Love decorating clam shells and seashells? If so, check out these pretty designs that we made using handmade Mulberry Paper which was then decoupaged onto the seashells. The mulberry paper is semi-sheer, pliable and easy to work with. It doesn’t wrinkle like paper napkins, so it gives a nice smooth finish to your decorated seashells.
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You can find natural fiber mulberry paper at your local craft supply store, scrapbooking shops and on Amazon which is where I buy mine from. It’s not expensive and it comes in a wide variety of different colors, patterns and sizes. Amazon has a beautiful selection of natural fiber mulberry paper that you can choose from.
For this project I used 2″ to 4″ wide clam shells that I collected from the beach. Wash them in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Why Dawn? It does the best job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water and let them air dry overnight.
I base coated each clam shell with 2 coats of paint (the 3 larger ones with white paint and the smaller one with lilac colored paint). Let dry. Base coating the seashells allows the color of the mulberry to “pop” once you decoupage it onto the shell. Cut a piece of the mulberry paper in a rectangular shape larger than the seashell. Brush a coat of Clear Glossy Mod Podge over the top of the shell. Layer the piece of mulberry paper on top. Use your fingers or a foam brush to smooth it out so that you don’t have wrinkles. Brush another layer of Clear Glossy Modge Podge over the top of the paper. Let dry for an hour.
Use a pair of sharp scissors (I like using my little embroidery scissors) to trim off the excess paper. Discard it. Dip a paint brush into Clear Glossy Mod Podge and go over the cut edges. This will smooth them down nicely along the edge of the seashell. NO NEED to fold them over to the backside which looks tacky in my honest opinion! Let dry until the Mod Podge is clear and no longer tacky.
You can leave the seashells as-is or decorate them even further! You can glue on beads, rhinestones, artificicial flowers, charms, stickers and other items to personalize them to your liking. The mulberry paper is a nice way to add a unique background or design to your painted seashells.
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