Last month we visited my in-law’s graves and spent some time sprucing them up. We placed new flowers & wreaths on each of the graves and said our prayers. While there it dawned on me that I should make a few of my painted seashells as memorial markers & place them on the graves.
When it came to the design, I didn’t want anything elaborate. My in-laws were country-people and anything fancy or elaborate just wasn’t their style. I decided to go with just something simple and classic.
If you enjoy painting on seashells or crafting with seashells…you’ll find over 150+ seashell craft projects right here on the Two Classy Chics blog! We will be sharing more seashell craft projects in the future too!
Craft Project: Painted Seashells Memorial Markers
5″ wide clam shells seashells
acrylic craft paints
paint brush, water dish, paper towels
Mod Podge Clear Sealer, glossy finish
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer
You can do whatever design that you would like on your clam shells, as I stated above…I kept it simple. You’ll want to use 2 coats of paint so that you get good coverage. Seashells are porous, so when using acrylic paints, 2 coats of paint are usually needed.
I recommend that you let your seashells dry for 2-4 hours to allow the paint to set. If it’s a warm weather day, 2 hours…if its cold, I would let them sit longer to dry. The paint shouldn’t be tacky when you touch it.
Lay some old newspaper or an old plastic placemat down outside. Lay your seashells on top. Spray them with a coat of the clear acrylic spray sealer and let dry for 2 hours. Flip them over and spray the other side. Let dry for 2 hours. Flip over again and spray the painted side with a second coat of the sealer. Let dry for 4-6 hours. That’s it, you’re done.
Note: If you don’t want to use a spray sealer…you can brush-on 1-2 light coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer to both sides of the painted seashell.
They can now be used as memorial markers. The ones that I’m showing in my post were made for my mother-in-law and father-in-law’s graves. We also made one for my deceased niece and one for our beloved deceased cat. Yes, you can make them for pet grave memorial markers too! Don’t have access to large clam shells? You can use smooth river rocks as well.
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The marker really adds a nice touch to the grave stone. I think that this would be a great idea for children to use for deceased pets as well as people.