You might get some ideas from this video:

You could string some up and and wind chimes or a "beaded" curtain or hang them in a window.

I used to have a knit shirt made in France from Bloomingdale's that had black and white seashells as buttons. I have a collection of those shells that I found in the Caribbean.

I'm beginning to think I'm going to do several things. If you saw the link that I posted Lar's there was something very similar with the stringing idea. I also like just displaying them, which is a whole lot of things on this thread.

And what's left I can either donate or turn into jewelry that I can sell at our farmer's market (seems like its original name was Players and Makers. Music, jewelry, foodstuffs, plants. All of it for our local Village). I also have a lot of craft materials I want to use it or lose it. Seems like it might be fun to combine them. As you might remember I like to make purses. Might be fun to have dangly things with shells on the ends tied to the handles, for instance. Something fun.

As a crafts teacher, I would very much appreciate a donation of shells. They're great for all kinds of crafts and activities.

We've even grown crystal gardens by pouring white vinegar over shells and letting it evaporate:

And I also like to fill glass containers with shells and fossils I've collected over the years. It's a very nice way to display them.

No point in sending them to a landfill - If nothing else, they can go in the garden - they'll leach calcium into the soil.

When I was young and interested in marine biology, someone gave a huge box of gorgeous shells. I had fun learning about every one.

You can offer them to children or hobbyists. Ask at any salt water aquarium supply. Offer on Craigslist crafts. You could probably sell them, so much per bag, then donate the moen to a charity such as a pet rescue. I love looking at them in a jar.

My first thought was, throw them back in the ocean. Scatter them on a beach. Give someone else the fun of finding them.

You can also put them in a glass container with bromeliads. Or make a terrarium, Or an aquarium!

I have some square vases that I put a round votive jar with candle, and surrounded with shells on the bottom and sea glass type stones above, halfway or so up the votive, so the light kind of glimmers through the sea glass. It’s a nice summer look.

And I took some to the local art exchange, where people much more artistic and crafty than I can put them to good use. My mom had amassed quite a number from visits to Florida.

Put them back on the beach, YES! Just a short tour.

People around here use shell mulches for landscaping. They come in various sizes too. You might mulch container plants or a garden bed with them...

P.S. My search results revealed that Home Depot sells bagged shells - who knew?

I donated an orangey-red metal bust from Pier 1 to a local resale shop. The person who bought it made this:

I have loads of shells as well and I have them in baskets and glass jars.

DH has glass carboy--5gal clear glass jar. I would for sure have one in a corner in a hall/family room filled if it were me. I have a few shells and sand from beaches from my travels in small apothecary jars on a shelf in the main bathroom.

I had an excessive amount of air plants on the ground when a big tree branch snapped. My MIL drove away with a trunk full pf air plants. At her next craft show she was selling air plant flamingos with plants coming out of the shells. Most were pink but she made ours turquoise. She has such a creative imagination.

Now I have found some naked shells in need of air plants.

The holes in these look like they were drilled.

I have been wondering how one can drill holes into such delicate shells without shattering them?

It's difficult - you need a very tiny drill bit and something like a Dremel tool is best, I think.

Often, tho, you can find shells with holes already 'drilled' by starfish, molluscs and sea urchins.

Yeah, I noticed those pre-drilled shells. I thought they'd work best for jewelry.

Pier 1 used to sell bagged shells too.

Unless i was very sure of myself craft-wise, I wouldn’t attempt to glue anything on a frame. They are very pretty on a framed mirror or photo frame though if it fits the photo.

I have also used them in clear jars. So many ways to display a few or many, depending on what you like.

Last time I had a similar project (see the green button purse in first post), I laid them all out ahead of time before actually sewing them on. I figure it might be similar? It's just for my enjoyment, so it doesn't have to be great enough to sell like some of the very nice items posted in this thread.

I collect interesting rocks from the seashore. I got my very first one 60 years ago from my first visit to the English channel. I still have it. I put my rocks in bowls and containers scattered about the house and yard. I also will use large shells like abalone as bowls. I like to look through them. I love map rocks with veins that look like roads and pudding rocks with lots of inclusions. When I am gone they will become rocks again I suppose but for now they are treasures. They add texture to my life. Shells serve the same purpose. Something to marvel at I think.

I like to collect rocks from both the beaches here and my travels too. I recall an awkward moment with airport security when I packed a large stone in the bottom of my carryon 😄

You're my people! I also collect shells and mostly display them in jars and baskets. In the summer I put an all-weather basket on the deck and fill it up with shells. I have large shells filled with smaller shells. I need to start crafting to use some of them up. Eventually, I expect to pass them along to anyone else who may enjoy them. It'd also be sort of fun to drop some FL shells at Lake Michigan near me - just to mess with folks. ;)

I could go really crazy and send you my Caribbean shells bluebell! That'd really get them. They'd be all like, what???!!! heh

You have some beautiful shells in your collection. Does your cat take an interest in them? I have a small shadow box with a few shells displayed. I'd like clear glass jars to put them in if I had that many. They are so FUN to collect. Looking at them would bring back good memories.

I like the domed display idea in the link above for some of the distinct/bigger ones, along with the breadboard idea. I have some driftwood, a sponge, a skeleton of some sort that kiddo liked... I like the ginger jar/jar for a lot of the other shells more mid-range. I am thinking projects with the smaller ones.

And they all have many pictures and memories attached to them.

One thing I am thinking about doing would really destroy one or two of the shells, is a display of the sand dollar. The front has the star in the middle, the back has the poinsettia, when it opens up: there is a star. The star is made up of five doves. It's the one that really intrigues me and shows me the intricacies of the universe. It's what fueled my thoughts of being a marine biologist. Still in science these days, too old to be in the water for a living. And it's before I ever heard all the religious iconography attached to it. I just noticed all the little details when I was a teenager. We harvested them. Ever done that? Anyone? You go out to a sandbar and reach down with your toes, and grab them while the tide is low. You have to bleach them after that; they don't come pristine white. I realized the tide was coming in sooner than the rest of my group and let's say they had a harder time getting back to shore. We still laugh about that.

When I lived in Florida we brought home the dinner plate sized sand dollars home, They stunk up the yard We went to beach that was paved with them, you could feel them crunch, horrible actually.

Well that's sad.

The shells on Cape Cod are so different than the shells in Florida. I came home from a vacation on Sanibel Island with a whole carry-on tote full of shells. I filled several apothecary jars with them and have them on a shelf in one of our guest bedrooms - my SIL took this photo last summer (BTW, they took the bedspread and decorative pillows off of the bed)

OMG Carol! I bring rocks home from vacation too! LOL I thought I was a freak. There is a picture of me collecting rocks on every trip. I had a cute little rock garden on my desk for years. I regret not labeling them all at the time of collection.

Certainly where I live and I suspect also for much of the rest of the Pacific coastal area of the US, having items on shelves over the head side of a bed is pretty uncommon. Being awoken by an earthquake isn't a pleasant experience, having that also accompanied by getting hit in the head with falling objects would be worse.

I'm almost afraid to confess this but I have 20 pounds of sea glass sitting on a shelf in the garage.

One summer while DD was in college she was the ceramic instructor and craft director at a camp for teenage girls. I was in Pottery Barn and they were selling 5 pound bags of sea glass for 50% off. I think they may have been around $3 each. Thinking she could use them for crafts I bought them but before I could deliver them the camp closed unexpectedly due to a health concern.

I think I'd like to make a suncatcher for the kitchen window. But I don't need 20 pounds. If DD doesn't want them for anything I'll contact our school.

When I was I was Ireland I found some beautiful pieces, including blue on the beach and had those made into a bracelet.

Live sand dollars can stain your skin a yellowy color when you handle them. June is when there are multitudes of tiny babies 1 inch or so in the Gulf. You find them by feeling around in the sand in the shallows near shore. They're literally the size of a quarter or a dollar coin. I don't take any, but it's fun to find them.

Re: rock collecting - there's an old Technicolor comedy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz called The Big Trailer, and one of the jokes is she collects stones from every state as they travel across the US for her hypothetical rock garden, and it gets out of hand, of course 😄

I've always had a fondness for natural objects like stones, shells, wood, seedpods and feathers. I enjoy the beauty of the natural world very much.

And during college I worked in a beach shop that sold shells, etc.. My boss encouraged us to read all the shelling books we sold to familiarize ourselves with them, and in HS, I worked in a factory that put together shrinkwrapped baskets of shells sold in those touristy shops - the yard where they cleaned them smelled horrendous!

No worries about earthquakes here, Elmer. That shelf has been over the bed for 33 years.

I just find it interesting he still has no suggestions for something HELPFUL. Just negative thoughts over something that hasn't happened. I've experienced earthquakes here (New Madrid fault line) and I don't decorate my bedroom around it or live my life in fear.

Elmer's post reminded me of my friend's story. Many years ago, he went to California for a job. He rented an apartment that was expensive, partly because it featured a big skylight over the bed. Early one morning, he woke up to feel the place shaking from an earthquake. He told me his first thought while lying there was that he could die if the skylight broke and fell on him. The skylight had a curtain which he never again opened. I'm not so sure a curtain would have been much protection, but the skylight totally lost its charm.

While I appreciate the what ifs, no one can live his life wondering what might be. Just go forward! Dip your toe in! Put yourself out there, and make suggestions, and offer a piece of yourself. I have lived both in California and in Tennessee through earthquakes. I'll never forget waking up my husband and saying honey I think there are squirrels in there... And he said that's an earthquake honey

While the entire frame of the house was shaking. In Tennessee. We can all go at any point. We may as well enjoy the ride ❣️

the farm i live on was once a sandbar in the illinois river before the river was rerouted by the corps of engineers back in the 30s. it isn't unusual to find small snail shells (obviously, these are freshwater) especially after we've had a good rain.

when my grandson was about 5 years old, he found "a seashell" out in the yard in some loose sand. after that, each time he visited he would go outside and look for shells and often found them. two years later, he still gets a kick out of finding "seashells" in my yard. i went to a craft store a few months ago and found a small bag of shells intended for crafting. when i know gabe is coming for a visit, i plant 2 or 3 of them out in the yard and we go on a search. he's always excited when he finds one! 😉

A photo of the glass ginger jar lamps Annie Deighnaugh mentioned. My father made put this together, I think mainly from things he collected on Sanibel Island, maybe elsewhere. I need to repaint the base...another retirement project!

" I just find it interesting he still has no suggestions for something HELPFUL. Just negative thoughts over something that hasn't happened. "

Huh?

" I don't decorate my bedroom around it or live my life in fear. "

The "life in fear" insinuation is laughable. You're stretching too far in your failed effort to be critical.

send them to me ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@Elmer J Fudd I really got a chuckle out of that. I used to live in an earthquake prone area and I remember waking up with a very large bookcase teetering back and forth about 6 feet from me on the verge of collapsing my way , books and all. Definitely wouldn't be putting jars and rocks over my head.

Or common sense.

I collect rocks and seashells when I travel too. When I was in Oregon last year I found out there are very few because the surf is so rough, they break up and so you usually only find fragments. So, I collected rocks and driftwood instead.

I have a small glass jar filled with seashells somewhere. I also have a shell swag in my hall bathroom made of shells. I didn't make it, though.

All the rocks and shells are from my trip out West. The skull in the bottom was bought at the Astoria tower. I thought it would look good in my cactus garden and actually went back for it after going up in the tower. The dry leaves on the far right were all over my car when I left the Redwood National Forest. Sadly my cactus are all dying for some reason.

Seashell lamp. They can be put in a glass jar or glued on also to a lamp. lamp

I just saw this on FB and thought of this thread. She's used rocks but I think you could do the same thing with shells. There is a close up of the method she used the wire to attach to the rocks in the first comment

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10224833141550953&set=gm.390233553556287&idorvanity=256913103555000

we also have a large collection of shells and stones.

when DH & I go to the NJ shore next time, we are bringing them back. we just have too many. i will keep a few, use for summer display, but most are going back to whence they came.

i woud never throw them in trash, that is a travesty.

It's so hard to pick which ones are special. How will you pick sprtphntc?

i saw this "feel good" story on the news a few days ago and thought it was so sweet!

https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/hermit-crab-shell-home-tiktok-plastic/

Hah Ninapearl. I have been thinking hermit crab homes all this time for some of those shells. Bonus it would mean a trip.

if you have any aquarium stores within a reasonable distance, maybe you could donate some of the bigger shells to their hermit crabs. i've kept these little critters in the past and they LOVE switching out their shells even if they haven't outgrown them. :)