DIY Accessory Organizer: Shell Revamp

A week ago I decided to give my bedroom this thing my mom called a "general cleaning". This means that I'd have to explore every nook and cranny making sure that every single atom of dust has been dispatched. So if you're wondering where I got my crazy spick-and-span attitude, I'd give you a straight out answer: Mom. In simpler terms, we're neat freaks! Haha.

Basically, my bedroom is filled with all sorts of projects I made over the years. Whenever I feel bored with my room's look, I try to revamp it with a new craft I fashioned from the random things I found at home. One of my favorite pieces is this shell-designed accessory organizer. I made it way back high school. Fast forward four years and it's still alive! So I'd really love to share with you how I made it...

My mom often prepared this yummy spicy dish which comprised of shells and coconut milk. My grandma would refer to these shells as kinason. Aninikad or more commonly known as kinason in Cebu is a common edible shellfish specie found in the Philippines. When eating it you'd have to make use of a safety pin or a pardible (as what we often call it) in order to get the mollusk out of its shell. (By the way, I've spent an hour looking for the name of these shells! I simply didn't know how to explain it to Google. Haha. Anyway, if you know of any other name for it please let me know.) Once you finish eating, the shells go straight to the trash bin. I remember telling my mom what a waste it was. The shells were so pretty. I could definitely use them somewhere. One day, she surprised me as she handed me a bowl filled with clean aninikad shells! I wasted no time and made this little project:

I was taking pictures in our garden under the shade of our Rambutan tree. Mister Sun was kind enough to peek through the leaves and provide me with a natural spotlight.

TOOLS AND MATERIALS:

- pliers

- scissors
- glue gun 

- floral or copper wire 

- beads 

- glue stick 

- clean can with lid or mason jar

- stones 

- shells 

- ribbons

CLEANING (SHELLS):

Get a basin, fill it with water and laundry soap. Soak the shells for about 30 minutes then rinse. After which, put water and bleach in another basin and soak the shells for at least an hour. Make sure that everything is completely submerged. If you want to retain the natural detail of the shells use a color safe bleach but if you want it to become whiter you may use the regular one. Here's the weird part, my mom would suggest that you leave the shells in your garden for a day or two so the ants can eat up whatever is left inside. I know it's kinda odd but she says this is needed so that the odor will die away and no insects will crawl inside the shells. After this, all you have to do is wash it again with soap and water. Let it dry and you're done. (If you have ideas on how to clean these shells better and faster please let me know.)

STEP 1: Get 3 pieces of floral wire and tie one end together. This will serve as the spine. Get another piece and twirl it around the spine. As you do so add in beads of your choice. Seal the top by folding out the wires. Make five of these. You may vary the designs as you wish.

STEP 2: Join them together using floral wires making sure that you tie them an inch from the bottom. Spread the bottom part out and attach it to the lid. (They will look like tree roots clinging on the can's lid.) Use a glue gun to do this and to add support, wrap a few wires around it. Get your can and fill it with stones. Don't forget to clean these too.They will add in weight to keep your organizer from toppling over. To avoid the stones from moving around inside, you can insert crumpled paper. Get your glue gun and glue the lid to the can.

STEP 3: Glue the shells all around and above the can. For empty spaces in between them make use of beads. Play with your materials and decorate to your liking. Your creativity will play a big part.

STEP 4: Tie a ribbon around the body to add a cute accent to your accessory organizer.

STEP 5: Hang your accessories and we're done!

What I love about it is that the floral wire is sturdy enough to hold your accessories but soft enough that you can twist them. I can change how it appears by simply modifying the way they twirl or loop around. Plus, depending on what accessories you put and how you place them, you can also play or alter the look.

If you want to share your ideas on how to improve this DIY, do comment down below. The materials I used here were the random stuff I found at home and the leftovers from my school projects then. If you do decide to try it out, you can tweet me a photo or tag me on Instagram. Don't forget to use #CRAFTSWITHANNE so I can find them. I'd love to see what you come up with.

Thanks for reading!