Decorate your Christmas tree in coastal and beach ornaments? Do you have some oyster shells leftover from vacation? If so, you’re going to enjoy this easy-to-make craft project! All you need are oyster shells, craft paint, glitter, paint brushes or paint markers, clear sealer and hanging cords. That’s about it. These would make awesome inexpensive gifts for that beach lover in your life!
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Wash the oyster shells seashells in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dishwashing Soap. Dawn does a great job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water. Lay the seashells out on a towel to air dry overnight.
Base coat 2/3 of the oyster shell with 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint. Paint the upper 1/3 of the shell with your desired paint color. On the santa shown in the first photo I used a dark teal metallic green. Let dry for 2 hours or until the paint is no longer tacky.
Betem Acrylic Paint Markers – are dual-ended acrylic paint markers with a medium tip and a fine tip. These paint markers don’t require any priming, don’t get clogged tips, no drippy paint messes and have no foul paint odors.
Using the paint markers from Betem I added the face color and facial features. Use the medium tip to do the large coloring-in and the fine tip for the finer detailed work. Use photograph for inspiration and placement. Let dry.
Once the paint was dry I brushed-on a light coat of Clear Mod Podge Sealer with a glossy finish. While it was still wet I sprinkled on extra-fine white glitter onto Santa’s beard to add texture and a little bit of glitz. Let dry. Using Gorilla Glue I added a pom-pom to the top of Santa’s hat and a hanging loop on the back. Let this set-up and dry overnight. I don’t recommend using hot glue as it doesn’t work well when adhering things to seashells.
Gnome Version – I had a piece of a broken Whelk shell (conch shell) that was perfect as a Gnome hat. I used Gorilla Glue to adhere that shell on the top of a scallop shell (see photo). Let dry for several hours. I then used acrylic craft paint and a brush to paint the hat, beard and nose. Let dry for 1-2 hours. To seal the paint you’ll need to brush-on a light coat of Clear Mod Podge Sealer. Let dry.
Using Gorilla Glue I added a plaid bow at the neckline, a white pom-pom at the top of his hat and a gold hanging cord to the back side of the seashell. Let dry overnight. I think he turned out cute and required no artistic skills in making him! A great way to use up some broken whelk shells in a craft project.
You will find 350 + beach and seashell arts and craft projects on the TCC blog. Check them out while you’re here!