New to Zentangle art? If so, these painted Christmas themed seashells would be a great project for beginners…like me! For this art and crafts project I used 4″ and 5″ clam shells seashells that I collected from the beach. You’ll then need a few basic painting supplies to make them. You can make several in just one weekend! I love using them as little holiday decor pieces around our home.
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All seashells need to be washed in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dishwashing Soap. Dawn does the best job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. I like to let them soak for 15 minutes before I rinse them with clean water. Lay them flat on a cotton towel to air dry overnight.
Base coat all of the clam shells with 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint. The base coat will allow the colors that you’re going to apply on top to be vivid and colorful. The base coating is worth the extra step! Let dry until the paint is no longer tacky.
For this project I used 2 different sets of acrylic paint markers.
BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers – These have dual-ended tips. Great for coloring-in the design areas. They don’t require any priming, no leaky messes and no foul paint odors. They dry quickly.
Tooli-Art Acrylic Paint Marker – I used the extra fine tip black acrylic paint marker to do all of the outlining, to add the Zentangle doodles, to write words, dates, etc. I find this particular marker does the best job at giving me “fine lines” with precision control. They do cost more and take a little longer to dry.
Use a pencil to sketch on your desired design. You can use my image for inspiration. I made a simple tree, star and Christmas stocking shape. I used the BETEM Acrylic Markers to color-in the sections inside each image. I used the black Tooli-Art fine tip marker to do the doodling and outlining. Once the design work is done let them dry for 2-3 hours.
All paint needs to be protected and sealed. I brushed-on 2 light coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer with a Glossy Finish. You can certainly use a spray-on sealer if that’s what you prefer. Let them dry overnight.
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