Valentine’s day is 2 weeks away. This year I’m making homemade greeting cards for my grandchildren, friends and loved ones. These hand-painted Valentine’s Day themed seashells are something they can keep forever and use them as part of their decor. The design is painted on one side with a personalized written message on the back. They’re easy-to-make and won’t cost you a fortune!

** Post contains affiliate links.

You’ll need 4″ to 5″ wide clam shells collected from a beach. Wash them in warm, soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Why Dawn? It does the best job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water and let them dry overnight. They need to be completely dry before painting on them.

Base coat each clam shell with your desired colored of acrylic craft paint. I painted 2 with white paint and 1 with red paint. You may need to apply 2 coats of paint to get the desired coverage that is needed. Let dry.

To keep everything simple…I used a back of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers that I purchased from Amazon. They contain acrylic paint (not kiddie markers) and have dual-ended tips. One tip is a medium and one is a fine tip. They don’t require any priming, no drippy messes, no clogged tips and no foul paint odors. Plus, they dry fast!!!

Me and You Design – Use a pencil to sketch a heart shape in the center of the shell. Color it in with the red acrylic paint marker. Outline it with blue. Write ME on one side and YOU on the other side. Add a border around the clam shell using the red paint marker. Let it dry.

Love is Forever Design – In my scrap box I found a cardboard cut-out of a heart. I used a dab of Gorilla Glue on the back and applied it to the front of the clam shell. Underneath the heart I wrote “True Love is Forever!” Let dry.

Best Friends Design – Use a pencil to make a heart shape on the center of the white clam shell. In the center of that heart sketch 2 stick figures. I opted to make 2 girls…as I’m giving this one to my best friend. You can do 1 male and 1 female, 2 males, 2 females or whatever. I like the simplicity of the stick figures! Color in the stick figures using BETEM paint markers. I used the red medium-tip BETEM paint marker to cover around the heart aka adding the border. I then used the black BETEM fine-tip marker to add the hearts and wordage. Let dry.

Personalizing: Flip the seashells over. Use a fine point BETEM paint marker to write your personalized message. Let dry.

Finishing Up: Protect the painted surface by brushing on 1-2 light coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer. I used one with a glossy finish. If applying 2 coats you’ll need to allow for 34-45 minutes of drying time between coats. It will dry crystal clear. This protects the paint from chipping, cracking, fading, etc.

If you enjoy painting on seashells or crafting with seashells…you’ll find over 150+ seashell craft projects right here on the Two Classy Chics blog! We will be sharing more seashell craft projects in the future too!

* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!