It's All the Same to the Clam Shell Dish

The day after Christmas my family and I went to visit a Great Grandmother who lives about an hour and half away. On the return ride we stopped at a popular beach, now deserted because of the snow and cold. We played in the the sand, the snow, and we carefully avoided the water. :-) The Maine ocean is chilly enough in the summer time!! While we were goofing upon the beach, I happened upon some lovely whole quahog shells with hinges attached. 

I thought to myself, that little hinge attachment they have is so awesome....but, what if it were a real hinge?? Then I could put decorative soap in the shell and that would be that. There. A quahogs life ambition fulfilled. :-)

Would you like to bring some happiness to a clam? Of *course* you would. To do this you need:

Whole clam shell

Hot glue

Hinge

Rock

Burlap

Mod Podge (Glossy)

~First, clean that clam shell. You won't want it in the house if you haven't. Those suckers can really hold their stink. :-) Put it through a hot wash in the dishwasher and give it a little extra scrub afterwards to get any extra stickiness out. Remove the real hinge attachment. 

~With hot glue, set your metal hinge in place one part at a time. I filled up the space below the hinge with the hot glue until it was about to over flow, and then I set the hinge on top. Try to make it so that a little glue seeps up through the screw holes in the hinge. This will help to hold it in place. 

This is not a very pretty picture, but it gives you the idea. I cleaned up the whole thing afterward. 

~Mod podge the heck out of that quahog. Inside and outside. I used several applications. Make 'er shine. 

~ I opted to paint my hinge an off white.... the brass just didn't work for me. 

~Find a nice smooth rock and put a big glob of hot glue on the top where the shell will sit (test out how it will all balance first and mark where the shell will sit). Set a small circle (about the same size as the glue dollop) of burlap on top of that to give it some extra grip and put another blob of hot glue on top of that. Set the shell on top and push it firmly down. Let it cool.

~Fill it with whatever you'd like to fill it with. Ornate soaps, earrings, fancy dog treats, q-tips?? I could go on. 

I thought about adding some ornamentation to the shells to make them *pop* just a bit. But, I have decided plain is perfect for me. The colors of the quahog are quite beautiful just as they are. 

Here's a favorite poem of mine about our hero, the clam: 

It's All The Same To The Clam

You may leave the Clam on the ocean floor
It's all the same to the Clam.
For a hundred thousand years or more,
It's all the same to the Clam.
You may bury him deep in mud or muck,
Or carry him round to bring you luck.
Or use him for a hockey puck.
It's all the same to the Clam.

You may call him Frank or Jim or Nell
It's all the same to the Clam.
Or make an ashtray from his shell.
It's all the same to the clam.
You may take him riding on a train
or leave him sitting in the rain.
You'll never hear the Clam complain.
It's all the same to the Clam.

Yes the world may stop or the world may spin
It's all the same to the Clam.
And the sky may come a fallin' in
It's all the same to the Clam.
And man may sing his endless songs,
of wronging rights and righting wrongs.
The Clam just sets - and gets along.
It's all the same to the Clam.

By Shel Silverstein

I shared this post at some very funky parties:
Frugalicious Friday
Three Or More Tuesdays 

Works For me Wednesdays