Take a walk on the wild side with these hand-painted Safari Animal seashells! You can make several painted shells in just one afternoon! The designs are easy enough for a beginner to do. You don’t have to be a professional artist to make them! Don’t have access to seashells? Don’t worry, the same designs can be painted onto smooth river rocks too!

Love to paint on shells? You’ll find 100+ painted seashell designs on the TwoClassyChics blog!

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We used large clam shells measuring 4″ to 5″ wide that we collected from the beach. Wash them in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Why Dawn? It’s the best at removing the sand granules, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water. Take them outside to dry for 1-2 days in the sunshine. They need to be clean and dry before painting on them.

Next…gather up the supplies! You’ll need acrylic craft paints, acrylic paint pens, paint brushes, paper towels, water dish, clear acrylic spray sealer and if you have moist hand wipes on-hand…those would be great for keeping your hands clean!

Tiger Stripes – Base coat the shell with 2 coats of orange acrylic craft paint. Once dry…paint the black stripes and let dry again. Use a white acrylic paint pen to write the words “Hear Me Roar” on top. Let dry.

Leopard Spots – Base coat the shell with metallic gold acrylic craft paint. Use black acrylic craft paint to make the odd-shaped spots. I recommend different shapes, sizes and angles so that they look more natural. Let dry. Outline each spot with chocolate or dark brown acrylic paint pen. Let dry.

Giraffe Spots – Base coat the shell with 2 coats of light beige acrylic craft paint. Use chocolate brown craft paint to make irregular shaped spots in different sizes. Let dry. Use an acrylic paint pen in black to outline each spot. Let dry. Finish up by using a white acrylic paint pen to write the words “Wild Thing” on the shell. Let dry.

Preserving the Seashells – Take the painted seashells outside. Spray each side with 1-2 coats of a clear acrylic sealer. Make sure you spray the unpainted side too. Allow for 30-45 minutes of drying time between coats. Once dry they can be displayed inside or outside of your home.

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Last month I needed to come up with a unique party favor for my nephew’s birthday party. The theme of the birthday party was racing cars which he loves! I decided to do a mixed media craft project using large 4″ and 5″ wide clam seashells that I collected from the beach along with diecast metal cars that I purchased from Amazon. You’ll need just some basic supplies to make these cute boy’s birthday party favors.

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Painted Clam Seashells with Diecast Metal Cars Boy’s Birthday Party Favors

4″ and 5″ Wide Clam Shells
Green, Gray and White Acrylic Craft Paint
Paint Brush, Water Dish and Paper Towels
Mod Podge Clear Sealer with Glossy Finish
Mini Diecast Metal Cars
Gorilla Glue
Fine Tip Black Sharpie Marker

Wash the clam shells with Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Why Dawn? It does the best job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water and let the shells air dry overnight.

Base coat each seashell with 2 coats of grass green acrylic craft paint allowing for 30 minutes of drying time between each coat. Once the paint is dry…paint the road with gray colored acrylic paint. Let dry again. Then add the white dashes aka lines for the road aka highway. Let dry.

Each seashell needs 1-2 light coats of Mod Podge Clear Glossy Sealer. Brush the coats on the front and back of the shell. This will protect the painted surface from chips, cracks, etc. It will take 1-2 hours for it to fully dry clear.

Place a small drop Gorilla Glue onto the bottom of each wheel on the car. Glue the diecast metal car to the top of the seashell, centering it on the road (highway). You may need to hold it into place for 2-3 minutes or prop something up against it until the glue takes hold. DON’T USE HOT GLUE as the car will eventually fall off. Please…use the Gorilla Glue! Let dry for several hours.

Use a Black Sharpie Marker to write the birthday party information on the back side of the seashell. You can write each child’s name, the date, the birthday child’s name or whatever you would like to say.

During the party use them as decorative table favors and then once the birthday party concludes let each child take one home as a souvenir from the party.

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