Snail shells are very beautiful, and you can give them a second life. This is how I do it.
Of course, we only admire live animals, but we can collect already empty shells:
Then they should be washed and dried. The next stage is covering the shell itself along the edge with copper foil for stained glass, and making an imitation of a snail’s body from ordinary (kitchen) aluminum foil. The body also need to be covered with copper foil. To strengthen the shell, I fill it with small pieces of foil, which I compact well inside with a thin wire or a stick.
It’s time to solder! You will need: a 100 W soldering iron, any stained-glass flux (or radio engineering flux, as long as it does not contain rosin – this is important!), solder (since we are making jewelry, it is lead-free. Make sure that there is no rosin mixed in it either).
Caution: small parts heat up very quickly. The task is to cover the entire copper foil with solder and not to burn your fingers. Then we connect the “body” of the snail with the shell. From copper wire we make “horns” and a loop, if it will be a pendant. If we want a brooch, the clasp must also be previously covered with copper foil, because most jewelry alloys are not solder-able.
To make “eyes” at the ends of the horns, you will have to play around a bit, for this it is better to take a weaker soldering iron (ideally – with temperature control).
Since fluxes are “greasy” to the touch and cause corrosion, it is important to wash the finished products well. It is best to make a mixture of ordinary soda with detergent (Dawn soap) and apply it for a while. Rinse several times, not sparing hot water.
I also cover clean and dry snails with clear nail polish. This way the shells shine better 🙂
That’s all, they’re ready:
You can buy my snails here, don’t forget to look at the whole store, you might like something 🙂
Full video with all processes:
