{diy project: oyster shell mirror}

DIY Oyster Shell Mirror

What you need:
- Mirror {it's easier to use one with a thick frame}
- Oyster shells
- Liquid nail or clear weld

My aunt Kimbie bought this simple, pretty mirror at Lowe's for one of the guest bathrooms. {I'm a Home Depot gal myself, so I was impressed by this find. Lowes has a style department?! Who knew?} Kimbie told me that on their drive from Texas to Florida, they always pass an oyster shucking company. She had this great idea to make an oyster mirror with the one from Lowe's, so she gathered the courage to sneak into the back of the factory one Saturday & take some. You see...they throw away all of the shells since they only want the oysters. Such a waste, right?!

Here's Kimbie gathering some shells:

Look at all of those shells! She said it smelled horrible, but she came home armed with buckets of beautiful oysters.

After cleaning & letting them dry thoroughly, we got to work.

Here's where I apologize for my photos. We worked out on the porch, and it was so.darn.humid. outside that my lens kept fogging over.

^^Best "before" shot of the mirror^^

1. Pick the shells you want to use & space them out on the mirror. This saves you time later so you're not searching for what shells to use. It also helps you figure out how many you actually need.

2. Spread glue on the back of the shell AND on the mirror. Repeat until you finish.

^^I used liquid nail, Kimbie used the clear weld. They were equally strong options!^^

3. We let the mirror dry for an hour & then went back to check on each shell. There were some that didn't really attach to the mirror, so we had to add more glue. Each shell differed in shape & size; some were more bumpy than others, therefore some needed more glue than others.

^^First layer of shells.^^

4. Once they were dry, we added a second layer on top of the first with smaller oysters to fill in the empty gaps.

5. Let it dry...then hang!

I LOVE it! 

It was one of the easiest projects I've ever done & it makes such a difference in the room. Kimbie has a ton of shells left over...I wonder what she'll do with the rest!

Thanks for letting me join in on this Kimbie! xo.