194 ] Pish and Their Fabulous Neighbors 



Shell Hobbies Are Fun 



SHELL COLLECTING 



Sea shells delight children who live inland as well as those 

 who have the seashore close at hand. They may collect them as 

 stamps and coins are collected through purchase at stores, by order 

 from catalogues, and through trading with correspondents the 

 world over. 



Shells have a multiple appeal. Some, such as the giant conch 

 shell, intensify the sounds they pick up in their spiral interior 

 and thus bring to a child's ear "the sound of the sea." 



DECORATIVE USES FOR SHELLS 



Shells have a further appeal because you can make art 

 objects with them. If your child is an enthusiastic collector, he 

 may call on you for ideas to put quantities of shells to use. 



One project that serves the purpose is making shell book ends. 

 You start these with two triangular blocks of wood, each attached 

 to a heavy wood base about six inches square. Then you apply a 

 coat of ready-mixed putty, nearly a quarter of an inch thick, to 

 the outer surfaces that are to be decorated. While this is still 

 soft, press shells into it just far enough to be held firm. With 

 good cutting tools your wood blocks may take varied shapes, 

 while the shell groupings and designs are limitless and the wood 

 and putty may be painted as desired. 



SHELL HANDICRAFTS 



Some shells are suitable for making belts, necklaces, brace- 

 lets, and earrings. A small child needs help in making the holes 

 where stringing is necessary, for shells crack easily. The most 

 effective way to puncture them is with a fine-pointed electric 

 drill. You can buy shellcraft hobby packages in which the pre- 

 liminary work has been done; this greatly simplifies the assembling 

 of shell "jewelry." 



A child who gathers sea shells takes a far livelier interest in his 

 collection if he thinks of a shell as a fortress created by a soft- 

 bodied creature. The shell served the mollusk as a protective 

 covering during its lifetime, and after death remained as a 

 memorial to the little creature that lived in it. 



