Displaying sentimental water?

August 12, 2014 8:25 AM

I have roughly 150ml of water, a little bit of sand, and three small rocks from a recent international trip. Crafty Mefites, do you have any suggestions for how to make this into something neat that I can hang on a wall? It doesn't matter to me if the rocks and sand stay in the same place. My first thought was something like an Ecosphere that I can fill myself but I'm not sure if that would work out long term.
posted by fireoyster to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Check your local craft store for a pretty bottle. Alternatively, check the liquor store and empty it yourself. You might want to add some waterproof glue to the lid so your ocean water doesn't evaporate over time. If you want something you can hang on the wall look for a flat, flask-like bottle and add a loop of ribbon. Craft stores also have things like christmas ornaments or hollow glass bricks that you could fill with liquid. You could also use a paint pen or press-on letters to add the name of your destination to the container.
posted by arrmatie at 8:38 AM on August 12, 2014

I'd go for corked or sealed test tubes - perhaps a series of three with water in one, sand in the second, and rocks in the third. Or one larger test tube/vial with the rocks on the bottom, then sand, and then water on top.
posted by vegartanipla at 8:39 AM on August 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

Hey, really cool! I have a huge collection of water from all over the world - rivers, seas, oceans, etc. - and while I don't have any craftiness for you, I do have practical advice - before you get all excited for the display part, make sure you didn't bring back some algae goodness as well. With the sand and rocks you may have brought back even more nutrients than what's in the water. A little bit of sunlight, a little bit of sand - until the "atmosphere" changes enough in your display to kill it, some algae may have a really good time in there, and even dead your water may be cloudy afterwards.
posted by barchan at 8:39 AM on August 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

Before you seal it up -- definitely make sure the sand and rocks are very clean, unless you're going for a whole little ecosphere in there! I'd probably soak it all in a dilute bleach water overnight and scrub well. Algae is super cool but you don't want to get it all mouldy and out of whack if you go to the trouble of constructing a little biodome!

I have something like this hanging from one of my walls. Mine has airplants and moss in it, but it would totally work for rocks and sand. The water would evaporate. Something like this lightbulb terrarium would work to contain the everything.
posted by barnone at 8:46 AM on August 12, 2014

Know any diabetics? I'm using my husband's insulin vials for my collection of sand. (As soon as I find tiny corks for them.)
posted by Beti at 9:05 AM on August 12, 2014

This reagent bottle is currently listed as unavailable on Amazon, but they have other sizes around. I used one to display some black sand, and glued it shut with glass glue. Might have some luck searching other sources for this kind of bottle.

I'd worry about that water -- to keep it clear you might want to sterilize everything before sealing it up.
posted by cubby at 9:05 AM on August 12, 2014 [1 favorite]