Veteran’s Day is just around the corner so I decided to paint a dozen patriotic themed clam shells to leave around my community to show my appreciation to our veterans. I like to “drop” these designs at community Veteran’s Day events and at memorials in our hometown. You can leave them at Veteran’s Hospitals and centers too! For this project I used 4″ to 5″ wide clam shells that I collected from a local beach.
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Wash all of the clam shells in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dishwashing Soap. Dawn does a great job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. I like to let them soak for 10-15 minutes. Then rinse them with clean water. Lay them on a towel to air dry overnight.
The seashells need 1-2 coats of white paint as the base coat. You can use a brush and white craft paint or use a white colored spray paint. Let the paint try until it’s no longer tacky.
To keep the design work simple I used a pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers that I purchased from Amazon. These paint markers have dual-ended tips. They don’t require any priming, no clogged tips, no leaky messes and no foul paint odors. As an added bonus, the paint dries quick!
Splatter Paint Technique: On the first shell you’ll see that I splattered some red and dark blue paint onto the background. I did that by dipping the end of an old toothbrush into paint. Ran my finger across the bristles of the toothbrush and lightly splattered it onto the shell.
Use a pencil to sketch out your desired design onto the shells. You can use my designs as inspiration. You can paint images onto the seashells, just wordage or a combination of both. I like a simple but yet colorful look. Use the BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers to paint the design and to write wordage. Try to stick to red, white, blue, gold metallic and silver metallic as your color scheme. Let the paint dry for 1-2 hours or until it’s no longer tacky.
You need to seal the design by brushing on 1-2 light coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer with a foam brush or you can spray-on 1-2 light coats of a Clear Spray Acrylic Sealer. I used Mod Podge with a Glossy Finish. Let them dry overnight.
Love crafting with seashells? If so, check out our blog for 300+ beach crafts! All are easy-to-make!!!