Hand Painted Tropical Palm Tree Seashell Decor

When I think of summertime I think about the ocean, beach, collecting seashells, sipping on lemonade, swimming in our pool, and all sorts of summer related things. I love summer and everything that goes along with it. Yes, it’s my favorite time of the year.

Last week I sat down and painted a few large clam shells with designs to reflect the summer season. BOTH have palm trees on them and BOTH are easy-to-make! You don’t have to be an artist to make them.

You’ll need large clam seashells measuring at least 4″ in width. I collected a bucket full from the beach. Brought them home and gave them a good cleaning in soapy water with Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Rinse with clean water and then air dry for 3-4 days. They need to be completely dry before painting on them.

Tropical Sunset Palm Tree Seashell

For the Sunset Palm Tree I used a variety of acrylic paint colors – light pink, medium pink, lavender, and purple to make the sunset. To make the background you want to muddle the paint colors together. Here’s how I did it:

I applied light pink onto the seashell first making sure to cover the shell. While it’s still very wet you want to muddle medium pink through the light pink in a few different areas. While that’s still wet muddle the purple and then the lavender through the wet paint. Keep brushing until you get a nice color pattern that you like. Let it thoroughly dry.

Do a Google image search for palm tree templates. You’ll find hundreds of them. I found one that was solid black that I really liked. I used it for my example. I painted the trunk first making sure that I had slightly uneven edges to give it a realistic look. Then I painted on 5 arc-shapes for the palm leaves. I went back over them and again…made sure I had uneven edges. They remind me of carrot shapes in a weird way. They don’t have to be perfect. Make sure they’re different lengths. At the very bottom of the shell (base of the trunk) I added more black acrylic paint as shown in the photo. LET DRY for several hours.

Beach Palm Tree Seashell

I painted this seashell completely in a tropical turquoise color. I had to use 2 coats of acrylic paint to get the coverage that I needed. Once it was dry I used tan colored paint to make a sandy beach on the bottom edge of the shell. Let dry.

The tree trunk was done in a chocolate brown color and in a slight arc shape. To make the palm leaves I did them in a dark green color in an arc shape with uneven edges. Once the paint is dry you want to fill in the palm leaves with a little bit of light green paint. Outline the trunk of the tree with black paint as shown in the photograph. LET DRY for several hours.

Take the painted seashells outside and spray them with 2-3 coats of clear acrylic spray sealer, allowing for 30 minutes of drying time between coats. This will protect the painted surface from chipping and cracking. It will also keep your colors nice and vibrant over the years. Once protected, they can be displayed inside or outside your home.

* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!