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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Hosting a party with a fun summertime beach theme? Looking for unique party favors and table decorations? If so, we’ve got the perfect craft project for you today! These clam shells aka seashells were decorated with  a combination of acrylic craft paint and rub-on transfers. All 4 were made in just one afternoon. They can be displayed inside or outside!

Supplies Needed

Large Clam Shells Seashells
Acrylic Craft Paint
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paper Towels
Mod Podge Clear Acrylic Sealer
Foam Brush
Pack of Rub-on Beach Themed Decals

To get started you want to base coat the clam shells with acrylic craft paint. For a beach theme you need 3 main colors: beige, medium blue and light blue. For the under-the-sea theme you need 2 main colors: beige and light blue. Let them dry.

Next comes all of the fun part. Decorating them! You can use rub-on transfers, stickers and paint. I personally don’t like using stickers as they peel off and look tacky. Using rub-on transfers gives your design a much prettier look. I purchased the Beach Themed Rub-On Transfers from Amazon. I then cut them apart and used in various arrangements on the shells that I found appealing.

You can accent the design with Acrylic Paint Pen Markers which are different than kid’s art markers. Make sure you buy and use acrylic paint markers!!! I used them to add the white wave sections on the water, to add micro-dots to the sandy areas, to add a sun and so forth. Do all of your decorating and let them dry for 2 hours which allows things to “cure”.

You need to seal the design and paint one of two different ways: 1. Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer in a can or 2. Mod Podge Clear Sealer which you brush on. I like using sealers that give the design a glossy and shiny appearance once it dries.

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