The Color of January No.3

What I have come to realize during the start of of my "Color of Life" exercise is that I have no talent for arranging photos. I love to capture beautiful things I see in everyday life and would love to create my own beautiful moments, but as of yet, that ability escapes me.

After arranging and rearranging this tea cup and shells, I decided that the only thing that was going to make this photograph interesting was editing. Lots of editing!

So what's the trick? I would love to hear if anyone has tips they would like to share for setting up a great still life.
Kristen