I recently went on a trip to Whitstable in Kent for a few days, it was gorgeous, I’ll put some pictures below but be warned it will make you will want to go!

We didn’t have the best weather, it rained quite heavy for one day, but it was still full of gorgeous shops and amazing seafood restaurants.

While I was there I picked up some oyster shells, you can find them along the beach, they throw out the old shells from the restaurants and you can find piles of them everywhere. I picked some up as a memento then looked for a way to use them, I came up with this cute little trinket dish for my bed side table.

What you will need

An oyster shell

Silver spray paint

How to Make 

Take your oyster shell and a bowl of warm soapy water. Clean your shells, I used a potato scrubbing brush and you will really be surprised by how much dirt comes off the shells. It’s a little bit gross but it will be worth it in the end. Leave your shells to dry

Use an old cardboard box and ensure you work in a well ventilated area. Pop your shell in the box and shake your spray paint well. You can use any colour you like to match your decor but I chose a metallic silver from Wilko.

Hold the spray can roughly 20cms from the shell and use light strokes to coat the surface of the shell in spray paint. Don’t try and add too much paint at once or it will lose the detail, use light coats and build the colour up. Leave to dry in between coats. I love the texture in this shell.

Once you are happy with one side, flip the shell over and repeat on the other side. Once both sides are covered check for any areas in the layers of the oyster shells that might have been missed.

And there you have a gorgeous little trinket dish for jewellery or spare change. It is a wonderful reminder of our trip to Whitstable and something practical to now look pretty on my bed side table.

If this DIY oyster shell trinket post has inspired you, don’t forget to show me, I always like to see your makes, tag @i_heart_maggie  for Instagram or @IHeart_Maggie on twitter.

Here are a few more pictures of my trip to Whitstable and Margate just to tease you a little bit more about how gorgeous it was!

This was one of many gorgeous beach huts on the beach, I really loved the poem on the side and the amazing attention to detail on the decoration.

My oyster starter from the Whitstable oyster company, you can see where they grow from just outside the restaurant, they are so fresh, not for everyone I know but worth trying at least once! I would also recommend Elliotts for breakfast and Crab and Winkle for fresh seafood with harbour views.

One of the many cute shops on the high street, there are some amazing vintage, antique and charity shops in Whitstable and Margate. I was in heaven, it’s a good job we didn’t have room in the car to bring lots home or I would be poor.

We visited Shell Grotto in Margate, it is a true wonder, no one really knows why but there is a corridor and chamber under ground decorated with 4.6 million shells ( I would love to know who counted!) The gift shop is also filled with baskets full of reasonably priced shells, I bought a few for my bathroom.

While in Margate we took a trip to Dreamland, the weather wasn’t great, as per the grey sky, but it is a fun place to spend a few hours. For £5 you can get entry and a ride of your choice. It’s full of instagram opportunities!

We caught the train from Whitstable to Margate for only £7 return, it takes 20 minutes rather than the 40 minutes to drive and the station is right next to Dreamland, trains run every 30 mins.

Love

Claire X