Hello my darlings and welcome
In this video I create a crystal and seashell display box for a sea witch themed altar,
talk about the lessons the sea can teach us, and at the end I will give you a short tour
of my summer time sea witch altar.
Let’s do some magical crafting.
I am beginning with this unfinished wooden shadow box or memory box and I will link to
all of the materials I used in the description below.
It used to have an acrylic covering that slid into the track inside the front, but I have
removed and discarded that.
I have protected my surface with a piece of parchment baking paper and I am painting my
box with a blue wood stain called a pickling wash.
However, you can get the same effect by selecting a blue color that you like and adding a little
bit of water to the paint and painting a thin wash of color onto the wood.
Add a second layer to build the color up to the level you desire.
If you feel a connection with the ocean you may wish to explore that further by creating
a sea witch altar.
The ocean can gift you with magical tools and spell ingredients including seashells,
coral, and driftwood.
You can find feathers, seaweed, hag-stones, and occasional bones or teeth.
The seashore is a great place to forage for feathers, seed pods, grasses, and sand to
use as spell ingredients.
You can do the same at a lake or river.
Place these magical items on your altar to honor the sea or use in spells and rituals.
Large shells can serve as bowls and cups.
Feathers can be crafted into fans for incense and cleansing smoke or placed on the altar
to represent air.
Driftwood can be made into a sea witch’s wand.
A magic circle can be drawn using sand.
Once the entire box was painted and dry, I went back in with two other blue colors.
A metallic blue paint and a blue chalk paint.
I thought it might be fun to change up the paint in a few of the squares to add variety
and interest.
I used the chalk paint in two squares and the metallica paint in two squares, leaving
four squares the original blue wash.
You don’t have to be a sea witch to gain the benefits of the ocean.
The ocean or any body of water can be a healing place to visit.
If you are struggling with a decision of the heart or an emotional upheaval, go to the
water.
For it is the element most closely associated with emotion.
Surrender your cares to the currents and the waves.
The sea has a personality.
It is a living being.
An angry sea can kill you.
A peaceful sea can inspire and comfort.
She is beautiful and mercurial.
Next, I decided to add a bit of scrapbooking paper to the bottoms and right sides of each
compartment to add some more pattern to the box.
I felt like it needed more detail and so I chose two papers that represented the ocean.
I measured the spaces and cut all of the pieces.
Then I used mod podge to adhere them to the shadow box.
One lesson the ocean can teach you is about change and impermanence.
Shifting tides and change are inevitable both at the sea and in life.
Every moment, the ocean remakes herself, it is never the same.
Spending time in this ever-changing environment can help you accept inevitable changes instead
of railing against them; fighting battles that can never be won.
The ocean teaches lessons about strength and resilience as well.
Standing in the crashing waves you can experience the joy of getting knocked down and finding
your way back up again.
You will learn how to navigate the next wave.
And you may realize that you can handle waves that are stronger than you.
The ocean can also teach us about acceptance.
You can not fight the ocean, however you can dance with it.
You can’t control the sea, but you can swim in it when you learn its rhythms.
A wave that may have knocked you down in the past can become the momentum that carries
you forward.
Setting aside resistance and confrontation and accepting the help of each wave as it
comes.
The final step in the box decoration is to add some glitter.
I am using Mod Podge extreme glitter.
I am using a very thin layer of this glitter and painting the sides of some of the compartments
and the backs of others for variation.
I love the way this glitter looks like wet sand in the sunlight.
Once the shadowbox is completely dry it's time to fill it with all of my treasures.
I add some fluorite and some amethyst crystals, both of these stones are associated with the
water element.
I also added lots of seashells and a piece of selenite.
Selenite is formed when sulfate and calcium-rich saltwater evaporates, so it is literally made
from the sea.
Every summer I like to set up a sea altar.
This reminds me of the lessons I have learned from the sea and brings in the ocean’s energy
to my space.
The altar helps me focus on my connection with the ocean and gently instills its power
into any rituals or spells done in this sacred space.
Many of the items on this altar, such as this decorated box, are magical crafts I have done
in the past, and I will link to all of those videos in the description.
I have decorated this year's altar with some hand painted candlestick and deep green candles,
and some of my favorite large seashells.
I also have an ocean-themed pendulum board and seashell pendulums for divination.
Some hand painted and decorated scallop shells and of course the crystal display box filled
with ocean treasures and topped with driftwood and seashells.
I hope you enjoyed my altar tour and I and sending you blessings from the deep blue depths.
Be beautiful sea witch.
Like ocean water, Catch the sunlight.
Shimmer under the moon.
Rise and be seen!