When walking the beach people will often stop to pick up seashells that they find along the way. Personally, I’ve been shelling and collecting seashells for over 30+ years. I’ve amassed quite the collection! Some of my seashells I put on display throughout my home, other’s are placed in special collection boxes and others I use in various craft projects.
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Often times the ONLY seashells that get picked up from the beach are the pretty seashells that are whole and intact. However, I find the broken ones and imperfect ones beautiful too! I collect them and use them in craft projects, like the project that I’m sharing with you today.
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!
Seashell Craft Project: Broken Conch Shell Trinket Dish
Large Clam Seashell
Broken Conch Shell
Metallic Acrylic Craft Paint (2 Colors)
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paper Towels
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer (Glossy Finish)
E6000 Adhesive Glue
Wash and dry all seashells before starting this project. You want to remove all of the sand and debris. They have to be thoroughly dry before you begin painting.
For this project I used a 5″ wide surf clam shell and a 5 3/4″ wide broken conch shell. I used a turquoise colored paint with a metallic finish to paint the clam shell. I used 2 coats of paint to get the coverage that I wanted. Metallic paint takes a little longer to dry, so about an hour.
I used a broken piece of a large conch shell for the dish portion of the trinket dish and painted it in a silver metallic color. I painted both sides of the seashell, letting each side dry for an hour, before flipping it over and painting the other side.
Take both of your seashells outside and spray them with 2 coats of the clear acrylic spray sealer. I sprayed one coat, waited 20 minutes, sprayed on the second coat and waited a full hour before bringing them back inside. Your drying time will depend on the outside weather.
You will want to use a strong adhesive to bond the two seashells together. I always use E6000 Adhesive Glue which gives me a super-strong bond. You’ll want to be generous with the amount of adhesive that you use. Place the broken seashell on top of the clam shell and glue them together. You want the broken conch shell to balance nicely on the top. It will take a few hours for the adhesive to completely dry.
Your new Conch Shell Trinket Dish can be used to hold your rings by the kitchen or bathroom sink, on your nightstand, use it as a soap dish or to hold little items on your desk like paperclips and rubber bands. I think it would look cute holding your business cards too!
This would be a very pretty trinket to add to any girl’s room . I would use it for myself too.
This is a really neat idea. It would go over well with tween or teen girls, especially.
Perhaps a good project would be to make an entire elaborate grotto with seashells covering the walls, like genteel ladies created in the 18th century!
I will have to write up a blog post showing you all the mosaic seashell window well coverings that I made to cover-up our window wells outside. They’re gorgeous! Completed 2 so far and working on my third one now. Everyone in the neighborhood loves them!
And yet another pretty thing from seashells. I like how you use the broken one on top of a whole one.