The beloved characters from Peanuts have been some of my favorites since I was a young child. I remember watching the Peanuts gang holiday specials on TV and every Sunday morning I looked forward to the Peanuts comic strip in the Sunday newspaper. I used to cut out the ones that I loved and tack them onto the front of my mom’s refrigerator for weeks at a time!
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Last month I decided to hand paint large clam shells seashells with an easy Snoopy and Charlie Brown design. You don’t have to be a talented artist to make them! I made a total of 8 in just one weekend. They’re great accents to be used as paper weights on a desk, displayed on a shelf, in your outside flower garden or used as a door stop if you use large enough clam shells.
I used 4″ to 5 1/2″ wide clam shells that I collected from the beach. Washed them in 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 air dry for 2-3 days. They need to be completely dry before you paint on them.
For the Snoopy seashell I base coated it with 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint allowing for 45 minutes of drying time between coats. The Charlie Brown seashells were base coated with 2 coats of a vanilla colored acrylic craft paint. Let dry.
Use Google and do an image search for FREE Snoopy template and FREE Charlie Brown template. Hundreds will come up. Find ones that you like. Resize the image to fit your seashell and then print them out. Use scissors to cut around the image to make your template. As you can see, I selected simple images since I’m NOT a professional artist.
Trace around the paper template using a pencil to get your outline shape. Then use the pencil to lightly draw in the additional features. To keep things simple I opted to use Acrylic Paint Pen Markers for all of the design work. I use a set from Betem which has dual-tip paint markers (a fine tip on one end and a medium tip on the other). These paint markers contain fast-drying acrylic paint that needs no priming, no fuss, no mess! Let dry.
Once they’re dry you need to use a foam brush and brush on 2 coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer. I used one with a glossy finish as I like the shine it gives to the shells. This protects the painted finish from chipping, cracking and the colors from fading over time.
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