I have a friend who is into sailboats. They love to get out on the open water to do some sailing. They like to compete in various races and participate in boating parades. Me…not so much. I sadly get motion sickness! Anyway, he asked me to do several clam shells with a sailboat design for him to hand out to his friends. I’m not a talented painter, so I went with decoupage to do these designs.

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The design was made with a combination of things. I call it mixed media. I used acrylic craft paint, glitter, micro beads and fabric! I found the adorable sailboat fabric at my local Dollar Tree. I got a fat-quarter for $1.25. When decoupaging fabric I recommend using cotton or mostly cotton blended fabrics. They adhere better with less wrinkling.

Base coat the clam shells with 1-2 coats of white acrylic craft paint. While the paint is drying use sharp scissors to cut your desired image from fabric. In this case…sail boats. Cut close to the image that you can. Remove any strings and fraying as you go along. Make sure the cut image lays flat…so remove any wrinkles.

Use Clear Mod Podge Sealer to adhere the fabric onto the seashells. I put a coat of Mod Podge down first. Lay the fabric on top. Use my fingers to smooth it down and then brush another coat of Mod Podge on top. Let dry. Once dry, I added water underneath each boat by painting it on with a blue metallic acrylic craft paint. Let dry.

On some of the seashells I decided to get a little fancier by adding micro-fine glitter and micro-sized beads to the water area…to give texture and interest. Brush the entire seashell with a generous amount of Mod Podge Clear Sealer. While it’s still very wet…sprinkle the glitter or the micro beads onto the areas you want them. Lay the shell flat to dry which will take 1-2 hours.

If you enjoy painting on seashells or crafting with seashells…you’ll find over 150+ seashell craft projects right here on the Two Classy Chics blog! We will be sharing more seashell craft projects in the future too!

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One of my favorite hobbies is to paint seashells and kindness rocks. I enjoy sitting down for a few hours and just letting my creativity flow. You don’t have to be an artist to enjoy this hobby. Matter of fact, it’s a great beginner’s hobby and very affordable to get into. Smooth rocks and seashells are a free resource. All you really need to purchase are paints, brushes and clear sealer. That’s about it!

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Over the years I’ve tried various different paint brands. Last month I discovered the ARTISTRO Acrylic Paint Markers on Amazon. You get 24 double-ended paint markers…a fine tip and a medium tip. These paint markers don’t require any priming, there’s no drippy or leaky messes, no foul paint odors and they dry quickly.

In this particular set you’ll find 24 beautiful colors…I call it a basic set when it comes to the colors. The 5mm tip is great for coloring in the design and the 1mm tip is great for outlining or writing words. You can use them to paint on all kinds of different surfaces: ceramic, seashells, smooth rocks, art canvases, paper, glass, plastic, fabric…just about any surface. Of course, you always want to seal your work with the appropriate clear sealer once you’re done!

While I prefer some of the other sets out in the retail marketplace this set is good for beginners, children and for adults who are just getting started. I purchased them to add-to the existing colors that I already have from other sets. I like to have various shades of yellow or various shades of blue in my paint marker collection. It gives me variety to work with!

If you’re interested in purchasing the ARTISTRO Acrylic Paint Markers you’ll find them available on Amazon for a really affordable price. They’re cheaper than a lot of the other brands that you see out in the marketplace. They’re a good quality, but not the BEST that I’ve used. While you’re there…don’t forget to buy some clear sealer like Mod Podge or an Acrylic Spray Sealer depending on what type of surface you’re painting on.

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