Craft oysters on the half-shell for a doll's party

Finished, assembled doll-sized oysters for an American Girl Doll party. These appetizers will be
perfect for a New Year's Eve bash! Some are painted to represent Oysters Rockefeller,
 a cooked oyster recipe.

        To assemble these 18" doll-sized oysters on the half-shell, you will need the following supplies: mini bubble wrap, tacky white glue and hot glue, acrylic paints in green, brown, yellow etc... and most important "Coquina" seashells. These tiny clam shells, approximately 1/2" in length, can be found in abundance at the beach. Sometimes people refer to them as butterfly shell clams. They come in a variety of colors, from grey to lavender and are very delicate. Coquina look just like miniature versions of oyster shells!
       Glue halves of tiny clam shells, using white tacky glue onto the cut sheets of mini bubble wrap. This wrap will look like ice. I cut small paper trays from a recycled box to display the oysters in and also glued the bubble wrap into these as well, in order to prevent the pretend oysters from falling out all over the place.

       Next, take a hot glue gun and squeeze tiny pretend oysters inside the coquina. Let the glue harden and paint a bit of color on top of the oysters if you want them to be fancier for a party. You can serve oysters on the half-shell plain with lemon or cooked and seasoned.

• Why we eat oysters alive
• This Coffin Bay Oyster Experience is Bucket List Material
• How 3.5 Million Oysters Are Harvested in Virginia

How the oysters will look before you paint them. Upper right, hot glue is the oyster.