I have a really large bird bath in the center of my one flower garden and I wanted to decorate it for the season. Since I decorate in a coastal and beach theme, I decided to make a school of tropical fish out of seashells. You can easily make this project using large clam shells and scallop shells, and then use your tropical fish to decorate your backyard pond, swimming pool area, deck, flower garden, etc.
* This post contains affiliate links.
Since fish typically swim in “schools” you’ll want to make a few of them in different colors and with different designs. I think that will add a lot of colorful interest, instead of painting them all of the same way. So that you can use them outside, you’ll need to spray them (once completed) with 2-3 coats of clear acrylic spray sealer.
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!
Hand Painted Tropical Fish Seashells Garden Art
4″ or larger clam seashell
2″ scallop seashell
Acrylic craft paints (in desired colors)
Paint brush, water dish, paper towels
E6000 Adhesive Glue
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer, Glossy Finish
Base coat the large clam seashell with 2-3 coats of acrylic craft paint in your desired color. We used bright orange. Base coat the scallop seashell with your desired color, we used turquoise. Let dry.
To make the eye…we used white paint and made a slightly-oval shaped eye. We used turquoise colored paint to make 2 arc-shape stripes on his body. You can make any spotted or striped pattern that you would like. Let dry.
You need to finish off his eye by adding a little eyelid, we opted to make the eyelid yellow with a small arc-shape at the top of his eye. The inner eye was made by using a slender oval shape in black. Let dry for about 15-20 minutes and then dot the inner eye with white. Let dry.
We’ve been crafting with seashells for well over 10+ years. We recommend using E6000 Adhesive Glue when gluing seashells to one another or to other objects. It works fantastic! Glue the large clam shell to the end of the scallop seashell. Let dry for 3-5 hours. It does take awhile to dry, but you’ll get a very strong bond.
Take your painted tropical fish seashells outside and spray them with 2-3 coats of clear acrylic spray sealer in a glossy finish. Let dry for 3-4 hours or until no longer tacky. You can now use your seashells to decorate inside or outside your home.
This is such a pretty seashell craft. I would enjoy making it as much as a kid. It is also very colorful
This seashell is so perfect and so cute. You have a such a steady hand I am scared how mine would turn out. I so love seeing your craft projects thank you for sharing and I also love seeing the pictures.
Oh this one is adorable. I love the bright colors and the little shell tail.
Okay, this is my new favorite. I never would’ve thought of combining two shells to get a fish.
Painting is so much fun! My cousin would enjoy this.
the girls will be here this weekend. We will be doing some of your crafts. Thank you for all the ideas.
More clever designs! How do people come up with these?!
This fish makes me smile. So many crafts you do with shells.
I really love the colors on this project. I honestly could see ths made into like a windchime type craft or fridge magnet. I like how how much it looks like the Nemo character I bet the kids loved this one.
Such a cute craft! A great item for the little ones to make and would be fun to do at Vacation Bible School or at a sleep over. I like all the shell crafts that are posted on TCC.