Hand Painted Elephant Clam Shell Seashell Party Favors
A friend of mine hosted a Zoo themed birthday party for her 8 year old son. She asked me to come up with some unique party favors and table decor to go along with her Zoo animal theme. Well, I got busy and this Elephant is one of the many animals that I created.
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To make the Elephant you’ll need 4 different seashells: A large clam shell, 2 small clam shells and a broken small whelk shell. You’ll need acrylic craft paint (light blue silver metallic, white and black), paint brush, Gorilla Glue, royal blue paint marker and a black paint marker. I also recommend that you seal the painted shell using 1-2 light coats of Clear Glossy Mod Podge to help protect the painted finish.
Wash the seashells in Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. It’s the best for removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water. Air dry overnight.
Base coat the large clam shell with 2 coats of light blue acrylic paint allowing for 30 minutes of drying time between coats.
Paint the 2 smaller clam shells and the small broken whelk shell with silver metallic paint. You may need 2-3 coats to get good coverage. Let dry. Then use white and black paint to add the eyes.
When gluing seashells onto seashells I highly recommend that you use Gorilla Glue. Hot glue doesn’t work well at all and falls apart. Glue the shells onto the large clam shell using my photograph for reference on the placement of the shells. Let dry for 3-5 hours or until the glue has set.
I trimmed out the shell using a royal blue paint marker…going around the outer edge. I then used a black paint marker to write Save the Elephants onto the front of the shell. Let dry.
Brush-on 1-2 coats of Clear Glossy Mod Podge Sealer across the entire seashell…front and back. Let dry until it’s no longer tacky.
If you’re using these as party favors…you can use a black marker to write names, dates, etc. on the unpainted side of the clam shell.
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