Gnomes have really gained in popularity over the past few years. Every time I walk into a retail store I see Gnome home decor and garden accents. I have to admit…they’re cute!!! This arts and crafts project is easy to make…you can make up a dozen in just one weekend using Mussel Shells collected from the beach. No artistic skills are required for this easy project.
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Here are the supplies that you’ll need to make the Gnome Mussel Seashell Christmas Tree ornaments.
Mussel Shells
White Acrylic Craft Paint
Blue, Turquoise (or other colors) Metallic Craft Paint
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paper Towels
Gold and Silver Metallic Paint Markers
Metallic Ribbon
Scissors
Hot Glue and Glue Gun
Iridescent Micro-Fine Glitter
Mod Podge Clear Sealer (glossy finish)
Wash all seashells in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. It does a GREAT job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clearn water. Let the shells air dry overnight.
Base coat the mussels with 2-3 coats of white acrylic craft paint. You will need to allow 30-45 minutes of drying time between coats. The seashells that I used were dark in color…so it took a few coats to get the coverage that I needed.
Next is the hat. You can paint that any desired color. I used a metallic blue and a metallic turquoise color. I only needed to apply 1 coat of paint. While that was drying I used a gold metallic acrylic paint marker to add the Gnome’s nose. Once the hat has dried…I alternated using silver and gold metallic paint markers to add a simple design. You can certainly do something more elaborate. Let all of the paint dry until it’s no longer tacky.
Brush a generous coat of Mod Podge Clear Sealer over the entire seashell. While it’s still wet sprinkle on some iridescent micro-fine glitter to add “sparkle” to the beard. I had a hard time getting that to show up in the photograph but it’s there! Let dry.
Cut 5″ to 6″ long pieces of metallic ribbon. Knot the 2 ends together to form a hanging loop. Hot glue the hanging loop onto the back side of the ornament. Let dry.
Variation: You can glue a small pom-pom on the top of his hat. I made one with a pom-pom and thought it looked more like a Santa…so I omitted that from the rest. Just my personal preference.