Craft Project – Painted Seashells for Summer Yard Art

Over the past 14 months we’ve featured many different hand-painted seashell designs here on the blog. I have to admit, those crafting with kids posts are some of the most popular posts here on the blog! Thank you!!! With that said, some of our readers told us that they’re not artistic or crafty enough to do free-hand painting. Well, today we’re solving that problem for all of you!

This craft project is perfect for kids or adults…with or without any crafting/painting experience. A few months ago we reviewed the Paint Brush Pen & Stencil Set from Yoobi and you can re-visit that post to learn more about that craft kit. We used that same kit today to make the project that we’re featuring below.

If you love crafting with seashells, you can find over 4 dozen seashells craft projects right here on Two Classy Chics blog! Many of these projects can be done with smooth river rocks too!

Craft Project – Painted Seashells for Summer Yard Art

Large Clam Seashells
Plastic Stencils
Acrylic Paint in Desired Colors
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paint Palette
Newspaper and Paper Towels
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer – Glossy Finish

These large clam shells and seashells are really easy to make, so I’ll skip over giving you all of the little detailed instructions and just give you some tips.

I recommend that you give your seashells 2 good coats of paint, letting each coat dry for at least 30 minutes before applying another coat. Next, I recommend using a paint brush and not a foam brush. Why? A paint brush gets into all of the tiny ridges, nooks and crannies of the seashells.

Once your base coat is dry, tape the desired stencil design down using scotch tape. If you don’t want to do that method, you can use a pencil and lightly trace the design onto the seashell and then just hand-paint the design in. If you’re taping down the stencil, use a foam brush to apply the paint. Don’t overload the foam brush with the paint, that way it won’t leak underneath the stencil.

Always rinse off your plastic stencils immediately after using them with warm, soapy water to remove the paint. Towel dry. When storing stencils, lay them flat. Store brushes with the bristles up in a pencil can, old jar or cup. Never store them with the bristles down!

Finally, don’t skip on using the clear acrylic spray sealer! It comes in matte, semi-matte and glossy finishes. By spraying your artwork with the sealer, you’re protecting the painted surface from cracking, chipping and fading. It also means you can use your items indoors or outdoors!

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