Shelling out for a DIY tiara

If there’s one item you can practically bet on finding in op shops, it’s shell jewellery, probably because it’s a popular souvenir in touristy beachside destinations but doesn’t always look right when you get it home again. I’m guessing that’s why these earring-necklace-bracelet sets ended up in an op shop, along with some other shell pieces I found. Aren’t they pretty?  

Naturally I couldn’t resist, although I wasn’t sure how often I’d wear them (it was especially tricky to visualise wearing such summery accessories when I bought them, as it was the middle of winter!). But I knew I would manage to do something with them… something like this…

A shell tiara! To paraphrase Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen prefer Blondes, I just love finding new places to wear shells. It was actually a bracelet to start with.

It took me about 10 minutes to make it into a tiara – all I did was sew extra lengths of ribbon onto the ribbon that was already attached. I used black ribbon so that it wouldn’t show up against my hair.

 Ta da!

 I know you’re not likely to find something exactly the same, but you could make something similar by attaching ribbon to any shell jewellery that ties or clips to fasten. Or you could try making it from scratch by plaiting raffia or cord and stitching or sticking shells and beads on to it. (Probably) easy!

貝でできているアクセサリー、海外旅行中で買ったことありませんか？バリとかそういう暖かいところではかわいく見えるけど、国に帰ったら中々する機会がないよね。だからチャリティショップで寄付されることが多いでしょうね。この間チャリティショップで沢山の貝アクセサリーを見つけましたが、買ったままではしようと思っていなかったです。だからブレスレットをティアラにしてみました。ブレスレットに付いたリボンに黒いリボンを縫い付けただけで終了、というとても簡単なDIYです。貝のネクレスや似たようなブレスレットでしたら同じようなティアラが作れるから、いらないシェルのお土産ありましたら、やってみたらどうですか？