Oyster shell trinket dishes

 

We have been collecting oyster shells from the Thames Estuary around Southend-on-sea. It's a very shelly beach!

 

The shells are disinfected, scrubbed and dried. The inners are then painted with a pearlescent paint, decoupaged and sealed so you can still see some of the original shell. The outsides are painted in liquid gold or silver paint and the whole shell is sealed with an acrylic sealant.

 

They make ideal trinket dishes for rings. earrings or other bits and bobs.