Classy and Opinionated Lifestyle Mom Blog
Have you all seen the cute Christmas and Holiday wall decorations and decor at Dollar Tree? Oh my gosh, some of them are absolutely adorable! I love picking up holiday decor from Dollar Tree and bringing it home to use in various craft projects or …
Every year I put up a 6 foot tall Christmas tree that is decorated from top to bottom with coastal beach style holiday ornaments. The majority of them were store bought, but others were handmade by me over the years. I wanted to add icicles …
A few months ago I was at a local flea market and got a box full of vintage paper doilies in Christmas and holiday designs. They were round shaped doilies with scallop edges. Very pretty paper doilies and roughly 25 years old. I purchased the entire box full of 125 doilies for $1.00. Wow, what a bargain!
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When I purchased them I thought I would use them to make handmade greeting cards or in a few scrapbooking layouts. However, that all changed two weeks ago. I decided to use them in decoupage art when making my Christmas themed seashells. I like to use them as table favors and holiday decorations. Yes, I decorate my home in a coastal beach style, including during the holiday season.
During the holidays we host a few parties at our home and I’m always looking for unique place settings. These Decoupage Seashells work with my theme perfectly. They would be great for beach & coastal weddings too…but using a different paper napkin or doilies for the design work. What’s really cool is you can use an Acrylic Paint Pen Marker to write a name, date or message on the back (underside) of each clam shell.
For this project I used large 4″ wide clam shells that I collected from the beach. Wash and dry them. They need to be thoroughly dry before painting on them.
Base coat the clam shells in your desired colors. I painted some white, red and green for the background colors. You will need to use 2 coats of acrylic craft paint with 40 minutes of drying time between coats.
While the shells are drying prepare the paper doilies. I carefully cut around the parts of the images that I wanted to use. Make sure they are sized well for the size of seashells that you’re using. You don’t want the image too small or too large.
You’ll need a bottle of Modge Podge Sealer in a Glossy Finish and a foam brush. Brush a light coat of Modge Podge across the top of the shell. Carefully lay the cut-out image on top. Press down with your fingers to smooth it out. You don’t want any wrinkles or air bubbles. Use the foam brush to apply another layer of Modge Podge across the top of the image and cover the entire top of the shell. Let dry for 60-90 minutes.
Flip the shells over once they’re done drying and personalize them with names, dates, quotes, etc. As I stated, I’m using the ones that I made as place settings on the tables for 3 dinners that we’re hosting this holiday season.
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Looking for a fun and easy craft project to make this holiday season that won’t cost you a lot of money? If so, you’ll want to make several of these cute Christmas refrigerator magnets! The majority of the supplies needed can be purchased from your …
We have several readers who have been loving our hand-painted clam shell and seashell designs that we’ve been featuring the past 3 years. Painting on seashells is an affordable hobby that allows anyone to be creative. You don’t have to be a professional artist to …
This hand-painted seashell can be done in male or female design by simply changing-up the eyes. We kept this one simple and non-Christmas so that it can be displayed throughout the winter season. You can make several of them in just one day and you only need clam shells, acrylic craft paints, and clear sealer to make them.
Collect 4″ to 5″ wide clam seashells from the beach. Wash them in hot soapy water using Dawn liquid dish soap. Rinse clean. If needed, you can use an old toothbrush or a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to losen up stubborn debris. Air dry for 24-48 hours before painting on them.
Base coat the clam shell with 2-3 coats of white acrylic craft paint allowing for 30-40 minutes of drying time between coats. Let dry for 1-2 hours or until the paint is no longer tacky.
The facial features were done with a combination of acrylic craft paints with a brush and with acrylic paint pens. Start with the orange colored carrot shaped nose first. We used 2 coats of orange paint. Use pink paint to make the rosy cheeks. A simple circle shape will do. Let dry.
Use a black paint pen (medium-tip) to make the 2 eyes, outline the carrot-shaped nose and to add the dots for the mouth. Use the photograph for placement of facial features. Once the eyes are dry dip the end of a paint brush into white acrylic paint and dot on the inner eye. Let dry for 2 hours.
Take the painted seashells outside. Spray each side of the shell with 2-3 coats of clear acrylic spray sealer. I like using one that has a glossy, shiny finish to it. Let dry for 3 hours or until no longer tacky. You can now display the seashells inside or outside of your home.
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When I was a kid every holiday season we would sit down to make a batch of homemade cinnamon applesauce holiday ornaments. They’re easy-to-make and add a country-touch or primitive flair to your Christmas tree. Use them as holiday ornaments, package tie-ons, napkin rings, hang …
Over the years I’ve posted dozens of hand-painted seashell designs on the Two Classy Chics blog. For the most part I like to paint on large clam shells or oyster shells. However, last month I did something different. I painted The Grinch on a crab …