Coastal Shadow Box with Shells and Beads

Turn a thrift store find into a coastal decor piece using shells and beads. This shadow box wasn’t my style at all, but that didn’t stop me from bringing it home and giving it a makeover. 

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I love finding thrift store items that need simple makeovers to work my coastal decor. Using beads, shells, and paint, the shadow box is a great fit for our mantel now.

Coastal Shadow Box with Shells and Beads

Supplies Used for Coastal Shadow Box with Shells and Beads

• Thrift Store Find Shadow Box
• Laminated Burlap
• Spray Adhesive
• E6000 Glue
• Assorted Sea Shels
• Chalk Paint
• Medium Grit Sand Paper

The shadow box was looking pretty worn and dated. When I bought it, I wasn’t sure what material the flowers were made of. I thought it would be easy to remove it and replace it with some coastal decor pieces. 

I was wrong! It was made of ceramic and it was glued very securely to the backing. I used a flat head screw driver to pry it away from the backing. As you can see, that didn’t go so smoothly. I chipped away at the ceramic until I had large chunks of it out. Then, I continued to work the screw driver around the edges of the backing until it began to lift away. 

Once I had the inside of the box cleared out, I applied a light coat of spray adhesive to a cut to size laminated burlap sheet. 

I recently bought a couple of packages of beads that were on clearance at JoAnn’s. They were marked at $3.47, but when I checked out, they were only $1.50 each. I love when that happens! 

The amber colored beads match well with the burlap backing and they make a great background for the sea shells that I planned on adding to the shadow box.  I used E6000 glue to adhere the beads to the burlap. I worked in small areas of the box to set the beads. I left it to dry overnight. 

I tried out a few different placements for the shells before gluing them in place. 

The top portion of the frame of the shadow box got a quick chalk paint using Waverly Agave paint. I left the back section of the box unpainted. 

I rearranged the shells until I was happy with the placement of them. More E600 glue keeps them in place.  I let the shells dry overnight before adding the top frame back onto the shadow box. 

I decided that I wanted to sand down the edges of the frame. I used medium grit sandpaper to lightly distress it. 

Using beads and shells to change the look of the thrift store find was an easy way to give a new look to the old piece. This is a great way to display shells you’ve collected from beaches or if you don’t have a beach nearby, you can purchase a bag of shells for crafts. 

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Coastal Shadow Box with Shells and Beads

You might also enjoy this coastal tray makeover from a thrift store find. 

What’s your latest thrift store flip?

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