I need some craft advice?

Question

I have these bunch of sea shells, right?, so I wanna make a necklace out of them but I dunno how to make a whole through them without breaking them or damaging them. So I was wondering how to make the holes, any ideas?

Answer 1

You might be able to make a necklace out of them without drilling them.  Consider gluing them on wire/string using E-6000 poly glue.  It's extremely strong and clear.  I've used it for years to hold silk roses on vests.  You can get it at Wal-Mart, Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc.

Answer 2

Drilling shells is a tricky process and you should expect breakage especially at first. No one technique works for all types of shells, and you should plan to experiment to see what works best for your shells. If you don't want to risk the shells you have, you may want to buy some at a craft store to practice on first.

The people at the link below have developed a variety of methods.

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread...

There's also info on drilling shells at the link below.

http://www.eco-artware.com/crafts/crafts...

Here are some illustrated instructions.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Wq-lzax...

Here's a possible alternative to drilling. Fire Mountain Gems sells several kinds of 'foldover bails'. You bend these into a u-shape, glue the ends to your shells and create hanging loops without having to drill. I would think that large craft stores like Hobby Lobby would carry them too.

http://www.firemountaingems.com/

(search for 'bails')

Good luck!