Love coffee or know someone that does? If so, check out these adorable coffee themed hand-painted seashells! They would make the cutest paper weights, garden decorations, trinket dishes or just use as a little decor piece on your desk. All of the designs are easy-to-make using acrylic craft paint and paint pen markers. You can paint the design on the outside or the inside of the clam shell.
For this project I used 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, fishy odors, etc. Rinse with clean water. Let them air dry for 1-2 days before painting on them.
Two of the clam shells were base coated with 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint. The third shell was base coated with 2 coats of bubblegum pink. Allow 35-45 minutes of drying time between coats. Once the paint is dry…time to decorate them using BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers. These are NOT regular kid’s markers! These markers contain acrylic paint!!!! Don’t use kid’s markers, Sharpies, etc. because they will run when sealed.
Free hand the design using a pencil. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You can do plain looking coffee cups (like me) or do fancy ones. Use the paint markers to color in the design and to add the wordage. They dry fairly quickly. After decorating let them sit for about 2 hours or until the paint is completely dry, no longer tacky.
You can seal them one of two ways:
Mod Podge Clear Sealer – I like to use a foam brush when applying it onto both sides of the shell. This product can be used indoors.
Clear Spray Acrylic Sealer – Spray 1-2 light coats on both sides of the shell. You will need to use this product outdoors.
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