Spring is just around the corner and I’m in the mood for some springtime crafts! Today’s arts and craft project is super easy to make! You’ll need some seashells that you collected from a beach or purchased from Amazon. You’ll need acrylic craft paint, gorilla glue, glitter and some Mod Podge Sealer. This project is super cute and once they’ve been completed you can use them as springtime decor accents around your home.
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You’ll need three 3-4″ wide clam shells and 3 smaller sized clam shells to make this project. Wash all seashells with Dawn Liquid Dishwashing Soap…soaking them for 10-15 minutes. Rinse with clean water and air dry overnight. Dawn does a great job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors.
Base coat all three of the large shells with 1-2 light coats of white acrylic craft paint. You can use paint and a brush or spray paint. Whatever you prefer. I brushed-on 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint with 30 minutes of drying time between coats.
All of the design work was with a pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers that I purchased from Amazon. They have dual-ended tips (a medium and fine tip) and the paint dries fairly quickly. They’re easy to work with with no foul paint odors and no drippy messes. I used a pencil to lightly sketch my design onto each seashell. I then used the paint markers to color-in the design. The black fine-tip paint marker was used for outlining and writing wordage. Let dry.
You need to paint the three smaller shells in your desired colors. I chose pink, yellow and dark purple…fun springtime colors. I applied 2 coats of acrylic craft paint onto each shell. Let dry. Once they’re dry…use Gorilla Glue to adhere them to the larger clam shell to form flowers. Don’t use hot glue as you won’t get a strong bond. Let the glue set-up for 1-2 hours.
Sealing the designs – You can seal the designs one of two different ways:
1. Clear Mod Podge Sealer – Brush on 1-2 light coats across the entire seashell. It goes on white but dries crystal clear.
2. Spray-On Clear Sealer – This comes in a spray can and will need to be applied outside.
Glitter – If you want to add some micro-fine craft glitter onto any of the shells…sprinkle it on while the clear sealer is still wet.
Let all of your painted seashells dry overnight. You can sign and date the back side with a black Sharpie Marker if desired.