Decorating for the winter season can be challenging. A lot of “winter themed” items remind me of the Christmas holiday. The theme I like to go with is anything related to snow. You know…sledding, ice skating, snow ball fights, snowmen, snowman, snowflakes, skiing, snow boarding, etc. Winter activities that are popular in the northeast.

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These snowflake design clam shells are easy-to–make! You really don’t need any artistic skills to make them. We decoupage the design onto clam shells, scallop shells and cockle shells that we collected from the beach. You can buy them inexpensively at your local craft store and from Amazon if you don’t live near the coast.

At my local Dollar Tree store I found a pack of tissue paper in the gift wrap section that had an all-over snowflake print. The snowflakes vary in size making them perfect this project. Tissue paper is easy to work with…in my honest opinion…easier than using paper napkins which get wrinkles when applying them.

To get started you want to base coat all of the seashells with 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint. Allow for 30 minutes of drying time between coats. While the paint is drying…cut out the snowflakes from the tissue paper. I just cut close to the edge but wasn’t being perfect about it. All of mine ended up just being “circles” that I cut out.

Center the tissue paper motif onto the seashell. Use a foam brush and Mod Podge Clear Sealer to adhere it onto the shell. I place a “light” coat of Mod Podge down first. Then place the tissue paper motif on top. Use your fingers to gently smooth it out. Use the foam brush to apply a layer of Mod Podge on top. Let dry for 1-2 hours or until it’s no longer tacky.

If you want to add a colorful border around the shells you can do that using Betem Acrylic Paint Markers or using a paint brush with acrylic craft paint. I think it gives a nice finishing touch to each shell. Let dry. If you’re going to be displaying them indoors you’re done! If you want to display them outside you’ll need to add an additional coat of Mod Podge on all sides of the shell. Let dry overnight.

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