Any ideas for what to do with shells and fossils (set in resin/stick to a picture frame etc)

[plipplops]

My (adult) sister is going with some friends for a weekend on the south coast somewhere where there's good fossil hunting. The ones you find are normally quite small, but there are lots of them so you often end up with lots of smallish bits of rock that you sort of don't know what to do with when you get home? I may take DDs (5 and 6) for the day so need to consider them too.

She wants to find something to do with any fossils/shells etc to make them somehow more interesting. Her idea was to get some 2 part resin and some moulds of some kind, and make some paperweights(?!), maybe with glitter and other bits in, which I think sounds like a messy difficult job and I have no idea what you'd do with it afterwards (have a horrible feeling she might want to use them for presents and I don't want one!)

I think getting some plain picture frames would be nicer, then they could stick any rocks or shells on using some hefty glue and maybe grouting up any gaps afterwards. I also think that'd be a nicer group thing to do in the evenings, rather than spending time mixing smelly chemicals.

Any other thoughts would be much appreciated?

[LongPieceofString]

Get a plant pot and stick them all over it. Then the smelly bits stay outside!

[LackaDAISYcal]

We made these lovely seaside pics on holiday in Robin Hood's bay last year which made a great memento.

Basically got a sheet of MDF, lots of PVA glue spread on, then sand and pebbles, with random bigger pebbles, shells, small fossils and driftwood added as whim dictated. Once happy, spray copiously with 50:50 pva/water and allow to dry.

I'll take a pic and upload tomorrow if you like. Once made, you can stick it straight on the wall or out it in a frame. 8 months on ours are still just fine, but if you felt they were starting to lose bits, another spray with PVA would sort them out.

[ComfyLeatherChair]

I've got a ton of little shell fossils and a couple.of sharks teeth looking for a home. We recently made some things out of PVA clay that worked really well so I thought about making a couple of 'tiles' and pressing the fossils on to them. Then framing them in box frames to go in the DSs rooms.

[CocktailQueen]

I got a deep box frame (google 'box frame' on eBay) and some strong cardboard for inside, then glued shells/small fossils to the cardboard and displayed them like that.

I also like Comfy's idea! I don't know what it was made of, but the Butterfly Farm at Stratford upon Avon had arches made of clay (?) with lots of pretty coloured stones pressed into it. You could do that - say round plant pots, or maybe on a square of wall in the garden?

[ComfyLeatherChair]

This is a heart we made from the clay..

[plipplops]

PVA clay looks like a real faff to make!? Couldn't you just use that air drying clay do you think? Really like the idea of sticking bits on a board and spraying with a PVA/water mix too...