Happy Anniversary Gift

 About a year ago, the family and I were guests at a lovely beach wedding.

One year later, we were invited back to the scene of the crime

 for a beach side anniversary party.

We nabbed our beach togs and prepped ourselves for some fun in the sun and barbeque, but we weren't going empty handed.

The bride is a girlie girl, and the groom is an avid cook.

Let's whip up a gift that will suit them both.

 We spray painted a large $2.95 clay pot with the tail end of a can of Krylon chrome.

Now gather some Dollar Tree flat backed marbles...

..a few shells and some sea glass... 

...and these extremely cool polished shell chips.

 They're meant to be vase fillers.

 But seriously? I'm not hiding these shiny bits.

You'll also need some Goop.

I have a thing for Goop.

Waterproof, weatherproof, flexible adhesive.

It does everything from craft projects to sealing plumbing.

What's not to love?

 First, let's draw a heart on the front of the pot with Goop.

 Fill in the shape randomly.

 Discover that your daughter has taken pictures of her new silver

ear cuffs. Decide to include them.

 Back to business. Crust the first 6 inches of the pot rim with a mix of pieces and allow it to set.

After that, you can turn the pot, resting it on a towel to level it, and work much faster.

Gravity will work with you.

I also added tiny glass beads to fill in any obvious holes.

 We started and finished this project the morning of the party in about two hours.

 Gratuitous detail shot.

Easy and beachy, but we have one more step to complete.

 How about some herbs for the groom to pluck and enjoy?

 Now, everyone get dressed, we have a party to get to!

I'd estimate this gift at $15 if you had to purchase everything from scratch.

We already had a lot of the goodies, so the expense was growing in the yard or stashed in the cabinet.

Hoarding is not always a negative thing, you know.

Now, do we scrawl something cheesy on the card like, "May your love continue to grow"?

Sweet Mother of God, no...