Our family enjoys getting together to paint rocks and seashells for the Kindness Rocks Project. You can check out their official website to learn all about them. It’s a great way to spend time together as a family working on an arts and craft project. Plus, it’s an inexpensive one to do! You can find stones and rocks all across the world for FREE to paint!

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You’ll need just a handful of supplies to get started.

Rocks and Stones (I recommend smooth rocks like river stones)
Acrylic Paint Markers
Acrylic Paint (various colors) and Paint Brushes
Clear Acrylic Sealer (see finishing notes located below)

Prep Work: Wash all of your stones in warm, soapy water. Rinse with clean water and air dry overnight. If needed, you can use an old toothbrush or a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to losen dirt and debris. Make sure they’re completely dry before you paint them.

If you look at my photograph you’ll see that most the designs were painted onto smooth river stones. One (the beach scene) was painted on a flat rock. I personally like painting on stones and rocks that are 3″ to 5″ in size. You don’t want heavy & large sized ones which are hard to tote around.

Beach Design: This was painted on a rock using acrylic craft paint and a paint brush to make the sky, ocean water and beach sand. Let that dry. Do the small details like the palm tree, sand buck, shovel, the sun, seagulls, etc. using Acrylic Paint Markers. I painted all sides of the rock and then left it fully dry overnight.

Black Kitty Cat: This is an easy one! Paint an oval-shaped smooth stone with black acrylic paint (all sides) and let dry. Once it’s dry use fine-tip Acrylic Paint Markers to do the facial features and tail. Let dry overnight.

Tribal Pattern Designs: All 3 of these were done using smooth stones in various shapes and sizes. I like to base coat them with white acrylic craft paint. You may need 2 coats of paint. Let dry. I base coat because it helps the lighter colors to be more vivid when painting over-the-top. To do the design work I used medium tip and fine tip Acrylic Paint Markers. I took the design around the entire stone…so these did take me a little longer to make (drying time before flipping the stone over to paint the other side). Let dry overnight.

Finishing Up: You need to seal all of the paint by one of two ways: 1. Spray on a Clear Acrylic Sealer (in a spray cam) or  2. Brush-on Clear Glossy Mod Podge Sealer with a brush. I personally LIKE using the Clear Glossy Mod Podge Sealer and I brush on 2 coats allowing for 35-45 minutes of drying time between coats. This protects the painted finish and allows you to place them outside.

We like to pay-it-forward by leaving painted kindnress rocks every where we go! We leave them outside of retail stores, in neighborhood parks, at amusement parks, the community center, on the boardwalk, street fairs, etc. I don’t recommend leaving them inside retail stores!!! I know some people do but I don’t. I don’t want anyone picked up by security thinking that the person is shoplifting by picking up one of our rocks/stones.

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Heading to the beach this summer for vacation? Live there or have seashells lying around? If so, here’s an easy arts and crafts project that you can make. You’ll need 4″ to 5″ wide clam shells and then several smaller 1/2″ to 2″ wide seashells to make this project along with acrylic craft paint. All of these designs were made in just one weekend.

Wash all of the seashells in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Dawn does a fantastic job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water and then let them air dry overnight.

You’ll need various shades of acrylic craft paint: Blues, white and sandy/tan along with a flat paint brush. Follow the photographs for placement of the tan colored area and the blue colored area. The tan will be the sandy beach with the blue being the ocean water. Once those 2 colors have dried…add the white foam from the water hitting the beach. It shouldn’t be a straight line…make it wavy! Let dry.

Once the paint has dried it’s time to decorate the clam shells with smaller seashells. If you’re working with young kids I recommend using regular quick-drying craft glue. If you’re working with adults I recommend using Gorilla Glue which gives you a much stronger bond when working with shells. Glue on the small shells in a pleasing to the eye pattern. I like keeping them grouped together in one area…but you decorate as you see fit. Let dry.

Finally…you need to seal-in all of the paint! You can do it one of two ways:

Spray on 1-2 coats of a glossy clear spray acrylic sealer. If you’re using the spray…do it outside on a warm sunny day. Let dry for 2-4 hours.

Brush on 1-2 coats of glossy clear Mod Podge sealer. You can use this one indoors. I personally like brushing on 2 light coats to give the shells a great shine! Let dry for 2-3 hours.

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