One of my favorite arts and crafts hobbies is painting on seashells. I usually paint medium to large sized clam shells that I collect from the beach. I NEVER EVER take a seashell that is currently being occupied. You’ll find 300+ painted clam shell seashell designs on the TCC blog if you’re looking for some creative ideas. Today’s designs were painted on large Scallop Shells that I purchased from Amazon.
What’s nice about painting and/or decorating large Scallop Seashells is the large, smooth surface. You have a lot of space to work-in a fun design. You can paint and decorate just one side or do both…that’s entirely up to you. I like to do both!
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Large Scallop Shells Seashells
Acrylic Craft Paints
Bristle Paint Brushes, Water Dish, Paper Towels
BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers
Clear Mod Podge Sealer
Foam Paint Brush
I always base coat my seashells with one coat of white acrylic craft paint. This base coat allows the colors applied on top to be more vivid. Let the base coat thoroughly dry before decorating.
For the three designs featured in this post…each one was decorated differently. One uses rub-on transfers that I purchased from Amazon. You get sheets of rub-on transfers in a design that you select. Cut out the one you want to use and simply rub it onto the seashell.
The second design (featuring the dog) was from a pack of scrapbooking 3-D embellishments that I had leftover from another crafting project. Paint the scallop seashell in your desired color. Once the paint is dry you adhere the embellishments to it. I personally like to use Gorilla Glue to adhere them to the shell. Regular craft glue and the self-adhesive on the embellishment isn’t strong enough. Let them dry until the embellishments are firmly in place.
For the third design I used a pack of Tanmit Acrylic Metallic Paint Markers that I purchased from Amazon. The colors in that pack are beautiful and I love the metallic finish! It was my first time using the metallic colors, so I did just a simple multi-color design. Sort of like a rainbow but without being a rainbow!
Once all of the paint has dried it’s important to seal-in the paint. You can use a Spray-On Clear Acrylic Sealer or you can brush-on one to two light coats of Clear Mod Podge. Let them dry overnight.
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