Today’s arts and crafts project is for Halloween! Two of the designs were painted on large clam seashells with the other design painted onto a smooth river stone. We wanted to show you that if you don’t live near a beach…you can still do this project by collecting smooth river rocks. The two clam shells that we used are quite large in size. You can use these pieces as Halloween decor inside or outside of the house.
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You need to wash all seashells and stones in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. It’s the best at removing dirt, sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water and then let them air dry overnight. They need to be completely dry before you paint on them!!!
No templates were used with this project.
Black Spider on Orange Shell – You’ll need a large clam shell that has been base coated with 2 coats of orange acrylic craft paint. A smaller clam shell that has been base coated with 2 coats of black acrylic craft paint. Once they’re dry…use Gorilla Glue or E6000 Adhesive to attach the small black shell to the large orange shell. DON”T USE HOT GLUE! It doesn’t give you a firm and permanent hold! Let the Gorilla Glue set up for about an hour.
To decorate the shell I used a pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers that I purchased from Amazon. They have dual-ended tips (one medium and one fine), they don’t require any priming, no drippy messes, no clogged tips and no foul paint odors. Plus, the paint dries quickly, you’re not waiting for hours for it to dry. I used the black paint marker to make a scallop edging around the seashell, to add the spider’s legs, and to write the wordage of Creepin it Real. You’ll want to use the white, green and black fine tip paint markers to make the eyes and use the white marker to add accents on the wordage. Let it dry for 1-2 hours.
Scarecrow Design – Base coat the shell with 2 coats of light beige acrylic craft paint. Use a pencil to lightly sketch the design onto the seashell. Use the BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers to color-in the design (hat, hair, eyes, nose, mouth and facial faux stitching). Let it dry for 1-2 hours.
Black Spider White Rock – Base coat the smooth oval-shaped river stone with 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint. Let dry. Use the fine-tip paint markers from the Betem Acrylic Paint Markers set to make the spider, add the wordage and to add the multi-color polka dots. The polka dots were made by using the medium-tip. Just dab and go and you get the perfect circular shape! Let dry for 1-2 hours.
Finishing – You need to protect the painted design from chipping, cracking and fading by brushing on 1-2 light coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer. I like to apply it using a foam brush instead of a traditional paint brush. If you plan on displaying them outside I recommend 2 good coats of sealer. 1 coat is great for inside display. Let them dry for a few hours. The sealer goes on white but dries crystal clear.
If you enjoy painting on seashells or crafting with seashells…you’ll find over 150+ seashell craft projects right here on the Two Classy Chics blog! We will be sharing more seashell craft projects in the future too!
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