I love the beach and go down to our beach house at the Jersey Shore several times every year. When I’m down there, I enjoy walking the beach and collecting seashells, sea glass, driftwood and other goodies that I find lying around on the beach. I never, EVER take seashells that are still being occupied by the sea creatures who live in them. I ONLY collect ones that have been vacated by their previous owners, know what I mean?
Anyway, last year was a great year for shelling and over the course of 4 months, I collected 7 large boxes of found seashells! A lot of the ones that I collected were clam shells and surf clams and I knew I had to get busy crafting with them. I decided to make 4 handmade windchimes – wind chimes and gave one to my mom, my daughter, my granddaughter and I kept one for myself.
If you enjoy painting on seashells or crafting with seashells…you’ll find over 70+ seashell craft projects right here on the Two Classy Chics blog! We will be sharing more seashell craft projects in the future too!
Craft Project – DIY Handmade Seashells Windchime
1 large Surf Clam Shell (mine measures 6 1/2″ wide)
60-75 small Clam Shells
Clear Fishing Line
Scissors
Metallic Acrylic Paint and Paint Brush
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer – Glossy Finish
Dremel with Bit
Do NOT use a regular drill to drill holes in your large Clam Shell. Use a Dremel to drill your holes which won’t crack the seashell. You’ll need two holes in the center of the seashell (for the hanging cord) and then space out 8 additional holes around the outer perimeter of the shell. You’ll want them about 1/2″ in from the edge. Wipe down your seashell with a damp cloth to remove any debris.
Using metallic acrylic paint and a paint brush, paint two coats of paint on the outside of the seashell, allowing the paint to dry for 30 minutes between coats. For the one you see in my photograph, I used a metallic aqua color which I just love!
All of the little white clam shells that I collected from the beach already had their little holes in them. I found them that way, so when collecting seashells for this project, look for the little white ones that have holes already in them. If you can’t find them or find enough of them, use a Dremel to add the hole that you’ll need for stringing them.
Now the time consuming, but fun part! Stringing your small seashells! I used clear fishing line and I used different lengths ranging from 16″ to 21″ in length. You’ll want to figure out how long you want to make them and then add on about 12″ to that length. Why? You need to make a large knot at one end, then thread on a seashell so that it’s right up against that knot. You’ll want to thread it through twice and knot to keep it in place. Then thread on the next shell, knot again and keep going. By knotting after each seashell, they will stay in place. If you don’t knot, they’ll slide down and won’t be spaced out.
You can thread on as many that you would like. You’ll need about 6″ at the end to thread through the hole on your large Clam Shell base where you’ll knot it several times to keep it in place. Use scissors to trim your end and make sure your knot is underneath and not on top (you don’t want your knot to be seen).
You’ll continue to do this the entire way around your large Clam Shell until you have filled all of your pre-drilled holes with your strings of smaller seashells. I find it best to work on this while sitting on the floor watching TV. Yes, it does take some time to do!
For the hanger, I used a double strand of clear fishing line and knotted a hanging loop at the top. I believe mine measures 8″ to 10″ in length. You want it long enough to hang down nicely from your hanging hook.
Take your seashell wind chimes outside and lay them down on an old plastic placemat or large sheet of aluminum foil. (Don’t use old newspaper). Lightly spray two coats of clear acrylic sealer on the entire windchime, allowing it to dry for 1 hour between coats. This will help to protect the paint (on the clam shell base) and will help to strengthen the shells from damage during wind storms, etc.
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This wind chime project looks great . I would love to try to make my ow wind chimes.
This is so pretty!!! I would love to make one of these for my porch! Beautiful way to show off some of the shells you found!
That’s a lovely gift for your mother, daughter, and grandmother. I bet they love them, not only because you designed and made the shell chimes, but because you used shells you gathered yourself, too. Doesn’t get more special than that.
What a fun DIY! This would be great for the back deck in my yard!
I have seen store bought chimes like this before, but never homemade ones. I have always thoughts hey were really pretty. They of course dont sound like chimes, bu they do have a distinct sound. I like how you make so many hings from nature. I bet this looks great ‘in person’.
How do you position the small shells to be able to knock against each other and make the chimes? Certainly looks lovely.
I live “at the beach” and love to collect shells. It is such a relaxing hobby and I always think about the history of each shell. It never occurred to me to make a homemade wind chime, this would be a fun craft to make for Mom on Mother’s day.
I am a wind chime fanatic and this is so pretty! You should make these and sell them. I love it!