Sea stone (or pebbles), which we all loved to collect in childhood on the Black Sea beaches, has an interesting history. Millions of years ago, the formation of the Caucasus Mountains occurred with a violent eruption of volcanoes, flows of frozen lava in the form of plates, debris and small pieces were carried away by the course of mountain rivers and fell into the sea. Sea waves continued to grind and run into fragments, grinding and giving pebbles a rounded shape.
Types of sea stones
That pebble, which we all love to play on the beach, is a real rock formation, a witness to prehistoric times. Light porous pumice stone - the remains of petrified volcanic magma, frozen far from the site of eruption and trapped in air - hence the numerous pores. The name of sea stones, more smooth and weighty, is basalts and tuffs. They formed at the exit of the lava from the volcano. And the heaviest sea stone - granite - originated in its very vent.
The shiny egg-shaped rounded granite boulders that we can see on the beach are a strong and shiny (thanks to a mixture of mica, quartz and feldspar) sample of volcanic rock. Monuments and obelisks are erected from it, it is in demand by builders and designers. Other finishing stones - basalts, tuffs of different colors - are perfect for surface lining. Almost any sea stone can be used for applied or decorative purposes.
On the beach you can find samples of semiprecious minerals - syenites, porphyrites, chrysolites. These beautiful sea stones are used in the creation of jewelry and jewelry. There is also a favorite of healers - chalcedony. These stones, even more ancient than rocks, also come from volcanic craters.
Sea stones - description and composition
In its composition, sea pebbles are mainly sandstone. Sometimes a shell rock is added to it - the remains of ancient sea mollusks. Other stones are composed of limestone and marl - the compressed remains of microscopic ancient organisms. A soft sedimentary stone called shale is a product of the petrified silt of ancient swamps. His age corresponds to the Jurassic period.
Over millions of years, under the influence of high temperatures and many natural factors, such a sea stone as limestone has changed its own crystalline structure to marble, sandstone to jasper, etc. Thus, under our feet - real wealth!
But back to our pebbles - those that were brought as souvenirs from the sea coast and at best decorate a home aquarium, and at worst they gather dust on mezzanines. But they can be used with fiction, there are an inexhaustible number of applications. If your own creativity is "lame" - use our ideas!
How can I use stones
They look very beautiful in combination with plants, and almost any. If you lay the surface of a flower pot with stones, it will not only save the earth from drying out, but it will also look very stylish. In addition, hand-made crafts made of sea stone, these days, are popular, like any hand-made.
A garden bed decorated with stones will look no less wonderful. For masters of landscape design, they are truly irreplaceable material, especially in combination with fancy snags and grass.
The pots or flower pots can be decorated by gluing their dry non-fat surface with reliable glue with flat pebbles of a suitable size. An original stand for hot dishes will come out of the same flat small stones - they should be laid out, smeared with glue, the usual stand-napkin from the store. If you can pick up the white stones in the right amount, the perfect stand will come out. But you can take color, and combine them or come up with a pattern.
If you have a lot of stones, but they are all of different colors and look bad next to each other, make several coasters and paint with acrylic paints in the chosen color (for example, black).
We decorate the interior of the apartment
By the same principle, a bath mat or threshold is made. Stones are best glued to a rubber base, which is suitable for a regular purchased mat. By placing your feet on an exclusive product, you massage the active points and improve your health.
Another useful element of the hallway interior is a shoe stand in the form of a flat tray, in which a layer of stones is poured (even without glue). Original and practical!
An exclusive Stone Age floor lamp can be crafted by drilling several rounded stones and planting them on the principle of a children's pyramid (large below for stability) on the metal leg of a disassembled lamp.
If you have already taken up the design of the hall in the "stone" style, try decorating the pebble frame of the wall mirror in a wooden frame. It should turn out very stylish and unusual. The gaps between the large pebbles are filled with small shells and stone chips.
Other garden and kitchen ideas
We pass to the kitchen. What sea stone crafts are possible here? An alternative version of the protective screen (as opposed to the usual tile) is the same pebbles laid on the surface of the wall. Craftsmen do not need to unscrew standard handles from kitchen cabinets and replace them with flat pebbles. You just need to take care of the reliability of the mounts.
Now back to the garden. In addition to the beds, paths are laid out with stones, with a sufficient number of them - they build fences, original decorative fountains and even use them in creating furniture. For example, as the base of a garden bench.
Another application of this wonderful natural material is decorative figures and garden sculptures. There is nothing to limit the flight of creative imagination. The stones are grouped, glued, stained, decorated as the soul desires. Crafts from sea stones, photos of which you see in this article, can be crafted by everyone.
As a result, we see bright ladybugs, frogs, caterpillars, snails ... You can make "vegetables" and "fruits", especially "mushrooms" placed in different corners of the garden. Large stones of a suitable shape are painted in the form of tigers, sharks, crocodiles, dogs, cats and even fairy-tale gnomes or elves. The garden’s original decoration will be decorative pots or buckets filled with “strawberries” or “apples” from painted stones.
We master with the child
But what to do when winter is outside, summer summer joys are forgotten, and at home, nevertheless, there are a bunch of pretty pebbles that you just want to attach somewhere! Try to do manual work with your child. This fascinating activity will not only diversify long winter evenings, but will also leave you wonderful souvenirs, at a glance at which the mood will rise.
What crafts from sea stones can you come up with? Yes, the most diverse! The list of ideas is practically inexhaustible! For example, you can make a gnome or even a whole family of gnomes (or domovites). If you execute them in the same style, then on New Year's Eve you can wonderfully decorate the apartment by planting the figures in the corners, under the Christmas tree, on bookshelves, etc.
DIY technology
For work, store, in addition to pebbles, paints and brushes for them, superglue, a variety of decorative materials (what is found) - scraps of fabric and fur, beads, threads or yarn, small feathers. Accessories in the form of "eyes" of characters are sold in sewing accessories stores, but you can also replace them with colored beads or cute flat small buttons.
Pebbles must be thoroughly washed and dried before work. Glue eyes on pebbles "faces", noses can be drawn or glued instead of them large beads or balls of wool. Smiling mouths are painted with paints or “laid out” from bright woolen threads. You can also draw them on colored paper, cut and paste. After that, make dwarves hair and beards made of fur, thread, feathers or fluff - which is at hand.
Dwarves, like caps, can easily make torsos of colored shreds by stitching them in the shape of a cone and filling them with something like cotton wool or scraps of syntepom. With the help of durable glue, the heads are attached to the torso - funny figures are ready!
How to decorate a refrigerator
Fridge magnets are in every family with children. But we will have unusual ones - from pebbles! Let's make monster magnets. We washed and dried flat pebbles on both sides in bright colors. After drying, draw “monsters” creepy mouths with bared teeth and glue eyes.
On the back of each stone we attach a magnet with superglue. If the stones are large enough and heavy - a pair of magnets. The original decoration for the refrigerator is ready!
Best of all, oval-shaped pebbles produce bright fish, as well as birds with unusual plumage. You can make a mouse. In addition to pebbles and superglue, prepare scissors, paper and colored shreds. Ears and a tail for the future mouse are cut from the fabric, glued to the elongated gray stone in the right places. Paws will be smaller pebbles, tendrils - bundles of thread. Stick the eyes (you can pair in the form of paper circles - white wider down, smaller black ones on top). So a nice mouse is ready.
If you prefer a bird, then take a more round pebble, make a beak from a fabric of suitable color (fold the shred with a triangle with a sharp end, glue it to the pebble head with the wide side). Mark the eyes in the right place, take care of the plumage. Done!
Creative aquarium
It is best of all from small oblong-shaped pebbles to get fish. Having made several pieces of different sizes, types and colors, you can organize an original decorative “aquarium” from a suitable box, complementing the composition with large “boulders” and “sea grass” from threads or colored paper.
Another option is to “launch” our “fish” into a real aquarium with water as decoration elements (you have to take care of indelible paint and reliable materials for decoration).
So, we make fish. Pebbles, as usual, are washed and dried. With a simple pencil, mark on each of them the contours of the fins, head, tail. We color the fish in different colors, cut the tails and fins and make them separately, then glue them to the torso.
Any material is suitable for this - colored paper, strips of fabric, shiny foil, even a suitable form of feathers. We also glue the eyes in the right places (we take ready-made decorative elements or just shiny convex beads).
Additional ideas
If the fish are supposed to be "launched" into the aquatic environment, then the tail and fins can be cut out of transparent plastic from unnecessary plastic bottles of different colors. This material is truly universal. It is possible to get a variety of decorative elements from it, it is easily cut, processed and takes the desired shape.
For example, thin, long and slightly twisted strips will make a great tail for our "goldfish" (especially if you take a bottle of brown or yellow). Their small pieces of plastic will come out with hard, sharp fins that can be glued to the backs of the fish.
A decorative aquarium can be filled with real plants in small pots that are masked by the same sea pebbles. And if, in addition, you organize a special lighting for it and carefully think over the composition, such an aquarium will decorate any room - a living room, hallway or a children's corner.