Early next month the Princess will be finishing up the 4th grade and wanted to make an End of Year Teacher’s Gift for her favorite teacher. She was telling me that her teacher has a lot of pretty things sitting on her desk that the children made for her over the course of the school year. The Princess knew she wanted to make her something for her desk, so we decided to make her a few hand-painted seashell paper weights.
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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We wanted the paper weights to resemble a blackboard with white (chalk) hand-written wordage. For the project we used large clam shells that measure about 5″ in width that we collected from the beach. Before starting the project you’ll want to wash and thoroughly dry your seashells.
Kid’s Crafts: Seashell Paper Weight Teacher’s Gift
Acrylic Craft Paint (in desired colors)
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paper Towels
Medium-Tip White Paint Pen
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer, Glossy Finish
Medium-Tip Sharpie Marker
It will take approximately 2 days to make each seashell to allow for sufficient drying time.
Give each of your shells two coats of black acrylic craft paint. For the one shell we did use three coats of paint to get the desired coverage. Let dry for 90 minutes.
This is where the child can get creative and come up with their own designs. For the wordage I recommend letting them use a medium-tip white paint pen which gives them better control than using a paint brush. Trust me, the wordage will look nicer and cleaner. Let dry for 1 hour.
They can add polka dots, flowers, the sun, moon, stars, red apples, write out math problems, the teacher’s name or whatever they like onto the seashells. Just make sure that they don’t over-crowd the shell with too many designs. Let dry for 2 hours or overnight.
The next day take their finished shells outside. Spray them with 1-2 coats of clear acrylic spray sealer. Let dry for approximately 2 hours. On the back of each shell have the child write their name, age and date…in other words, let them autograph their work on the opposite side. That’s it…done!
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I think that all teachers would love to get such pretty seashells. They are a unique git idea.
These are really cute ideas. I think any teacher would love it!
I like this! I worked in the school system for many years, and think I have almost everything a child ever gave me. I like how it is a paperweight so you could use it for a long time. Very clever!
That’s a pretty neat gift idea. Teachers would appreciate that it’s hand made, too.