Pistachio Shell Flower Jar
One of my favorite projects that I’ve done is my pistachio shell flower art. I had a lot of pistachio shells left over, and from time to time I’ve thought about other things I could do with them. I started wondering what would happen if I took the same flower technique and used it on something a little more three-dimensional. As it turns out, it’s very cool. It still amazes me that you can take something as simple as a pistachio shell and turn it into art. Read on to find out how I made my pistachio shell flower jar.
My supply list for this project is pretty simple.
Supplies:
- Pistachio shells
- Clean and empty jar
- Glue gun/glue sticks
- Spray paint
I used a salsa jar for this project. You could use any kind of jar, vase, or bottle. Any kind of cylindrical glassware, really.
Hot glue is my glue of choice for this project because it dries so quickly. I can’t imagine using anything else, because it would be frustrating to have the shells moving around. I did go through a bunch of glue sticks, so I recommend being prepared!
I used two kinds of spray paint. I have different colors of color-shifting paint that I use any chance I get, and this was perfect for it. I used black paint for the base, and then color-shifting paint over that. Of course, you don’t even have to paint yours. The natural color of the shells is pretty on its own.
To start, I cleaned my pistachio shells. Since I was using leftover shells, I didn’t have to do much of that this time. To be really thorough, you can rinse the shells in a colander and lay them out on a towel to dry. I use unsalted pistachio shells, and I admit I haven’t been super thorough with all of mine. But at the very least, I pull off all of the papery stuff stuck to the insides of the shells.
When I started gluing the shells on the jar, I started with one flower. I glued two shell halves together in one spot on the jar, and then I started gluing more shells around that until I had a good-sized flower. Then I moved on to the next flower—a couple of inches away—and did the same. I kept making flowers until the whole jar was pretty well covered. To fill in the gaps between flowers, I glued more shells in the little crevices to make them look like they were part of the flowers. Basically, I just added them where I thought looked they good. I couldn’t cover every single little gap, but I figured it wouldn’t matter once I painted the whole thing. (It didn’t.)
I’m not sure it’s possible to do this without ending up with a bunch of glue strings. I pulled off what I could as I went, and then I used a paintbrush to remove even more. I’m still finding them even now that it’s done, but oh well. I just pull them off.
I had to wait a few days for the weather to warm up enough so I could spray paint outside. The best part of using hot glue, though, is that it dries almost immediately. You can glue your shells on and paint right after if you want to.
To paint the jar more easily, I rigged up a painting stand with a candle jar and a heavy-duty cardboard tube. It fit the opening of the jar almost perfectly, so I put the jar upside down and painted it that way first. It was easy to get good painting angles that way. To paint the very top of the jar and make sure I got inside all of the shells, I flipped the jar over and set it right side up inside the box. I left the tube inside it so that not much paint got down inside. Originally I was planning to stick a paper circle to the top of the jar, and I think that would also work.
Two good coats of black paint and two coats of color shift paint (plus touch-ups) later, and I was done! I love this so much.
I found a Costco bag of pistachio shells in the pantry, so I’m trying to decide what to do next. I might make more jars, but I’d also like to try a wreath. Eventually, I’ll do both. 🙂
If you make your own pistachio shell flower jar, let me know! You can share with me on Instagram and Facebook.
Happy crafting!
