Heading to the beach for summer vacation? If so, collect some small seashells while you’re there! Not visiting a beach? Don’t worry, you can buy bags of small seashells from your local craft store, Dollar Tree or from Amazon for a great price. All of the designs featured here were done on small 2″ to 3″ sized shells.
* Post contains affiliate links.
First things first. Always wash your shells in soapy water, rinse clean and air dry. I like to use Dawn Liquid Dish Soap because it’s great at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Shells need to be DRY before crafting with them.
You’ll need some basic craft supplies to decorate them: acrylic craft paint, paint brushes, mini seashells, fake plastic coins, charms, beads, mini buttons, stickers, beach themed paper napkins, etc. Collect some stuff from your craft stash or hit a local store for some supplies. You’ll need Mod Podge Clear Sealer and a foam brush to seal in the paint, stickers or cut-outs from the paper napkins. Craft glue will be needed too.
All of the shells you see were painted first with acrylic craft paint. You’ll need 1-2 coats. Let dry. Then it’s time for decorating them. You can paint the desired design or decoupage a design onto the shell. We used cut-outs from paper napkins that we picked up from Dollar Tree that were in a beach theme. Just cut out small areas like words or seashells and decoupage that onto the shell.
On a few of them you’ll see glued on mini shells or plastic coins (also purchased from Dollar Tree). If you’re working with kids use a quick-drying non-toxic craft glue. If you’re an adult…I recommend using Gorilla Glue for a strong bond. Let glue dry for several hours.
* 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!
