Any ideas for making seashells more sturdy (for making jewelry)?

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Question:

* I've been working on some hand crafted jewlery designs that involves seashells collected from a local beach; mostly clam shells and "jingle shells" (anomiidae)!.
*Unfortunately, the jingle shells are extremely delicate, so much so that I have considered either not using them at all or crushing them and applying the resulting powder to beads to add a shiny finish!.
*The clams appear to be usable!. The only problem is that they are prone to chipping!. It would be awesome if someone could recommend some sort of covering (lacquer!?!?!?) that would make the shells stronger!.

Thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

putting a couple layers of lacquer will make them much stronger!. it depends how you will use them!. if you will use them closed than you can fill the inside with a polyester clay like mighty putty!. or if you see only one side than you put a layer of polyester clay on the inside!. that makes it very strong!. another material you can use is shellac on one side!. a layer of crazy glue can do the trick!. you also can glue 2 shells onto each other!. it all depends how you want the use the shells in your jewelry!. the best is to do some test and find out what works and what not!. little chips you can sand with some wet fine sand paperWww@QuestionHome@Com