the shells are back (a Hanukkah rewind)

Oh yes, that huge bag of shells from our time at the beach with Miss T is still sitting in the cockpit, still quite full despite making houses, furniture, and who knows what else.

I was inspired by my pal Lucia at Dim Sum, Bagels, & Crawfish who posted about her nature inspired menorahs (it was also featured on The Magnifying Glass, a fabulous site!) And once again the shells came out, this time with the beeswax melting and wee little candle wicks trimmed. It was just a matter of Zach picking out nine of his favorites (with one large one for the middle as the Shamash candle), dipping the ends of the wicks in melted wax so they would "glue" to the bottom of the shell, and then carefully pouring in a bit of beeswax (I used wax paper on the counter under because pouring into a small vessel gets messy. With the wax paper you can easily peel the dry spilled wax and melt it again for another project.)

(the clothes pin helped to stabilize the shell so it wouldn't tip while the wax was still liquid)

Then we set a playsilk on the table that had traditional Hanukkah colors and ocean colors. Zach went through his rock collection and picked out crystals and agate slices and shiny rocks and coral to decorate along with his beloved "dragon" driftwood.

As the sun was setting we warmed up our latkes (from Whole Foods, who are we kidding, I am not peeling all those potatoes! You all know how I love to cook. ahem.), lit the candles, sang the songs, and had a lovely evening by the warm glow of our Hanukkah lights.

The best part is, we have no bulky menorah to store on the boat and we can make this one over again in years to come no matter where we are. Thank you again Lucia!

Don't forget to enter the wonderful MamaRoots giveaway!