Precisely, this glass dish, inherited from my grandmother, a stout Victorian lady. It’s a beautiful little work of art made from decoupaged multicoloured sweetie wrappers – imagine Quality Street – (other sweeties are available) set inside a glass frame and painted in gold on the back. Taking this as my inspiration The Devon Mermaid has reimagined another classic household item, this time from the 1960s, the ubiquitous scallop shell ashtray. How something so naturally beautiful ended up being used for something so ugly baffles me. So, here are my rescued scallop shells, repurposed by The Devon Mermaid into something beautiful. I hope you like them.

Marnie Devereux is a writer and poet. Her second poetry collection, The Pelican Tree, is available here.