These hand painted Easter bunny themed clam shells seashells are adorable! They would look cute sitting on your dinner table as pace settings (name cards), sprinkled in a tablescape or just used as little home decor accents. You can let each guest take one home after dinner which makes for a nice momento. You can paint several of them in just weekend, no artistic skills needed.
* Post contains affiliate links.
We painted the designs on 3″ to 4 1/2″ wide clam shells collected from the beach. Wash them in warm, soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Dawn is fabulous for removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water and air dry overnight. If they need a little extra scrubbing use a Mr Clean Eraser. Don’t use metal scouring pads which will scratch up the seashells.
To get started you need to base coat each shell with 2 coats of acrylic craft paint with 30 minutes of drying time between coats. Two of them have a white base coat and one has a magenta base coat. Let dry.
Use a pencil and sketch on the design. As you can see…simple shapes put together make the design. It doesn’t need to look perfect.
Keep things easy! We used BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers with dual ended tips. One end has a medium tip and the other end has a fine tip. The medium tip is great for coloring in the image while the fine tip is great for facial features, outlining and wordage. BETEM paint markers require no priming, don’t leak, no dripping and they dry fast! Acrylic Paint Markers are different than children’s markers…they contain acrylic paint but give you awesome control…no brush needed. Let dry.
Finishing up – You need to seal the paint which can be done one of two different ways:
1. Spray 1-2 light coats of a Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer on both sides of the shell. Allow for 45 minutes of drying time between coats.
2. Brush-on 1-2 coats of Glossy Clear Mod Podge Sealer on both sides of the shell. Allow for 45-60 minutes of drying time between coats. (we used Mod Podge).
Sealing the seashells protects the painted finish from easily chipping, peeling, cracking, the colors from fading, etc. They can be displayed indoors or outdoors. Highly recommend that you seal the paint using 1 of the 2 methods above.
* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!
