Craft Project: Painted Flip Flops Seashells Garden Yard Art

During the hot summer months we tend to run around primarily in our flip-flops. They’re comfortably and help to keep you cool on those hot summertime days. Plus, if you’re heading to the beach, they’re the perfect shoe for the sand. These hand-painted seashells make the perfect art objects to decorate your garden areas, front porch, back deck or place them around the pool area. Fun!

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The Princess and I love our flip-flops and decided to make a few hand-painted seashells in a trendy flip-flop design. You don’t need any artistic painting skills to make them! Just use Google to look for FREE Flip Flop Image Template and several will come up. Adjust the size of the image to fit on your seashell and print the template out. Use scissors to cut them out and WHAM you have a free template to trace.

Craft Project: Painted Flip Flops Seashells Garden Yard Art

Large Clam Seashells (We used 5″ wide shells)
Acrylic Craft Paints
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paper Towels
Medium-Point Paint Pens
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer, Glossy Finish
Free Flip-Flops Paper Template (see above)
Medium-Tip Silver Sharpie Marker

Always wash and thoroughly dry your shells before crafting with them. Make sure you remove the sand and debris. Thoroughly dry them (preferably in the hot sun) before painting on them.

Base coat each shell with 2-3 coats of paint or until you get even coverage. Some shells took 2 coats while others took 3. This will also depend on the type of paint that you’re using as well as the color that you select. Let dry.

Place your paper flip-flop template on top of your shell. Use the silver colored Sharpie Marker to trace around it. We recommend the silver because that color is easy to cover up with your acrylic paints!!! Plus, it makes a nicer line than using a pencil which gets stuck in the ridges of the shell.

Use 2 coats of acrylic craft paint to make the flip-flop design. In our photos we make a pair in medium pink and a pair in royal blue. Pick colors that will “pop” against the background color that you selected. Let dry.

We used a medium-tip black paint pen to trace around each flip-flop to add definition and to make the thong-style straps. Let dry. Dip the end of a paint brush into acrylic paint to dot-on the polka dots that go around the perimeter of the shell. Dip the end of a round toothpick into paint to add the polka-dots to the thong-style straps. Let dry.

Take your painted seashells outside and spray them with 1-2 coats of clear acrylic spray sealer. We used glossy finish, but you could certainly use matte if that’s what you prefer. Let them dry for 3-4 hours. You can now display them inside or outside your home.

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