We hardly spent a penny all week, we filled our lungs with fresh air and we had FUN!
We did manage to do a little magpieing, and came up trumps at the beach. We visited Harlech and Fairbourne which were both stunning. Because our half term was a week before the Welsh kids broke up, we had miles and miles of golden sand to ourselves.
We went hunting for treasure in the rock pools and along the shore line.
These beaches came up trumps with enormous freshwater clam shells from the estuary, and giant cockle shells.
This was us singing the lesser known One Direction track "Best shell ever", which we broke out into every few yards as each find superseded the last.
Back home, I decided to turn some of these finds into useful objects. A thorough clean and scrub was required first.
Then I melted some tealight candles in a bowl over a pan of water on the stove - you need one tealight per shell.
Choose large shells which are fairly deep and test them on the worktop to make sure they stand level.
When the tealights have melted, fish out the wicks, still in their little metal retainers with a spoon. Carefully stand the wick and retainer in the centre of your shell and leave the residual wax to firm and hold it in place.
Then carefully pour in the wax to about 2/3 full.
Leave to cool and set.
These little seaside candles would be great for a summer party or barbecue, nautical themed home decor, or check back tomorrow to see what we used ours for.
Safety notes: Never leave burning candles unattended. Ensure they are standing on a level, protected surface. Better still, nestle them into some play sand on a plate or tray to make sure they stand still.
What have you managed to find lately? Have you salvaged, upcycled or re-used something?
Please grab the badge and link up your second-hand finds.
Those are so pretty, would look lovely on a party table x
ReplyDeleteOh these are gorgoeus!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever idea - they look so good, and so thrifty :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a nice time,I shall consider what half terms other areas have in future.
So sweet! Love these.
ReplyDeletei am so with you on this - we visited the beach the other week and we have a bucket full of shells which we need to make into something so this has prompted me to get my arse into gear thank you x x
ReplyDeleteOhhh I miss the seaside so much. Next time I go home we are going shell picking to make candles. Have you tried painting on flat stones? My mum used to do that and give them out as paperweights at Christmas!
ReplyDeletePRECIOUS! I love this idea!
ReplyDeleteThose are so cute, I will have to try this!
ReplyDeleteOh you clever sausage these are fabulous!
ReplyDeleteReally excellent idea and one of your thriftiest Magpie Monday finds ever!
ReplyDeletePS Your seaside photos are making me really envious! (we went on holiday to the seaside last week but my little boy came down with chicken pox and we had to come straight home less than 24 hours after we'd arrived)
oh these are just adorable, you know that right?! x
ReplyDeleteA great way to make use of all our seaside treasure
ReplyDeletewhat a clever idea, I have never seen the shells on our beach that big x
ReplyDeleteWhat a really lovely idea, as always, you clever lady x
ReplyDeleteWe love collecting shells too and stones for that matter, I love your pretty tealights, they'd be perfect for a garden party in the summer too
ReplyDeleteSO pretty. I am definitely doing this when I go to north Wales in the summer. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteA good way to bring nature into the house. Sweet idea.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a magical place, and you had a wonderful time. I love the shell candles - would not have thought of melting tealights and using their wicks to make them, that is so clever.
ReplyDeleteThose are so cute. I will have to make them with the grandkids.
ReplyDeleteThat is a brilliant idea and so easy to do. I'm off to the beach to get me some shells ;-) Thanks for linking up to #ThriftyThursday
ReplyDeleteWhat a fab idea and a great momentum of a great day! #ThriftyThursday
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a fabulous time :) #thriftythursday
ReplyDeleteI love your seashells Liz, they are gorgeous! I have buckets full of the bloomin' things (as you can imagine) so will definitely be having a go at these. Pinning your lovely idea, full credit to you lady! Good job!
ReplyDeleteOoooh you're so creative! I love this idea. Not seen it around before either, well done you xx
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