A few weeks ago I was have a chat with my grandchildren about pet rocks and they had no idea what they were. When I was a child, even when my daughter was a child, making & having a pet rock was a popular thing. I thought it was a craft project that most children did or at the very least, knew about. Well, I was wrong.
After hearing that my grandchildren had no idea what they were, I decided to host a little painting party for my grandchildren, nieces and nephews. It was time to introduce a new generation to pet rocks and we expanded it to include pet seashells too!
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!
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In the essence to save time…I went out and collected river rocks and seashells for the children to paint on. I washed them to remove the debris & sand and left them dry for 3 days. You always want to make sure they’re thoroughly dry before painting them.
You’ll want to cover your work surface with a few sheets of newspaper and you’ll need to provide the following craft supplies:
Acrylic Craft Paints (various colors)
Wiggle Eyes
Quick-Drying Craft Glue
Mod Podge (glossy finish)
Paint Brush
Water Dish
Paper Towels
Disposable Plates (paint palette)
Let the kids choose if they want a pet rock or a pet seashell. I left them decide if they wanted to paint them all one color or with multiple colors. It’s important to let them be creative. For the most part, they had to use 2 coats of paint. Acrylic paint typically dries fast, so you’ll only need about 30 minutes of drying time.
Once they’re dry, they will need to coat them with a thin coat of Mod Podge sealer to seal in the paint. This will preserve the paint from chipping, cracking or fading in color. This will require another 30-40 minutes of drying time.
Finally, have the kids glue on the wiggle eyes. Some of the kids chose to ONLY add one eye and make their “pet” a little more “monster” like. I liked them better with two eyes, but that’s me. It will take several minutes for the glue to dry. That’s it, they’re done.
I think it’s really fun to introduce the next generation of kids to some of the old, vintage-style craft projects that we used to do as kids. All of the kids who made the pet rocks or pet seashells have them sitting in their rooms and really enjoyed making them.
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Now I have the song ‘barney google with the goo-goo-gooley eyes’ in my head. I did have a pet rock growing up but it wasn’t as cute as these.