Here's a good story and DIY project for the weekend! Hint: bidding war at a school fund raiser! And the clock is so easy to make! I love this idea and have the perfect space for a shell clock, right between the kitchen windows over the sink where the Holiday wreath is (still) hanging. So let's hear it from Eileen!
Hi my name is Eileen and my blog is Cottage Beach House. I am completely psyched to guest post for Maya here at Completely Coastal! I am and always was a beach baby. Growing up in Philadelphia, for vacations we could either go "up the mountains", or "down the shore." I always picked down the shore, and now I am lucky enough to have a home at the beach. My motto is "Always follow your dreams". I've been invited here today to tell the story of a handmade shell clock Maya spotted on one of my previous posts of a dining room re-do my sis and I did. You can read about that re-do here.
But let's get to the story behind the thousand dollar shell clock.
My sister's daughter, Janet, who has a few kids of her own, was working on some things for a school benefit and auction and she came up with this idea while collecting shells on the beach in North Wildwood NJ, toward the end of summer.
She took 12 shells in to the kindergarden class, and had each child write their names on the inside of one shell. There were exactly 12 kids in the class.
They also scratched their little names on the back of the shell clock, so it would be easy to determine which shell belonged to which child.
Her husband at this time had been busy tearing out some 1940's wood from their attic and was eager to use what was still good from that pile. So this is where the base of the clock came from. This very old attic flooring was perfect painted blue for the face of the clock.
The clock mechanism itself is a kit from Michael's with a battery operation. They did buy larger hands because the kit ones were a little too small.
The light wood frame around the clock was also recycled wood from a bunk bed no longer in use.
Joe decided to attached the shells with dowels glued to the center of the shell and pegged to the wood to keep the shells slightly raised up, and to not have a mess of glue around the shell edge. This worked out beautifully. So there you have a very simple and very precious way to make a clock. I think it is a wonderful work of art.
The auction for the fundraiser was a very successful night.
Most of the parents of these kindergartner's were at the auction, and the bidding started out really well. A good cause and a nice keepsake with children's names made it very special. As the bidding topped 500 dollars, people dropped off, but 2 remained. A very determined Daddy to one of the children, and My sister, Marilou, who's daughter and son in law made the clock. Marilou had actually helped in the gathering of all the seashells that summer with her granddaughter. As the bidding crept to 850.00, my sis shouted 1000. And waited. ... silence...And won the clock. Of course her husband teases her to this day, because, their daughter and son in law could easily have made them another clock. "But it's all for a good cause". Is all my sis will say.
Thanks Maya for this opportunity to show off this wonderful shell clock by my niece Janet and her husband Joe. Custom orders can be taken for any who would like one of their own.
Thank you so much Eileen for sharing this project and story with us! I think I'll be making a shell clock soon!
You can see another example of a DIY shell clock Here, and Shari of Beach Grass Cottage used seaglass to make this Clock. Beautiful!
Happy Weekend, Everyone!
