This year I’m doing something different for my family’s Christmas cards and my holiday table place settings. I decided to get crafty and make my own! For this project I used 4″ and 5″ wide clam shells seashells that I collected from the beach. You need to wash them in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. It’s the best at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse and let the seashells air dry overnight.
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To keep this project easy I purchased a pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers with dual ended tips. One end has a medium tip and one has a fine tip. I also purchased a bottle of white acrylic craft paint, a paint brush and 3 packages of Christmas themed rub-on decals along with a bottle of Clear Mod Podge Sealer with a glossy finish.
Paint each clam shell with 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint with 30-45 minutes of drying time between coats. Let this base coat completely dry until the paint is no longer tacky. Decide on the placement for the rub-on decals that you purchased. The ones I used feature holiday Christmas light bulbs, gold metallic ornament bulbs and gold metallic reindeers. Use the wood stick that came with the decals to rub the decals onto each seashell.
Use a pencil and lightly write the wordage onto each shell. I kept it simple with Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Go over those pencil marks with the Acrylic Paint Marker using the medium ended tip. You want the letters to be “thick”. Once dry, outline each letter with the black colored Acrylic Paint Marker using the fine tip which gives you a nice fine line. If desired, you can outline the perimeter of the shells with your desired color. I used the gold metallic paint marker that came with the set on some of the seashells. Let the shells dry for 1-2 hours or until the paint is no longer tacky.
On the back of each clam shell you want to write your Christmas or holiday greeting/message. I also added the date. You can write whatever you want. Let dry for 1 hour.
You need to seal the beautiful design using a coat of Clear Mod Podge Sealer. I brushed on 2 light coats (front and back) allowing for 1 hour of drying time between coats. This protects the painted finish and adds a nice glossy shine to each shell.
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