Hello Friends!
The truth is that, for most of us, the holidays are only a sweet memory. By the way in today’s post I’m going to show you an idea that I had for keep in original ways the memories of a special travel.
Some months ago, I had the pleasure to visit a real paradise: Antigua and Barbuda. It is a tiny 
country composed by two namesake islands (Antigua island and Barbuda island) and several tiny ones, positioned where the 
Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean Sea. It is an independent Commonwealth country who obtains the independence from the United Kingdom in 1981, but it still has the same government (the same queen) and the same currency than United Kingdom.
Clear sea, awesome white sand (at least on the west side of the Antigua Island), friendly people, wild nature and a ton of shells! I admit, I’m like a kid: I love shells and I love to pick them all, especially the particular ones or the smaller ones. I don’t care where I am or in which season I am… I need to pick up the shells!
Usually is not allowed to carry away the shells from the beaches, so I pick up them, I admire them and at the end of the day I leave them on the sea. During the journey at Antigua’s resort, I asked if it is allowed to bring with me some shells. The Resort’s staff showed me the coral and the shells that I cannot bring with me outside Antigua, and explained to me that for all other shell there wasn’t special restrictions.
At that moment, I knew that it was legal, so I decided to take some tiny shells and bring them with me like a memory of that amazing place.
When we arrived at home with my treasure of shells, I had an important question: how can I preserve them properly? In a box inside a drawer? Absolutely no! One good option was a transparent box… but it didn’t appeared so original!
That’s how the idea of today’s tutorial was born: Memories inside the test tubes!
Test tubes seem to me a quite original, pretty, cheap and space saver solution for preserving my precious shells.
What do you need:
- Shells small enough to come inside the tubes or the bottles. You can also use little rocks or sands;
- Test tubes made in glass and/or small bottles;
- An oily and transparent substance, I chose hair oil.
- In addition you can use sealing wax to for sealing the tube’s caps.
Why oil? Why not water?
It was an esthetic choice: the oil is more thick than water, due to this the shells, put inside the test tube filled by oil, should move inside the test tubes slowly compared to the ones put inside the test tubes filled by water. I think that a slow motion is more fascinating in this case!
The procedure for making the Memories in test tubes is really easy. In the following video I showed the steps for making them and my results.
Pay attention on these three things:
- You must remove completely all the sand from the shells. The sand could dirty the oil and ruin your project;
- Before using the shells you must be sure they are perfectly dry. The bubble created from the water, could can ruin your work as well;
- Filling the test tube in more than one step and hitting the test tube gently for removing all the air inside the shells. The result will be better if you remove almost all the air from the test tubes.
If you think that it is necessary you can seal the top of the test tubes with some sealing wax. You should melt some wax and put the top of the tube inside the melted wax until the cap is covered. When the sealing wax is cold the seal is done. I made a seal in one of my tiny bottles, and actually it is really pretty!
For completing the Memories in the test tubes, I want to apply a tag on it in which I will write the place where the memories were from and the date of the journey. I used some of my Memories I the test tubes like a gift for my friends, but I’ll hold some of them at home. I’m looking for a pretty test tubes’ holder in which I can put all my current and future Memories in the test tubes..
Let me know what do you think about my idea! Check on my social pages, I’ll keep you updated about the upgrade of my memories in the test tubes!
Stay Tuned!
Tricks in this post: 1. An original idea for preserve tiny memories of a special journey; 2. Memories in the test tubes: video tutorial; 3. Some suggestions for a better result; 4. Ideas for upgrading the test tubes; 5. Ideas about where place the test tubes.