Beach Heart
The mussel shells forming this heart are all natural and found on the beaches in the Northeast. The "Beach Heart" is a unique gift idea for beach lovers. They can be hung as an ornament, draped over a bottle for a hostess gift, and are even small enough to be hung on a tree.
Michelle started collecting these shells in the summer of 2005 with the intention of incorporating them in her stained glass window panels. When Hurricane Katrina hit later that summer, Michelle and Bill felt a strong desire to help the hurricane victims in some way. Short on money to donate and time to volunteer in New Orleans, Michelle noticed that some of the shells laid out in her studio formed a heart. Michelle and Bill combined their efforts to create hundreds of "Relief Hearts" to be donated to local stores. 100% of the proceeds went to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. Go to http://www.freshcutglass.com/ReliefHeart.html to read the article.
The hearts quickly became popular and it wasn't long before all the donated hearts were sold out. We continued to get calls from customers requesting more. We call them "Beach Hearts" now, and they remain very close to our hearts as we remember the New Orleans residents.