Looking for a few last-minute homemade gifts to make this holiday season? If so, these hand-painted Christmas themed clam shells take only 1 day to make. You don’t need any artistic skills to make them! A great project for older children, adults and seniors to make. They can be used as home decor accents, paper weights on a desk, or place them outside on a front porch as part of your holiday decorating.

Snow Man Clam Shell

Base coat the entire shell with 2 coats of bright navy blue acrylic craft paint allowing for 45 minutes of drying time between coats. Use acrylic paint markers (we like the BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers with Dual Tips) to add all of the design work. You’ll want to make a snowman, the snow on the ground, etc. You can decorate it however you like.

Christmas Candy Canes Shell

Base coat the clam shell with 2 coats of lime green acrylic craft paint allowing for 45 minutes of drying time between coats. Once dry, use a pencil to outline 2 candy can shapes in the middle of the seashells. Use Acrylic Paint Markers to color them in and then outline in black. Underneath the candy canes we wrote “Sweet but Twisted!”

Holiday Lights Shell

Base coat the clam shell with 2 coats of lime green acrylic craft paint allowing for 45 minutes of drying time between coats. Once dry, use a pencil to lightly draw on 3 bulb shaped holiday lights. Use Acrylic Paint Markers to color them in (we used green, yellow, and red). Use a silver metallic paint marker for the hanging cord and then outline everything with black. Underneath this one we wrote Ready, Set, Glow.

Once all of the paint has dried you need to seal the seashells with 1-2 light coats of Glossy Clear Mod Podge Sealer. I like to brush it on with a foam brush. Allow 20-30 minutes of drying time between coats. This will help to protect the painted surface and give the shells a nice glossy shine.

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Are you an animal lover? Love dogs, cats and birds? If so, you’ll love these adorable painted and decoupaged seashells! They were made using 4″ to 5″ wide clam shells, craft paint, fabric and Mod Podge! I was able to complete all 4 of them in one day. Cute Christmas decorations for yourself or for that animal lover on your gift-giving list.

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You’ll need 4″ to 5″ wide clam shells. Wash and thoroughly dry. For the design…I used fabric that I picked up at my local arts & craft store. I purchased just a 1/4 yard. It was on clearance so I got it for a great price. The design features birds, dogs and cats in various Christmas attire.

To get the fabric design to blend in with the seashell I base coated each seashell in the background color of the fabric swatch. Example: Lime Green, Pinky Red and Turquoise. I used 2 coats of acrylic craft paint with 30 minutes of drying time between each coat.

Use sharp scissors to cut the design out of fabric. You I cut fairly close to the image but did round, square or rectangular shapes so that it was easy to apply onto the shell. Use a foam brush and Mod Podge Clear Sealer for the next step. Brush the Mod Podge onto the shell. Place the fabric piece on top. Use the brush to flatten it out to remove wrinkles and air bubbles. Brush more Mod Podge on top of the fabric piece and then apply Mod Podge all over the seashells to cover the paint and fabric. Let dry for a few hours.

If you want to add additional decoration or wordage…do that before the final coat of Mod Podge. All paint colors and fabric need to be sealed with it. If you look at the pinky red Cat shell you’ll see that I added polka dots onto the shell’s background and onto the fabric to give it a “blended” look. I added the words Merry Christmas onto the lime green Dog shell using a Betem Paint Pen Marker. The Turquoise colored Dog shell also has light colored polka dots in the background. If you’re adding them…add a few to the fabric too!

You can use the painted and decoupaged Christmas seashells as holiday decorations, place settings on the dining room table, as paper weights on a desk, to decorate the front porch or garden area or add a hanging string onto the back to turn them into colorful Christmas tree ornaments!

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