The United State of America has a big birthday coming up this year! America will be celebrating it’s 250th birthday!!! A lot of people are referring to it as America250. There are festivities planned nationwide for July 4th, 2026 to celebrate! To get ready for the celebrations I’ve started working on some patriotic themed painted seashells. You can paint these designs on seashells or smooth river rocks and use them as party decorations!
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For this project I painted the designs onto small seashells…clam shells and scallop shells. I wanted them to be small enough to be used as table favors for a big backyard picnic that we’re planning. You only need a few arts and craft supplies to make them and absolutely NO artistic experience is required!
Getting started – Base coat all of the seashells or river rocks with white acrylic craft paint. I applied two light coats with 40 minutes of drying time between coats.
All of the designs were done freehand on top of the seashell. You can lightly sketch your planned design with a pencil.
I’m not an artist so I used two packs of Acrylic Paint Markers to paint them. Here’s what I used:
* Betem Acrylic Paint Markers – They have dual-tip ends…a medium and fine point and come in a large variety of different colors. No priming, no drippy messes, no clogged tips and no foul paint odors. The older kids can help you make this project when using these paint markers!
* Tooli-Art Black and White Fine Tip Paint Markers – I like using these specific paint markers for outlining, filling in very tiny areas, writing wordage or doing facial features. They give you precision control. They do require priming and take longer to dry compared to the ones from Betem.
Refer to my photograph for inspiration on making various patriotic designs. Once done…let the paint dry for 2-4 hours or until it’s no longer tacky.
Finishing Up – Brush-on 1-2 light coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer with a glossy finish using a foam brush. This goes on white but will dry crystal clear. It protects the painted finish and adds a nice shiny finish to the shells. Let dry overnight.