Hosting a Halloween party this year? Looking for some cute little Halloween themed home decor accents that you can easily make yourself? If so, you’ll love this project! You can paint the designs on clam shells, oyster shells, smooth river rocks or other items. You don’t need any patterns or templates. A great arts and craft project for beginners!
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We painted the designs on small clam seashells that we collected from the beach. They’re about 3″ wide. Wash them in warm soapy water, rinse with clean water and let them air dry overnight. They need to be completely dry before you paint on them.
Using a paint brush and white acrylic craft paint…give each clam shell 1-2 light coats of paint. They need to be base coated before painting your colorful design on top. By base coating, the colors applied will really “pop” and be “vivid”. Without the base coat, colors tend to be dull.
To keep all of the design work super easy…we used a pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers to do the majority of the design work. Betem Paint Markers feature no priming, no clogged tips, no foul paint odors and no drippy paint messes. You can do any design that you would like. We used pencils to lightly sketch on the designs that we wanted to make. We then colored-in the design using the acrylic paint markers.
We’re not into spooky and eerie Halloween designs. I like more of the “cute” look with vivid colors. The one seashell features a smiling Jack ‘o Lantern Pumpkin, another one simply says BOO and the third one has two sets of “eyes” peeping out from underneath the shell. For the outlining and fine lines I used a Tooli-Art Black Fine Tip Acrylic Paint Marker. I find that they give me the precision that I need when outlining or writing wordage. Let all of the paint dry.
You need to seal-in the painted design by brushing on 1-2 light coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer. I like using the one that gives your work a glossy finish. It goes on white but will dry crystal clear. Let them dry overnight. That’s it…you’re done!
