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I have often mentioned how much I enjoy walking on the beach and collecting seashells. I know that I’m not alone and so many of us have a collection of seashells. I’ve always wondered what else I could do with them besides making tea light candles in seashells. I’m definitely excited to share today’s tutorial about how to make seashell tassels, not only because I love how it turned out but because I had fun making this unique tassel. I also love making tassels.
You might wonder how I came up with this idea. I was browsing Pinterest and saw an image of “Bali Shells Tassels”. I have always been into Balinese decor but hadn’t noticed these types of tassels before but I knew I could turn my Jersey Shore seashells into something similar.
How to make seashell tassels
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The black bay scallop seashells are my favorite seashells to collect over the years. I love the washed-out gray weathered finish. If you put a clear coat on them, they look black like they do in the water when wet. They are not common in beach decor because their coloring is different and I just love them so much.
Of course, I like the regular light ivory-colored seashells too and if that’s what you have in your collection, they will work great too just like the ivory-colored seashells in Bali.
What do you need to make seashell tassels?
- seashells of your choice
- jute yarn, twine, raffia, or any other yarn of your choice
- scissors
- Dremel with a drill bit (or mini/micro hand drill)
- old cutting board or flat piece of scrap wood
- hot glue (optional)
- duct tape
I used around 130 seashells. You can make a much smaller tassel if you want to use less seashells.
Seashell tassel video tutorial
Here is a video of how I made the seashell tassels. If it doesn’t load for you for some reason then you can check it out on my YouTube Channel as well.
(You can find the swim cover-up that I’m wearing in the video in my Amazon favorites)
Step-by-step seashell tassel tutorial
I had a lot of jute yarn left over from my DIY pendant light tutorial where I used jute yarn and I’ve been wanting to use the rest of it. This project was perfect for it. You can use whatever yarn you want. I do think that the look of the jute is perfect for the tassel and an extra bonus is that it is affordable. This project didn’t cost me anything which always makes me happy.
Step 1: Sort clean seashells according to size
I started out by sorting my clean shells according to size. The reason for that is that when you thread them onto the jute yarn you pair two of the shells together. It looks much better if they are the same size the way they are in nature when alive.
Step 2: Drill holes into the seashells
I used my Dremel and a drill bit that came with my Dremel set to drill holes into the top of the seashells. Make sure you drill on an old cutting board or scrap piece of wood.
After I got the hang of it, I was able to quickly drill holes into an entire bowl full of seashells (around 130 seashells). Some seashells are very brittle and can’t handle a forceful Dremel which makes them crack apart. For those, you’ll have to use a micro hand drill which takes much longer.
(It doesn’t say on the drill bit what size it is. You can hold the drill bit next to the twine that you are using to make sure the size matches up.)
TIP: I found Atlantic surf clam shells on the beach that already have a hole in them at the top. They also work great for this project and then you don’t have to drill a hole.
If you are wondering why some seashells have these holes, at the Jersey shore they are from carnivorous moon snails who make these holes by releasing acid onto the shell to create holes so they can feed on the meat of the clam. (Find out more about the mystery of Jersey Shore shells) On other beaches, it could be from other carnivorous snails and whelks where some also have tiny drilling tongues to make the holes.
Step 3: Cut jute yarn
I cut 9 strands of jute yarn at 60 inches long.
Step 4: Knot and tape down strands of jute yarn
I folded the strands of jute yarn in half and estimated how big I wanted my hanging loop to be (about 10 inches). Then I knotted the yarn strands on one side of my loop estimation so I could braid the strands where I wanted the loop to be.
Use a piece of duct tape to tape the strands to a flat surface.
Step 5: Braid jute yarn
Separate the 9 strands into 3 times 3 strands and braid them into a 10 inch long strand of jute yarn.
Step 6: Form a loop for the tassel top
Open the knot and tie off both ends of the braided strand. Then form a loop and tie the loop together with a separate strand of jute yarn.
Step 7: Form tassel top
Wrap the bottom of the braided loop with more jute yarn. If you have trouble keeping the yarn in place, then you can use dabs of hot glue as needed to keep it in place. I wanted my tassel head to be rather thick. When you are done wrapping the jute yarn, knot the end with one of the tassel strands.
Here is the tassel before adding the seashells:
Step 9: Trim jute yarn
When I reached a point where I was happy with the shape and size of the tassel, I decided not to fill up all the strands. I cut the center strands shorter and knotted the ends. And I also double-knotted the end of the seashell strands and trimmed them.
And that’s it! You’ve got a beautiful seashell tassel!
Make sure to save this project to your Pinterest board for future reference.
Where to buy seashell tassels
As always not everyone feels like DIYing their way through life the way I do. You might just like the look of a seashell tassel but prefer to buy them somewhere which is the reason that I rounded up some of my favorites for you. You’ll notice that non of them are made with the black bay scallops though. A lot of them use cowrie shells and white scallop shells.
Where to hang seashell tassels
I like hanging my tassels on door knobs, furniture knobs, hardware, curtain rods, or as curtain tie-backs. Just to name some examples.
Tschüß,
Materials
- 130 seashells of your choice
- jute yarn, twine, raffia, or any other yarn of your choice
- duct tape
Tools
- hot glue gun (optional)
- sharp scissors
- Dremel with a drill bit or micro hand drill
- old cutting board or flat piece of scrap wood
Notes
- I used black bay scallops but you can use whatever seashells you’d like for this seashell craft
- Wrapping the tip of the jute yarn with a bit of duct tape helps tremendously when threading the seashells onto the yarn.
- I found Atlantic surf clam shells on the beach that already have a hole in them at the top. They also work great for this project and then you don’t have to drill a hole.
- You can use a micro hand drill but the Dremel definitely works better
- Some seashells are very brittle and can’t handle a forceful Dremel which makes them crack apart. For those, you’ll have to use a micro hand drill which takes much longer.
- You can hold the drill bit next to the twine that you are using to make sure the size matches up
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