Sunday, May 23, 2010

Making a Sailor's Valentine

Making sailor's valentines was a common craft in the early 19th century, practiced mainly by men on sailing ships at sea for months on end, as gifts for their sweethearts or mothers and sisters back home. You can continue the tradition with just a few readily available supplies and the design can be as simple or detailed as you choose to make it.

You'll need: a sturdy box (cigar, wooden, papier mache), scissors, seashells and glue. Foil paper trims and lace are optional. We're using a papier mache heart shaped box from Germany. We don't use glue guns, but prefer a quick drying glue like Alene's.

Keep your design simple and don't worry about perfection - no two shells are exactly alike and that makes them even more beautiful. When placing the shells, we work out from the center.

We've glued vintage lace to the base and trimmed it close to the box edge.

A band of paper Dresden foil trim finishes that edge. We've also added a band of paper foil inside the box, to continue the design from outside.

A vintage brass stamping of an angel finishes the top.

This box works well for small jewelry and other treasured pieces.

Keep in mind that you can paint your box or work directly on the original surface; Dresden trims come in a large variety of widths and colors; you can find a huge selection of seashells, both natural and colored, in our etsy shop.

Be sure to visit Mary over at Little Red House for more mosaics!

32 comments:

  1. Certainly a sailors creative delight!You have one lovely decorated box..love the lace.

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  2. Amanda,
    What fun! Thanks so much for the tutorial.I've always been quite impressed with the Sailors Valentine ... who wouldn't be with two of my favorite things ... shells and hearts! :D :D

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  3. You make such beautiful things, Amanda! I never heard of a Sailor's Valentine! Very pretty!

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  4. Hi Amanda! Oh, how beautiful! Thank you for the tutorial on this. I've often thought of doing something like this. Yours turned out so pretty! Thanks for popping in to see me.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  5. Amanda,
    This is just lovely. Thanks for sharing directions.

    Carol

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  6. The Sailor's Valentine is so pretty and would amke a wonderful gift or party favor any time of the year.
    Thanks for such a clear tutorial on how to make them!
    xxoo Pat

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  7. The Sailor's Valentine craft is lovely and makes a lovely mosaic. Thank you for your kind comment and visiting my blog. ~Diana

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  8. Amanda - these are absolutely gorgeous. I love the tiny pink shells (at first glance, I thought they were rosebuds). And btw, I love Rainier cherries too.

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  9. Oh Amanda! This is just lovely. And what a great looking mosaic your creation has provided you with too! Very nice.

    Di
    The Blue Ridge Gal

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  10. Amanda,

    What a lovely Sailor's Valentine! I'm totally fumble-fingered so I stand in awe of that intricate shell detail. Beautiful!

    Gena

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  11. You've made such a pretty trinket box. I was at a presentation a couple of weeks ago that an ex-military man gave on making concrete stepping stones. When his bio was read it said he liked to crochet, knit and sew which surprised me. But, the same holds true for these men too I guess that they need to do something while away from home and this guy became crafty.

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  12. I am so happy to visit today! Your trinket box is so beautiful and I love the history behind the box. Hope you have a fun and wonderful week!
    Wendy

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  13. What a beautiful Valentine Box and thanks for directions too.
    I scrolled through your blog and you all are so talented. Love it!!! MB

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  14. I also meant to say that Western Wa. and Eastern Wa. are two different places altogether. Once you cross over the Cascades you seem to be in a different country. We like our differences. LOL MB

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  15. How beautiful those are. Absiolutely gorgeous and your tutorial is great. thank you.

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  16. You are truly an artist. I absolutely love Sailor's Valentines. Thank you for the history behind them too. I wish I was creative...

    Love,

    Holly
    x

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  17. Oh that turned out so pretty! thanks for the tutorial!

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  18. What a beautiful box, thank very much for sharing the instructions. I hope you have a wonderful week.

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  19. These are very pretty. What a fun idea!

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  20. What a lovely idea. I used to collect shells when I was a little girl, wish I'd known about sailor's valentines! Great mosaic,tfs.

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  21. hmmm, I've not heard of these valentines but I love the story.
    You sure do pretty work.
    xo bj
    O, and I can't wait for my first cherries of the season. I do love those big ole Bing cherries so much. Ummm, and cherry pie with a homemade crust is one of my favorites!!

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  22. How sweet and what fun to do! Love it.
    Cass

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  23. Oh so adorable!!...Christine

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  24. Your mosaic is very pretty! It was interesting to read abour the sailor's nice valentines, I never heard about it before - but of course, it make sense ;0)
    /Susanna

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  25. Just wonderful, love your Sailors Valentine. Very pretty mosaic!

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  26. Hi Amanda. this was a beautiful mosaic and thanks for the tutorial on the Sailor's valentine. A great story and a wonderful idea for my little girlie grands.
    QMM

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  27. So much fun what you're doing. I love seeing how you can turn something plain into beautiful!

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  28. Beautiful and very interesting to think of the men at sea making such trinkets for their ladies. ~Jeanne

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  29. What a lovely valentine´s craft.

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  30. That's so beautiful heart box, Amanda! Very intricate!

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  31. Wow this turned out so pretty! Interesting history about the sailors. Keepin' my flag-a-wavin' Joan

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  32. So pretty, Amanda and what a sweet and thoughtful thing for those seemingly tough bunch of sailors to do! Your instructions are great too!

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