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During the summer season I enjoy decorating my home with seashells. They’re easy to incorporate in just about any home decor style. If you don’t decorate for the summer season throughout your home…you can add just a few accents in a bathroom or place them …
The Monacrch butterfly is one of the most colorful butterflies in North America. Traditionally they’re known for their vivid orange color with black and white markings. Their average lifespan in the wild is 6-8 months, so they don’t live long. They’re known for migrating and …
Heading to the beach for summer vacation? If so, collect some small seashells while you’re there! Not visiting a beach? Don’t worry, you can buy bags of small seashells from your local craft store, Dollar Tree or from Amazon for a great price. All of the designs featured here were done on small 2″ to 3″ sized shells.
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First things first. Always wash your shells in soapy water, rinse clean and air dry. I like to use Dawn Liquid Dish Soap because it’s great at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Shells need to be DRY before crafting with them.
You’ll need some basic craft supplies to decorate them: acrylic craft paint, paint brushes, mini seashells, fake plastic coins, charms, beads, mini buttons, stickers, beach themed paper napkins, etc. Collect some stuff from your craft stash or hit a local store for some supplies. You’ll need Mod Podge Clear Sealer and a foam brush to seal in the paint, stickers or cut-outs from the paper napkins. Craft glue will be needed too.
All of the shells you see were painted first with acrylic craft paint. You’ll need 1-2 coats. Let dry. Then it’s time for decorating them. You can paint the desired design or decoupage a design onto the shell. We used cut-outs from paper napkins that we picked up from Dollar Tree that were in a beach theme. Just cut out small areas like words or seashells and decoupage that onto the shell.
On a few of them you’ll see glued on mini shells or plastic coins (also purchased from Dollar Tree). If you’re working with kids use a quick-drying non-toxic craft glue. If you’re an adult…I recommend using Gorilla Glue for a strong bond. Let glue dry for several hours.
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For the past 12-13 years I’ve been publishing hundreds upon hundreds of arts and craft projects online. Over those years I’ve been asked numerous times the following question. “Shelly, What are your favorite acrylic paint pen markers for outlining and writing words on your arts …
Do you enjoy doodling? Love seashells? If you answered YES to both of those questions this beautiful craft project is for you! Doodling is such a fun hobby to get into and anyone can do it! No experience needed. You can doodle all kinds of …
This vacation memories craft project is an inexpensive and easy project to do with the kids. When on vacation have them collect a medium sized rock with at least 2 flat semi-even sides. Wash the rock and pack it for the trip home. Once home you and the kids can preserve your vacation memories by painting on the rock with acrylic craft paints and paint markers!
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Supplies Needed for the Project
Rocks (similar to size and shape shown in the photo)
Acrylic Craft Paints and Paint Brushes
Acrylic Paint Pen Markers
Water Dish and Paper Towels
Mod Podge Sealer in Glossy Finish
Foam Brush
Pencil with Eraser
Our vacation scene that we painted depicts the beach. You can do a lake, mountains, campsite, river, beach, or wherever you went for your family vacation. Let the kids be creative. This isn’t about the adults coming up with designs that are “pinterest worthy”…it’s about the kids!
Always wash the rocks with soapy water (We use Dawn Liquid Dish Soap) and rinse clean. They’ll need 24-48 hours to thoroughly dry. Make sure they’re dry before painting on them.
We started by kind of sketching the design onto the rock using a pencil. You can let them just get busy painting if that’s what they prefer. The background of the scene always needs to be painted first. Think ocean, sand, trees, mountains, the sky, lake, etc. We used acrylic craft paint and a paint brush to do all of the background work. Let dry for 45 minutes or until the paint is no longer tacky.
Now the fun part. Use the Acrylic Paint Markers to add all of the detail design. We recommend the BETEM Dual-Tip Acrylic Paint Markers. We used them to add the palm tree, the sun, sand bucket, shovel, seashells, white ocean water, seagulls, etc. They dry fast….about 10-15 minutes and that paint was dry. Let the kids paint all sides of the rock. They can initial and date it anywhere they like along with the location.
Once all of the paint is dry you want to protect it with 1-2 coats of Clear Mod Podge Sealer. We chose one with a glossy finish, but it also comes in a matte finish if you prefer that. Let dry overnight. That’s it, done!!! A fun way to preserve those vacation memories!
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Gmomes are one of the hottest decorating trends going on in the USA and continue to grow in popularity. I personally think they’re adorable! I like using them as decorating accents on my front porch, back deck and in my flower gardens. You can make …
Are you a kitty cat lover? Know someone who is? If so, you’re going to love this easy-to-make arts and craft project! To make these adorable painted kitty cat clam shell seashell designs you’ll only need a handful of supplies. Don’t have access to seashells? …