How to Display Seashells

In a Display Case

• 1

  Sort through your seashells and choose your favorites.

• 2

  Wash and dry your shells with care. Be very careful with two-part shells whose pieces are still attached to each other.

• 3

  Purchase a glass display case with shelves that will hang on the wall or stand on a table.

• 4

  Arrange your shells in the case. If you're unable to get them to stay where you want them, attach them with a dab of clear museum gel.

• 5

  Try different arrangements to see what you like best. Try putting shells of one type together or shells of one color in a grouping.

• 6

  Consider turning a large shell upside down and filling it with sand and then placing it in the case.

• 7

  Add some feathers you found on the beach and lay them behind or across the shells.

• 8

  Display your case on a wall or table.

In a Specimen Box

• 9

  Purchase a specimen box - the kind used to display butterflies or other insects. These boxes are flat with a glass top. They're filled with cotton inside and hang on a wall.

• 10

  Arrange your washed and dried shells on the cotton.

• 11

  Add feathers, colored stones or other items from the beach.

• 12

  Remember that you're arranging the shells while the box is lying flat and that you'll hang the box on the wall to display it, so be sure you secure the shells by pressing them into the cotton.

• 13

  Attach the lid securely so that it cannot fall off or come loose.

• 14

  Hang the box on a wall.