Hosting a party in a Beach and Ocean theme? Looking to add some pretty summer decor around your back deck and pool area? Got a beach wedding coming up and looking for table and party decor? If you said YES to any of those questions I think you’ll love these easy-to-make painted seashell designs.
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Over the past decade I’ve shared over 400 crafting with seashell posts on the TCC blog. I work mostly with large clam shells, whelk shells and conch shells. Today…these designs were all painted on oyster shells that I collected from a local beach. These are small to medium sized oyster seashells. You’ll need just a handful of art supplies to make them.
Supplies Needed
Oyster Shells
Acrylic Craft Paint
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paper Towels
Pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers
Foam Brush
Clear Mod Podge Sealer, Glossy Finish
Pencil
Wash all shells in warm, soapy water. Let them soak for 5-10 minutes. I like to wash them with Dawn Liquid Dishwashing Soap. It does the best job at removing debris, sand and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water. Lay them out flat to air dry overnight.
Base coat all of the shells with 1-2 light coats of white acrylic craft paint. I like doing this with the acrylic paint that comes in a bottle with a paint brush. Using a paint brush allows me to get into all of the nooks and crannies. If you want to save time you can spray them with a flat or matte white spray paint. You’ll need to spray them outdoors. Let the paint dry.
Now is the fun part. Decorating them! Use a pencil to lightly sketch your design onto the oyster shell. As you can see, I’m NOT a professional artist. You can do simple fish and turtle designs. I used a pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers to do all of the design work on top. The paint markers have dual-ended tips, one medium and one fine. Use the medium tip to color-in the larger areas and the fine tip to do outlines and fine detail work. The BETEM paint markers don’t require any priming, no leaky or drippy messes and the paint dries fairly quickly. BONUS…no foul paint odors! You can purchase them from Amazon for less than ten bucks! Let the shells dry for 2-3 hours to allow the paint to cure.
You need to seal-in the design and protect it by brushing-on 1-2 light coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer. I like using the one with a glossy finish. This sealer goes on white but will dry crystal clear. This sealer protect the paint which allows you to display the finished seashells inside or outside your home.
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