jingle shell frame sanibel

Every beach I went to this week (before it starting raining) seemed to shout “JINGLE SHELLS!” to me. I’m not the only one who has seen gobs of JINGLES. Remember, Barb was picking them up too last week

jingle shells hand

So now that it’s been raining for 2 days, I figure this is the perfect time to think about sorting, organizing and displaying some of these treasures I’ve been picking up lately…. JINGLES! Who doesn’t love a JINGLE!

jingle seashells

I’ve now started a “Jingle Jar” that I bought from Home Goods. Yeah, yeah. I know it’s really, really, reeeaaaally tall and I need a oodles of JINGLES to fill it up. But JINGLES are very common to find on Sanibel so I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble filling it all the way to the top by the end of the summer…. Maybe.

jingle jar seashell decor

When I find different ones, I love to sort shells by color so I’m always tickled when I find them sand color, bright orange, charcoal black, snow white and mellow yellow.

jingle shell display

The bright orange ones make great accents to any display in smaller jars everywhere in my house… especially by my fave ANGULAR TRITON find from our January trip to Turks And Caicos

decorate with jingle seashells

The black ones look so handsome together just laying in a dish…

Black jingles display

I am going to make time for shell craft projects the summer (hopefully on rainy days like today) because when I thought about organizing my JINGLE SHELLS, I always get inspired by thinking about Jane’s JINGLE SHELL frame I featured at the top of this post. Here’s a close up of her precious piece with her darling family…

jingle shell frame close

Jane loves to embellish anything and everything with shells! Somebody was going to throw out this old lantern but Jane rescued it and encrusted it with JINGLES and other shells. It’s a gorgeous accent lantern now for her seaside home.

decorate seashell lantern

She even adds shells to the edges of her plain cork coasters to make them adorable cork coasters! She lined one with BUTTON SHELLS, one with KITTENS PAWS, another with different CLAMS and of course one with JINGLE SHELLS. She is the glue gun Craft Queen!

decorate seashell coasters

And other people do fun things with JINGLES too. Remember this “Jingle Cat” I showed you from the 2012 Sanibel Shell Show last year? LOL It still makes me smile!

jingle seashell cat with kitten paws

So okay, what I’m trying to say is this…

If you aren’t finding the larger shells on the beach, don’t get disappointed. It’s the perfect opportunity to look at the other beautiful shells that are right there in front of you on Sanibel that you might not otherwise see. So many people overlook JINGLES. They are precious! And when it’s cold or rainy or you are stuck inside, get that box of shells out of the closet where nobody can see them and get these beautiful treasures displayed! Even if you arent as crafty as Jane, you can easily put them in a jar, dish or vessel to always admire them. Every day you will be brought back to that memorable trip to the beach.shells and water iLS