Gnomes are one of the hottest home and garden decorating trends. When I’m out and about I see them everywhere! Dinnerware, partyware, fashion apparel, linens, figurines, garden decor, holiday ornaments, etc. the Gnomes are everywhere! I admit, they’re darn cute!
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These hand painted Gnome designs were made with medium and large sized clam seashells that I collected from the beach. Make sure you wash them in Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Dawn does the best job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water and air dry for a few days.
Base coat the clam shells with ivory or white acrylic craft paint. I had to use 2 coats of paint to get the coverage that I wanted with 45 minutes of drying time between each coat. Use acrylic craft paint and a paint brush to make the hat in the desired color. I used jade green and a dark red. Again, I had to use 2 coats of paint. Let dry.
The rest of the design work was made using Betem Acrylic Paint Markers that have dual tips. These are PAINT markers, not regular kiddie markers or Sharpies. Make sure you use Acrylic Paint Markers for the best results. I used Gold Metallic for each nose and I added a painted flower to the hat. I used the black fine tip end to outline the hat, nose and mouth. Let them thoroughly dry.
Take them outside and spray them with 2 coats of a Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer with 1 hour of drying time between coats. Make sure you spray both sides of the seashells. Let dry overnight (8-10 hours) to allow the sealer to “cure”. To finish up…I glued a tiny rhinestone gem to the center of each flower using Gorilla Glue. Let dry for a few hours.
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