Looking to add some color and flair to your yard this year? Painted seashells are a great way to add color to those flower beds, garden areas, front porch, back deck, around the swimming pool and so forth. They’re very easy-to-make and ONLY cost less than $1.00 each to make! If you don’t have access to 4″ and 5″ wide clam shells you can certainly paint & decoupage smooth river rocks too.
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All of the tropical beach and fish designs shown in my photograph were made using scrapbook paper that I picked up at my local craft store. One sheet of printed scrapbooking paper made about a dozen painted seashells. You’ll need acrylic craft paint, a paint brush, a foam brush, 1 sheet of scrapbooking paper, and a bottle of Modge Podge Clear Sealer. I like using one with a glossy finish.
Base coat the seashells with 2 coats of paint allowing for 30 minutes of drying time between coats. Once the paint is no longer tacky…time to decorate them. Use a pair of scissors and cut out the desired design from the scrapbooking paper. I cut right along the edge.
Coat the clam shell with a light coat of Modge Podge. Then place the image on top. Smooth it down so that there aren’t any wrinkles or air bubbles. Use the foam brush to add another coating of Modge Podge on top. Let dry for a few hours or until they’re no longer tacky.
Optional: You can use acrylic paint pens to add additional decoration like writing words, adding polka dots or swirls, outlining each image, etc. If you decide to do that…do it BEFORE coating them with the second coat of Modge Podge. As you can see…you don’t have to be a professional artist to make pretty painted seashells!
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