Summer vacation is officially in full swing – Brad’s home from Kuwait, we’re back in BC, and life is good. And now that we’re settled an in one place for a little while, Miss G and I have begun digging into the collection of fabulous activities in the Backyard Summer Camp eBook I co-wrote with a handful of awesome kid bloggers a couple of months back. Today, we decided on making the jewelled shell necklaces from the ocean-themed section of the book written by Amanda of The Educators’ Spin On It. Miss G loved the activity because the necklaces were just like the ones mermaids wear, and I loved it because we had all of the materials we needed on hand and it would only take a moment to pull it together {score!}
{this post contains affiliate links}
We made our necklaces a little bit differently than those shown in the book, but that’s the beauty of kids activities {including the ones in our ebook}- most are open to interpretation. Here’s what we used to make our ‘mermaid necklaces’, as Miss G named them… Seashells with holes drilled in them, two types of glitter glue, glass gems, glitter, hemp cord, and scissors.
Because our holes were sort of in the middle of the shells, we started by threading our hemp cord through the holes before G started adding generous globs of glitter glue.
After the squeezable stuff, she added some brushable glitter glue for good measure too.
Then, she popped in a glass gem…
And some glitter. A whole lot of glitter.
And while she made her purple, pink, and green version, I made a slightly less sparkly silver and blue one.
Pretty, aren’t they?
We made several more mermaid necklaces, and they all turned out beautifully!
To finish them off, I tied two simple slip knots just like I did with the pretty ombre wooden bead necklaces we made last summer.
I think my little mermaid is pretty pleased with her new necklace, don’t you?
To see Amanda’s original jewelled shell necklace, plus 41 other fun and easy activities to keep the munchkins happily engaged and learning through play this summer, purchase our Backyard Summer Camp eBook HERE. I promise that anyone can do the activities with their kids – craftiness not required!
Want more of a sneak peek before buying? Check out our starry night sky painting as done by Mama Miss and our rubbery eggs as done by Playdough to Plato.
The best part? This week, until July 13th, 2014, our Backyard Summer Camp eBook is 20% off, making it just $7.99 – woohoo!
Are you following us on Facebook and Instagram yet?
We’d love to have you!
Hi Jen,
I am posting an Ocean themed roundup this Thursday and would love to include your post in it. I love this idea, it’s so pretty! I would include one unaltered photo and a link to your blog so readers could find the directions on your blog and make sure credit is given to you. Sorry for the last minute notice (I am a bit behind), but if you have a chance before Thursday to let me know if it would be okay to use it I would appreciate it. Thanks for your time! :) http://alittlepinchofperfect.blogspot.com
alittlepinchofperfect@gmail.com
This is absolutely marvelous. With all the Princess and Mermaid hype, it is just the thing to make a lady feel special and elegant. Thank you for sharing.
Great…;)
Hi! How did you make holes in those shells?
I think she used a large pair of scissors.
HI I just found this on pinterest and love the mermaid necklace. I totally want to do this for my daughters mermaid theme pool party in two weeks. I am just curious how long the glitter glue took to dry.
Oh, fab idea, Rachel! We let ours dry overnight. You could always use a glue gun paired with those fancy new glitter glue sticks if you wanted something that would be dry almost immediately, though! :)
Great idea! Simple, quick, and stunning. Be sure to use a dust mask if you drill the shell yourself. I’ve read elsewhere that the dust is poisonous. Sometimes, you can find shells one the beach that have a hole near the top.
You totally can, Patty! I actually see them quite regularly!
Where did you get the brushable glitter glue from? I tried to google search it but didn’t see any good options.
I clicked on the link to check out your ebook, but it’s not there. :-( Where else would it be available? Thank you.
that looks so cool
was it hard to make?
It actually looks pretty easy
how hard is it to make?
Where did you find those seashells?
Thank you for sharing such a nice and interesting blog. I like your content.
Excellent and very cool idea and great content of different kinds of the valuable information’s.
Social media could play a key role in building relationships and communicating about your business, and there are several ways to stand out on these platforms.
Hello. Thanks for the great article. Games always bring pleasure to children, and I think everyone loves them in the same way. But progress is going on, and we cannot but agree that nowadays, video games for children of all ages are very developed. As a person engaged in character design 2d, I know that the future belongs to video games.
This so cool
Useful and interesting to read this article, I would like to thank you so much, for share this blog.
amazing post i got a lot of info from this thanks for share this…
Our glass stones keep falling out. We’ve tried the glitter glue, super glue, and hot glue gun…. What did yiu do to keep the stones in?
Thank you for share this nice post..
Sometimes I don’t understand how people get such ideas :)