Craft Project: Painted Unicorn Design Seashells Garden Yard Art

My 10 year old granddaughter loves the mythical creature known as the Unicorn. We sit down a few times every month to craft and as usual…she wanted to paint. We decided to whip up some cute unicorns by painting on large 5″ wide clam shells. We kept our’s pretty basic as we’re displaying two of them outside in the flower garden and one is displayed in her bedroom.

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Before beginning this project you’ll want to wash and thoroughly dry your seashells. Make sure you remove all of the debris and sand…rinse them clean! I recommend drying them outside on a hot day or inside for 2-3 days to make sure they’re absolutely DRY.

Painted Unicorn Design Seashells Garden Yard Art

Large 5″ Wide Clam Shell
Spiral Cone Shaped Shell
2 Small Slipper Shells
Acrylic Craft Paint: White, Pink and Purple
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paper Towels
Medium-Tip Black Paint Pen
E6000 Adhesive Glue
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer, Glossy Finish

Base coat the large clam shell with 2 coats of white paint. Base coat both of the slipper shells with 2 coats of white paint. Let dry. Paint the spiral shell with 2 coats of purple paint. Let dry.

Use the black paint pen to make the nose and eyes as shown in the photograph. Use pink acrylic craft paint to add color to the cheeks. Let dry. Dip the end of your paint brush into white paint and dot on the inner eye. Let dry.

The best adhesive for gluing these seashells together is called E6000 and its available in craft stores or buy it online through Amazon. Use the E6000 to attach the slipper shells behind the head to form the ears. They should only stick out a little bit. If you have them sticking out too much…they’ll look like floppy bunny ears…so make note of that. Glue the painted spiral shell to the front of the head, overlapping about 1/4″ onto the face. You’ll want to be “generous” with the amount of adhesive that you’re using. Let dry for 4-5 hours.

Take your finished shells outside and lay them down on a plastic drop cloth or tablecloth. Spray each side with 2 coats of clear acrylic spray sealer (glossy finish) and let dry. I recommend letting them dry for 30-40 minutes between coats. This will protect the painted finish from the weather, chipping, cracking, fading, etc. If displaying them outside you may want to increase that to 3-4 coats of spray sealer. That’s it, you’re done!

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