Hosting a fun summer party or just looking to add some new home decor accents? Live at the beach or have some seashells laying around the house? If so, I think you’ll enjoy our new arts and crafts project for this week. These 5 tropical beach designs were hand painted onto small and medium size clam shells collected from the beach.
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You don’t have to be a professional artist to make them! Use the photograph to guide you or come up with your own designs. To keep things really SIMPLE the majority of the painting was done by using a pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers. They have dual ended tips (one medium and one fine), require no priming, no clogged tips, no drippy messes and the paint dries fast. Plus, they’re affordable!
I do recommend that you base coat all seashells with 1-2 light coats of white acrylic craft paint. Why? When you apply colors over-the-top they’ll be more vivid! Once you have them base coated it’s time to decorate them with your favorited painted design.
Always start with the background colors first. ie. the ocean water, blue sky, sunset sky, etc. Once the background design has been completed you’ll layer the rest on top. ie. the sail boat, birds, palm trees, sunshine, lighthouse, people, whatever. For the larger areas I used the medium tip on the Acrylic Paint Markers. For writing words, outlining or smaller details I used the fine tip. You can get fancy and elaborate or just do basic designs like the ones that I made.
Once all of the paint has thoroughly dried you need to seal the designs by brushing on 1-2 light coats of Mod Podge Clear Sealer. I opted to use one that has a glossy finish. You can use matte finish if that’s what you prefer. It goes on white but will dry crystal clear. Let the seashells dry overnight.
Display Ideas:
Party Favors
Table Decor
Garden Yard Art
Home Decor Accents
Kindness Seashells and Rocks
Paper Weights on a Desk
Holiday Ornaments (add a hanging cord)
Refrigerator Magnets (add a magnet on the back)
You can paint the tropical beach designs on small shells (best for refrigerator magnets and holiday ornaments) or large shells (best for home decor). I used clam shells but you could certainly paint the designs onto oyster shells and whelks too.
Enjoy painting on seashells? Looking for more craft projects that utilize seashells and other items collected from a beach? Check out the 300_ seashell craft projects right HERE on the TCC blog.