Hello my darlings and welcome.
In this video I craft an ocean-themed box to decorate my sea witch altar and to store
my altar tools and ocean treasure.
Let’s do some magical crafting.
Thank you for joining me as I create a special decorated box to hold items for my ocean themed
altar.
I am beginning with a cardboard box that is designed to look like a classic vintage bound
book.
However you could use a cigar box or any unfinished wooden box.
I will link to all of the materials I used in the project below the video.
I start by crumpling up some tissue and adhering it to the front, back and spine of the book
box with mod podge, then drying it with a heat tool.
This will create a raised texture on the box.
A modern sea witch uses the power of the ocean to fuel their witchcraft.
Also called a water or ocean witch, a sea witch is more connected to, and able to draw
upon, the elemental forces of water.
A sea witch can use the power they draw from the ocean to do all of their magical workings
and rituals.
I have never really categorized myself as any specific type of witch.
I think that the modern tradition of categorizing our magical practices has sprung up relatively
recently because of the internet.
It’s popularity can be attributed to the importance of titles, tags keywords, hashtags
and algorithms to content creators such as myself
So while I do not specifically consider myself a sea witch, I do consider myself a witch
who loves the sea.
Because I was born and raised on the west coast of the United States, visiting the ocean
is one of the most restorative things I can do to recharge my energy and focus my mind,
to meditate, to raise power, and to dream about the future.
So each summer I create a sea witch themed altar, decorated with shells and driftwood,
seaweed and other flotsam and jetsam from the ocean.
The next step is to paint the box.
I am laying down a base coat of light aqua blue.Then adding accents of seafoam green
and sky blue.
Between each coat of paint I dried the one before it.
And used a scrubby, dry brush technique to add each new layer of paint.
These layers, along with the tissue paper texture create a water effect on the box.
I decided to paint the sides of the box with a dark navy blue and then add lighter layers
of paint, with a wet-on-wet technique to create pages in the book, while making it also look
a bit watery as well.
The Primordial Element of Water is the sacred element through which all life springs.
Water, and thus the sea, carries the benefits of healing, creation, gestation, communication,
and cleansing, amongst countless other correspondences.
Connecting to the sea and working with the element of water can be helpful if you want
to increase the fluidity in your life.
This is particularly important for people like me who cling to structure.
I am always pleasantly surprised when I relax and let life flow, instead of trying to impose
order and structure on everything around me.
When I work with the water element on a deeper level I feel like I embrace healing, and my
emotions.
And I find that I focus on cleaning as well.
Water is the element of emotions, healing, purification, and renewal.
Water is the universal purifier.
It’s known across all cultures as a cleansing force - both physically and spiritually.
The next step is the fun part.
Decorating the box with bits and bobs.
Because I make jewelry, I have a lot of small metal charms and beads.
I am starting with a set of pink beads that I never found a use for.
I had the idea that these beads, with their flat backs would be easy to glue down and
would look a bit like barnacles
The only problem is that they're pink.
So I solved this issue by gluing them down and then coating them in several layers of
light blue and aqua paint.
The next step in decorating the box is to sort through all of the shells and sea-themed
charms.
I started selecting the charms I wanted to use and weeding out the ones that were not
going to work.
Then I used a flat edge snipper to remove all of the loops from the metal charms.
I chose some small clam shells, scallop shells, cone shells, and a large decorative circular
motif.
I also chose a large mermaid charm and two smaller turtle charms.
And even smaller gold charms shaped like seahorses and starfish.
I used hot glue to attach them to the box and our by-now-familiar palette of paint colors
to make these baubles blend in with the box.
Leaving the gold charms unpainted.
Stories of mermaids, selkies, kelpies and water nymphs are prevalent in almost all cultures.
While initially regarded as benevolent spirits of fertility and agriculture, in modern times
they are considered more sinister.
The sirens of Greek mythology were presented as beautiful women, half-bird half-women,
and as mermaids who would lure men to their deaths with their song.
Merpeople are believed to call up storms and sink ships - especially if they were caught
by fishermen and not immediately released.
Though sometimes kindly, mermaids and mermen are usually considered to be dangerous to
man.
Their gifts often bring misfortune, and, if offended, merpeople can cause floods or other
disasters.
To see one on a voyage was an omen of shipwreck.
With all of the charms glued down and painted, the next step is to add pearl and crystal
beads as decoration.
I tucked pearls here and there around the shells.
And I added some faceted blue glass beads around the mermaid char to look a bit like
bubbles.
The next step is to seal this project with mod podge ultra matte.
After shaking the bottle vigorously to mix the mod podge I sprayed a generous and even
coat of this glue and sealer.
And while the mod podge was still wet, I decided to add a little bit of glitter on top of the
entire project.
Once the entire project has dried completely, the final step is to add some decorative paper
inside of the box.
I measured the space and cut two pieces of decorative scrapbooking paper to fit.
Then I sprayed the interior with mod podge to adhere the paper.
You could also use brush-on mod podge or white glue.
Once all of the glue has dried it is time to fill the box with all of my ocean-themed
treasures.
Starting with a shell pendulum and pendulum board.
And a lavishly decorated scallop shell.
These were both Magical Crafts and I will leave links to both of the diy videos for
how to make these two treasures below this video.
I hope this video has inspired you to create some ocean-themed altar accessories, and given
you some ideas of how to decorate your sacred space with sea witch decor.
And if you like my witchy crafts and diy tutorials, kindly leave a like on this video.