Bowl of Shells

Make your own decorative and food-safe bowl using just pistachio shells and some Elmer's glue!

Step 1: Eat a Bunch of Nuts

The first step is just to eat a bunch of nuts or somehow acquire a lot of shells.  Make sure to save your shells if you are eating them.  You might need about 100 shells to make a small bowl and maybe 250 for a larger one.

Step 2: Materials

To do this project, all you really need is some pistachio shells (or any shell really) and a bottle of white glue or other non-toxic glue.

Step 3: Clean Shells

A good way to clean your shells, particularly if they are very salty, is to boil them.  This step is not necessary but makes for a nicer finished product. 

You can do this all with your hands, but if you have it available you can use an existing bowl or tuper-ware as a mold and you can line the mold with suran-wrap or parchment paper for easy clean up.

Mix a handful of nuts with about a Tabelspoon of glue to create your mixture.  Once the mixture is tacky, push your mixture into your mold or desired shape.

Step 4: Finishing

Let your mixture dry in the mold for a couple of hours.  If you'd like to speed up the process, let the glue dry under a fan. 

Remove the bowl from your mold.

Locate weak spots and touch them up with small amounts of glue.

Dry again, and you have a bowl!

Step 5: And You Are Done!

Enjoy your bowl!  It is safe to put your food in, because it was made with non-toxic glue... just don't put it in the dishwasher or microwave!

Try to make it with other types of shells or different shapes!