Did you and your family take a summer vacation to the beach? Do you live at the beach and looking for a fun arts and crafts project to do with the kids? If so, check out these easy-to-make beach themed designs that were painted on seashells. Clam shells to be more exact which are the most common type of shell that you’ll find on the east coast beaches.
** This post contains affiliate links.
If you don’t have access to seashells you can certainly paint the designs on paper, canvas art boards, ceramic tiles and on smooth river rocks. You only need a few supplies to make them. Amazon sells blank river rocks and seashells that kids can paint on. Looking for more painted seashell and painted rock designs? You’ll find over 350 of them on the TCC blog!
Supplies Needed
Seashells (we used clam shells)
White Acrylic Craft Paint
Paint Brush, Water Dish and Paper Towels
Pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers
Foam Brush
Clear Mod Podge Sealer
Pencil
Wash the clam shells in warm soapy water. Use an old toothbrush to remove any dirt, sand or debris. Rinse with clean water. Lay them out to air dry overnight.
All of the seashells will need 1-2 coats of white acrylic craft paint to serve as the base coat. You’ll need 45 minutes of drying time between coats. To speed up the drying time…you can have a desk fan blow air over them. It cuts the drying time in half. Why the white base coat? This will allow the colors that you apply on top to be more vivid!
Look at our photograph to give you inspiration on an easy to paint flamingo, whale tale and sunrise designs. Use a pencil to sketch on your desired design.
To keep the design work simple…we used a pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers. They have dual-ended tips, one medium tip and one fine tip. They don’t require any priming, there’s no drippy or leaky messes, no foul paint odors and they dry fairly quickly. Use the medium tip for the larger areas and the fine tip to write wordage, to do outline work or for facial features. We purchased them from Amazon for less than ten bucks!
Once you have the shells painted you need to let them thoroughly dry until the paint is no longer tacky.
Dip a foam brush into Clear Mod Podge Sealer. Brush-on a light coat of Mod Podge. It will go on white but will dry crystal clear. By sealing the design…it will protect the paint finish. You can display them inside or outside. Let them dry overnight.
Leave a Reply